Rolls-Royce Soar

The Soar was developed as part of the Short Range Expendable Bomber cruise missile program of 1950. This called for a surface-to-surface missile similar to the V-1 flying bomb but jet-powered to provide much longer range, and using a new radio navigation system to give it the required accuracy at these extended ranges. Two designs were proposed, Bristol Aircraft's Blue Rapier and Vickers-Armstrongs' Red Rapier.

Red Rapier was selected as the winner after Winston Churchill returned to power in late 1951. The Vickers concept was similar to the original V-1, with a mostly cylindrical fuselage, straight wings, and conventional tail surfaces. Power was provided by three small engines located at the tips of the tail surfaces. Rolls-Royce was selected to build the engines, whilst the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) began development of the guidance system. Designed to be expendable, the powerplant had a design life of 10 hours for a Red Rapier flight time of about 1 hour (range 400 nautical miles at 475 knots).The Secret World of Vickers Guided Weapons, John Forbat, 2006, Tempus Publishing Limited, {{ISBN|0 7524 3769 0}}, p.29

Red Rapier had been conceived as an emergency program as it was believed the Soviets were planning to start a war in 1953, before the Royal Air Force's new jet-powered bombers would be in service. As the date approached and it became clear no such attack was looming, combined with the good progress on the V-bomber designs, the program, now known as UB.109T, was cancelled. By this time the engine was running and was demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1953 on each wingtip of a Gloster Meteor flying testbed.Gunston (RRAE) 1989 pp.152-155

Development of the Soar continued for a time despite the cancellation of the UB.109T program. It was the smallest aero-engine ever made by Rolls-Royce and was an extremely simple engine with very few parts. Its starting and control systems were almost non-existent. Lessons learned in producing the Soar at low weight and cost would be applied to the next light-weight engine, the RB108 lift engine.Gunston (RRAE) 1989 pp.152-155

Looking to power a target drone design, Lockheed contracted Westinghouse to provide a similar engine. They licensed the Soar from Rolls, as the Westinghouse J81. This powered the AQM-35 missile.[http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/engines.html US designation systems]

It was also employed as an auxiliary powerplant for the Italian Aerfer Ariete fighter design and also considered as a JATO powerplant for other aircraft.

The Soar project was cancelled in March 1965, at a reported total cost of £1.2 million.{{cite journal

|journal=Flight

|title=Cancelled projects: the list up-dated

|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%201672.html

|date=17 August 1967

|pages=262

|ref=Flight, Flight, 17 August 1967, Cancelled projects list

}}

{{jetspecs

|

|ref=Rolls-Royce Aero Engines Gunston (RRAE) 1989, p. 152/Appendix 3

|type=Single-spool turbojet

|length=

|diameter={{convert|15.8|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}

|weight={{convert|267|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}

|compressor= 7-stage axial

|combustion=Annular

|turbine=Single stage

|fueltype=

|oilsystem=

|power=

|thrust={{convert|8.05|kN|lbf|0|abbr=on}}

|compression=4.9

|aircon=13.47 kg/s (30 lb/s)

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|power/weight=

|thrust/weight=6.97

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{{aircontent

|see also=

|related=

• Rolls-Royce RB108

|similar aircraft=

|lists=

• List of aircraft engines

|similar engines=

}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. {{ISBN|1-85260-163-9}}
• Gunston, Bill. Rolls-Royce Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. {{ISBN|1-85260-037-3}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200700/http://www.enginehistory.org/Museums/Derby%20Industrial%20Museum/20%20-%20RB93%20Soar.jpg Image of a Rolls-Royce Soar]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202213/http://www.enginehistory.org/Museums/Derby%20Industrial%20Museum/19%20-%20RB93%20Soar.jpg Image of the same engine from another angle]

{{Rolls-Royce aeroengines}}

{{USAF gas turbine engines}}

Soar

Category:1950s turbojet engines