United States military aircraft engine designations

The United States military aircraft engine designation system was introduced in 1926, originally for piston engines it was expanded in the 1947 to include a separate system for turbine and rocket engines.

Piston engines

A piston engine designation has three separate elements, a type prefix, a number representing engine displacement and a model number.

Type Prefix: The type prefix is based on the engine disposition:

H	Two-row inline
L	Inline
O	Opposed
R	Radial
V	Vee
W	W engine
X	X engine

Some early engines had the type letter prefixed by a modification letter

G - geared
I - inverted
S - supercharged

Displacement: A number related to the engine displacement within 5 cubic inches.

Model Suffix

Letters were used between 1926 and 1933 then suffixes were numerals with odd number for Army and later Air Force engines and even numbers for Navy engines. After 1943 the letters AN were included to indicate the engine met both Army/Air Force and Navy requirements. Some engines fitted with water-injected engines had the W added to the suffix.

For example the Curtiss V-1150-1 is a Vee-type engine with a displacement of 1150 cubic inches and is an Army model.

Turbine engines

A turbine engine designation consists of four separate elements in the format TSS-MM-NN where T is the type letter, SS is the sequence number, MM is the manufacturer designation (one or two characters), and NN is the model number:

Type letter

J	Jet engine
T	Turboprop
TF or F	Turbofan

The prefixes X for experimental and Y for service test are used.

Sequence number: Each type has its own sequence which started at 30.; After 1968, the sequences were separated by service with each new sequence beginning with 00. The leading digits were "1" for an engine developed for the Department of the Air Force, "4" for an engine developed for the Department of the Navy, and "7" for an engine developed for the Department of the Army.

Manufacturer designation

A	Allison Engine Company
AC	Allis-Chalmers
AJ	Aerojet
B	Buick
BO	Boeing
CW	Curtiss-Wright
F	Ford
FF	Frederic Flader
G	Garrett AiResearch
GE	General Electric
GN	Giannini
K	Kellog
L	Lycoming
LA	Lockheed
LD	Avco Lycoming
MA	Marquardt
MN	Mensasco
NH	Northrop-Hendy
OEL	Orenda
P	Pratt & Whitney / United Aircraft of Canada
R	Fairchild
RM	Reaction Motors
T	Continental
V	Packard
W	Wright
WE	Westinghouse

Model number: Odd numbers for the United States Air Force and even numbers for the United States Navy

For example the J79-GE-10 is a Turbojet built by General Electric and is a Navy model.

Rocket engines

Have a similar system to turbine engines but use three basic types:

LR	Liquid-fuel
PS	Pulsejet
RJ	Ramjet

The prefixes X for experimental and Y for service test are used.

References

Andrade, John (1979). U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0-904597-22-9.

United States military piston aircraft engine designation system

H (four-bank H-configuration inline)	H-1640 XH-2240 H-2470 XH-2600 XH-3130 XH-3730 H-4070

I (inverted-V inline)	IV-1430 IV-2040 IV-2220

L (single-bank inline)	L-330 L-365 L-375 L-390 L-410 L-440 L-510 L-825

O (opposed)	O-15 O-40 O-45 O-90 O-100 O-145 O-150 O-170 O-175 O-180 O-190 O-200 (C) O-200 (F) O-205 O-235 O-290 O-300 O-335 O-360 (C) O-360 (L) O-405 O-425 O-435 O-470 O-480 O-520 O-540 (F) O-540 (L) O-550 O-580 O-805 O-1230

R (radial)	R-250 R-265 R-270 R-370 (LB) R-370 (K) R-420 R-440 R-500 R-540 (W) R-540 (K) R-545 R-550 R-600 R-670 R-680 R-720 R-755 R-760 R-790 R-830 R-915 R-975 DR-980 R-985 R-1044 R-1300 R-1340 R-1454 R-1510 R-1535 R-1640 R-1670 R-1690 R-1750 R-1820 R-1830 R-1860 R-2000 R-2060 R-2160 R-2180 R-2600 R-2800 R-3350 R-4090 R-4360 XR-7755

V (upright-V inline)	V-720 V-770 V-1150 V-1237 V-1400 V-1410 V-1440 V-1460 V-1510 V-1560 V-1570 V-1650 (L) V-1650 (P) V-1710 V-1950 V-3420

W (three-bank W-configuration inline)	W-2779

See also: X-1800 US military gas turbine aeroengines Piston engine configurations

United States military gas turbine aircraft engine designation system

Turbojets	J30 J31 J32 J33 J34 J35 J36 J37 XJ38 J39 J40 XJ41 J42 J43 J44 J45 J46 J47 J48 XJ49 J51 J52 J53 J54 J55 J56 J57 J58 J59 J60 J61 J63 J65 J67 J69 J71 J73 J75 J79 J81 J83 J85 J87 J89 J91 YJ93 J95 J97 J99 J100 YJ101 J102 J400 J401 J402 J403 J700

Turboprops/ Turboshafts	T30 T31 T33 T34 T35 T36 T37 T38 T39 T40 T41 T42 T43 T44 T45 T46 T47 T48 T49 T50 T51 T52 T53 T54 T55 T56 T57 T58 T60 T61 T62 T63 T64 T65 T66 T67 T68 T69 T70 T71 T72 T73 T74 T76 T78 T80 T100 T101 T400 T405 T406 T407 T408 T700 T701 T702 T703 T706 T708 T800

Turbofans	TF30 TF31 TF32 TF33 TF34 TF35 TF37 TF39 TF41 F100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F106 F107 F108 F109 F110 F112 F113 F117 F118 F119 YF120 F121 F122 F124 F125 F126 F127 F128 F129 F135 F136 F137 F138 F400 F401 F402 F404 F405 F408 F412 F414 F415

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.