Turbo-Union

Last updated

Turbo-Union Ltd
TypeJoint venture, limited company
IndustryGas turbine engines
Founded14 October 1969;54 years ago (1969-10-14)
HeadquartersMoor Lane, Derby
Area served
UK, Italy, Germany
Products RB199
Parent Rolls-Royce Holdings
MTU Aero Engines
Avio
Website Turbo Union

Turbo-Union Limited is a joint venture between three European aero-engine manufacturers, FiatAvio (now Avio), MTU Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce.

Contents

Products

The company's only product is the RB199, a three-spool turbofan developed specifically for the Panavia Tornado. [1]

Structure

The ownership of the company similarly split into-

It had an office on Arabellastraße in Munich near both NAMMA and Panavia, but the head office was initially at Filton. It was known as Turbo-Union Ltd. Turbo-Union was a fully integrated and collaborative European Company, whose formal language was English, by kind and charitable agreement of the Governments concerned. The organisation of the company was of FG (Functional Group) kind - for example, FG4 was Concept Design Engineering, FG6 was Customer Support Engineering and Provisioning, and so on. Each FG was chaired by a European person included people from all three companies as required. The FG also had subgroups - for example, FG4-4 was Development, FG6-2 was FTC (Flight Test Centre) support.

The company is now based at the home of Rolls-Royce in Derby, [3] but also has an office at the Panavia head office in Germany at Hallbergmoos.

Production sites

Turbo Union as a whole designed and produced the engine, albeit the GA (General Arrangement) drawing was assembled at Bristol (Filton) from all three partners' inputs. Over 2000 engines were built up to and including the 1990s, from components sourced in all three countries in approximate proportion to their Governmental support. [4] The RAF had engines assembled and supported from Bristol, the German Air Force and Navy from Munchen, and the Italian Air Force from Torino.

History

When it was formed in October 1969 it was claimed to be the largest aero-engine consortium in the world. The RB199 would be Europe's biggest ever military engine programme, and was based n Munchen.

Development of the RB199 started in September 1969, prior to the formation of Turbo-Union.

The first RB199 engine ran in September 1971, with the first flight in a Tornado in August 1974. [5] The engines are all electronically controlled with slightly different engine versions for each Tornado variant. In 1983, a Swiss organisation, the Arbeitsgruppe für Luft und Raumfahrt (ALR) based in Zurich, proposed an aircraft called the Piranha 6 powered by a single RB199.

The first prototype Eurofighter planes used the RB199 engine, until in June 1995 when the first EJ200-engined plane took off from Turin. [6] Its predecessor, the British Aerospace EAP, also used the engines.

Management

The first chairman was Hugh Conway, the managing director of the Bristol (Filton) plant of Rolls-Royce. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Denis Spotswood was chairman from 1975 to 1980.

For many years, the designer of the Pegasus engine, Gordon Lewis, was managing director. Previous to him was Martin Steinberger of Motoren und Turbinen-Union (MTU - based in Munich). Karlheinz Koch was MD until 2008.

RB199 engine Rolls Royce RB.199 4.jpg
RB199 engine

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Aircraft Corporation</span> British aircraft manufactuer

The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with shareholdings of 20%, 40% and 40% respectively. BAC in turn acquired the share capital of their aviation interests and 70% of Hunting Aircraft several months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DASA</span> Defunct German aerospace manufacturing company (1989-2000)

DASA was a German aerospace manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolls-Royce Holdings</span> British multinational aerospace company

Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for aviation and other industries. Rolls-Royce is the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines and has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safran Helicopter Engines</span> French company producing gasturbine turbo shaft engines

Safran Helicopter Engines, previously known as Turbomeca, is a French manufacturer of low- and medium-power gas turbine turboshaft engines for helicopters. The company also produces gas turbine engines for aircraft and missiles, as well as turbines for land, industrial and marine applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTU Aero Engines</span> German aircraft engine manufacturer

MTU Aero Engines AG is a German aircraft engine manufacturer. MTU develops, manufactures and provides service support for military and civil aircraft engines. MTU Aero Engines was formerly known as MTU München.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbo-Union RB199</span>

The Turbo-Union RB199 is a turbofan jet engine designed and built in the early 1970s by Turbo-Union, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce, MTU and Aeritalia. The only production application was the Panavia Tornado.

MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce GmbH (MTR) is a multinational engine manufacturer established to develop, manufacture, and service the MTR390 turboshaft engine. It is a joint venture between three European aero-engine manufacturers, Germany's MTU Aero Engines, France's Turbomeca and Britain's Rolls-Royce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panavia Aircraft GmbH</span> German military aircraft manufacturer

Panavia Aircraft GmbH is a German company established by the three partner states of the Tornado Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) project: West Germany, Italy and the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Siddeley</span> British aero engine manufacturer

Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of the de Havilland Engine Company and the engine division of Blackburn Aircraft. Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1966.

IAE International Aero Engines AG is a Zürich-registered joint venture aeroengine manufacturing company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITP Aero</span> Spanish engine manufacturer

ITP Aero is a Spanish aero engine and gas turbine manufacturer.

The Japanese Aero Engine Corporation is a consortium of several large Japanese companies (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that develops and manufactures aero engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Eurofighter Typhoon</span>

This is the timeline of the development of the Eurofighter Typhoon, a multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983.

EuroJet Turbo GmbH is a multi-national engine manufacturing consortium. It is headquartered in Hallbergmoos, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the aerospace industry in the United Kingdom

The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world and the largest in Europe by turnover, with a global market share of 17% in 2019. In 2020, the industry employed 116,000 people.

MAN Turbo AG was a company based in Oberhausen, Germany, that produced turbomachinery, including compressors, expanders, steam and gas turbines. It was owned by the German conglomerate MAN SE. In 2010, MAN Turbo and MAN Diesel were merged to form MAN Diesel & Turbo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim</span> Aviation museum in Oberschleißheim, Munich

Flugwerft Schleissheim is an aviation museum located in the German town of Oberschleißheim near Munich, it forms part of the Deutsches Museum collection and complements the aviation exhibits on display at the main site. The museum was opened on 18 September 1992. Many aerospace exhibits are on display including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines. The main display hangar is a restored glazed building, visitors are able to view exhibits undergoing restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HAL HF-73</span> Proposed twin engine strike fighter intended to be operated by the Indian Air Force

HF-73 also known as Hindustan Fighter-73 was a proposed twin engine strike fighter intended to be operated by the Indian Air Force. It was a joint venture project undertaken by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of West Germany in 1972. The proposed HF-73 strike fighter was similar in design and role to the multi-national European consortium Panavia Aircraft GmbH's Panavia Tornado. The project was cancelled in the late 1970s.

References

  1. "Turbounion". Turbounion. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  2. Skinner, Stephen (2012). British Aircraft Corporation: A History. Crowood. ISBN   9781847974501 . Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. "Turbo-Union Limited". DueDil. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  4. "Turbo-Union" (PDF). Flight International: 183. 19 January 1980.
  5. "Panavia Tornado celebrates 40 years of first flight". Panavia. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  6. "Eurofighter Typhoon". Eurojet. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.

See also