Rolls Royce Designs Engine for 'Double Decker' Aircraft

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The team at the Rolls-Royce Aero-Thermal Systems Centre have secured another five years of funding from their sponsors to continue research into the internal systems of jet engines. In a letter to the centre, describing how the research is providing "a valuable insight for our work on the Trent 900 for the Airbus A3XX" (the long range double-decker aircraft), Rolls-Royce's Chief Engineer of Fluid Systems says, "Please pass on my sincere thanks to all the academic staff and technicians for their good work." The Director of the Centre commented that the recent success of their research was "due to the novel design of the rigs, the first rate technicians and the hard work of the researchers in the Centre."

The Centre houses five major high speed research 'rigs', three of them powered by a modified 3000 hp turbo-prop gas turbine - "the thing which sometimes makes a bit of noise." A 'rig' is a pile of apparatus used to do engineering experiments and, thanks to the power of modern computers, they are becoming more sophisticated and more representative of real engines. One of these rigs contains the high speed central core of the new RR Trent engine, a modified version of which might one day be used to power the planned Airbus A3XX. Such an aeroplane could be as much as twice the size of today's jet planes (600 tons), and would be so roomy that people could walk about and go to shops and other facilities on board . The work being done here at Sussex could make air travel more accessible, and everyone at the Centre is especially proud that their work will make aeroplanes safer, more efficient - and therefore more environmentally friendly.