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An engine suitable for use in an aerospace plane is a composite engine comprising, in combination, a turbo jet engine, a ram jet engine, and a rocket engine, all arranged co-axially. An aerospace plane comprises such an engine mounted in a body defining, toward a rear thereof, in association with sa

An engine suitable for use in an aerospace plane is a composite engine comprising, in combination, a turbo jet engine, a ram jet engine, and a rocket engine, all arranged co-axially. An aerospace plane comprises such an engine mounted in a body defining, toward a rear thereof, in association with said engine, a nozzle surface which extends rearwardly in curved, concave manner, and which is part-round in cross-section, said or each nozzle surface being arranged in relation to a nozzle of said engine to be an extension of the nozzle.

대표청구항 ▼

An engine suitable for use in an aerospace plane adapted for repeated operation, the engine being a composite engine comprising, in combination and in co-axial arrangement: a rocket engine arranged on an axis; a ram jet engine arranged annularly around the rocket engine; and a turbo jet engine arran

An engine suitable for use in an aerospace plane adapted for repeated operation, the engine being a composite engine comprising, in combination and in co-axial arrangement: a rocket engine arranged on an axis; a ram jet engine arranged annularly around the rocket engine; and a turbo jet engine arranged annularly around the ram jet engine, the composite engine comprising: a diffuser which is adjustable to render it suitable for subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic operation, which diffuser leads into a combustion chamber for the ram jet engine; an inlet leading from the diffuser at a predetermined position thereof into the turbo jet engine, which predetermined position is at a throat of the diffuser when it is adjusted to operate as a supersonic diffuser; a secondary expansion nozzle for the ram jet engine which is a converging/diverging expansion nozzle suitable for supersonic operation; a primary expansion nozzle for the rocket engine which is longitudinally adjustable to desired longitundinal positions within the secondary expansion nozzle, including the following positions: a passive, retracted position upstream of a throat of the secondary expansion nozzle for use when the rocket engine is inoperative and no cooperation between the primary and secondary expansion nozzle occurs, an extended position downstream of the throat for use when the rocket engine is operative and the aerospace plane flies at low speed, in which extended position the primary expansion nozzle is adapted to induce ambient air to flow via the diffuser and the ram jet engine into the secondary expansion nozzle, and an intermediate position for use when the rocket engine is operative and the ram jet engine is inoperative, in which intermediate position the primary nozzle is aligned with the secondary nozzle such that the secondary nozzle acts as an extension of the primary nozzle, to form a composite expansion nozzle for the rocket engine.