Armstrong Siddeley Beta

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__infobox rocket engine
name=Beta
manufacturer=Armstrong Siddeley
country_of_origin=Britain

type=liquid
oxidiser=hydrogen peroxide HTP
fuel=C-fuel (57% methanol, 30% hydrazine hydrate and 13% water) cite web
title=United Kingdom Aerospace and Weapons Projects: Rocket Engines
url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/rocketengine.htm
publisher=Skomer ]
combustion_chamber=Double
pumps=First British rocket with gas-generator powered turbo-pump.

The Miles M.52, the intended British contender for supersonic flight, had been cancelled in 1946 due to uncertainty concerning its turbojet engine's thrust potential and the risks of manned supersonic flight. A scale model was then built by Vickers with a 362 kg (800 lbf) thrust hydrogen peroxide 'hot' motor evolved at Westcott derived from the Walter HWK 109-509 engine. This initiated the Beta and the subsequent Delta engines. In October 1948 the Vickers "Transonic" model flew at 930 mph (Mach 1.5) in level flight at 35,000 ft. [cite journal
title=Rockets and Assisted Take-Off
last=Cleaver
first=V.
journal=J. Royal Aeronautical Society,
date=Feb 1951
url=http://www.cue-dih.co.uk/aerospace/aeropdfs/htp_for_prop.pdf]

To reduce the risks of single-sourced engines, other makers were given experience of work with hydrogen peroxide. In 1952 Napier were providing their NRE.17 engines for missile trials, as a line of development from Beta. [cite journal
title=Napier Rocket Engines
journal=The English Electric Journal
date=June 1957
url=http://www.cue-dih.co.uk/aerospace/aeropdfs/htp_for_prop.pdf]

Variants

* Beta II: Larger version of Beta I

References