Armstrong Siddeley Screamer

The Armstrong Siddeley Screamer was a British rocket engine intended to power the Avro 720 manned interceptor aircraft (Avro's competitor to the Saunders-Roe SR.53 for a rocket-powered interceptor). Thrust was variable, up to a maximum of 8,000 lbf (36 kN).[1][2][3]

Screamer
Screamer engine on display at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Derby
Type Rocket engine
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Armstrong Siddeley
First run 19 May 1954

Design and development

Work on the Screamer started in 1946, with the first static test at Armstrong Siddeley's rocket plant at Ansty in March 1954.[4] The programme was cancelled, as was the Avro 720, before flight testing.[5]

In 1951, a Gloster Meteor F.8 was experimentally fitted with a Screamer mounted below the fuselage.[1][6]

The Screamer project was cancelled in March 1956, at a reported total cost of £650,000.[7]

Specifications

General characteristics

  • Type: Variable thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine
  • Length: 78.5 in (199.4 cm)
  • Diameter: 27 in (68.6)
  • Dry weight: 470 lb (213.2 kg)
  • Fuel: Kerosene
  • Oxidiser: Liquid oxygen (LOX) and filtered water (coolant)

Components

  • Pumps: Three pumps

Performance

  • Thrust: 9,500 lb (42 kN) at 40,000 ft (12,200 metres) (estimated)
  • Burn time:

See also

Comparable engines

Related lists

References
  1. "Armstrong Siddeley Screamer". Flight (PDF): 160–164. 27 July 1956.
  2. Allen, S., RAeS (7 December 1951). "Rockets for Aircraft Propulsion". The Aeroplane.
  3. Allen, S., RAeS (19 October 1956). "ROCKET-MOTOR DESIGN:A Paper by the Chief Engineer of Armstrong Siddeley Motors (Rocket Division)". Flight (PDF): 637–638. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. "Scorpion and Screamer" (PDF). Flight: 76. 13 July 1956.
  5. C.N. Hill (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme, 1950-1971. Imperial College Press. p. 28. ISBN 1-86094-268-7.
  6. Keith Meggs. "A Man and his Machines".
  7. "Cancelled projects: the list up-dated" (PDF). Flight: 262. 17 August 1967.
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