PDF Publication Title:
Text from PDF Page: 013
The area of materials is a perfect example. Im- provements in the development of high-tempera- ture, high-strength, lightweight materials, includ- ing superalloys and metal matrix composites, and the development of methods to fabricate these into precision parts have to a large degree enabled advanced designs to move from the drawing board to the production line. These innovations have allowed the fuel efficiency of jet engines to keep climbing.10 The importance of local production capacity and skill to prototyping, design work, and even basic innovation activity was recognized as long ago as 1877 by Thomas Edison, who boasted that his fa- mous Menlo Park research lab possessed capabili- ties for “castings, forgings, and can build any- thing from a lady’s watch to a locomotive. Inven- tions that formerly took months and cost large sums can now be done in two or three days with very small expense.”11 A brief look at the history of aircraft engine manufacturing in New England supports the idea of a strong interdependence among science, engineering, and production ca- pability in contributing to competitive success. The unique combination of both a precision pro- duction skill base and a scientific skill base con- tributed greatly to the locational advantage of New England to engine manufacturers. THE EARLY DAYS: THE PRECISION PRODUCTION SKILL BASE The ready availability of skilled craftspeople and the existence of a network of precision machine and toolmakers—not a supply of scientific tal- ent—laid the foundations for the aircraft engine and parts firms that grew up in New England in the early days of the industry.12 Indeed, only much later, at the dawn of the jet age, did the re- gion’s science skill base grow in importance. The story of Pratt & Whitney, whose base of installed engines represents an amazing 48 percent of all engines powering civil aircraft built outside the former Soviet Union currently in service world- wide, is instructive. Pratt & Whitney was originally established as a machine tool builder just before the Civil War. Founders Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney had been employees of the Samuel Colt armory in Hartford before leaving to establish their own firm in 1860. The Colt armory and others like it were the birthplaces of the “American system of manu- factures,” where specialist machines and precision gauges were employed to produce interchangeable parts that needed no hand fitting.13 This system represented a significant departure from manufac- turing practices of the time, in which fabricated parts were hand-finished to fit with others as they were incorporated into the final product. The great leap forward in interchangeability was made possible by the use of dedicated machinery set to precise tolerances. The company Pratt and Whit- ney built was one of a number of firms in the Connecticut River valley that produced the spe- cialized machines, fixtures, and gauges that sup- ported the development and spread of this revolu- tionary American system, diffusing the manufac- turing practices that would lay the industrial groundwork for the next big innovation in the or- ganization of making things, mass production. Pratt & Whitney’s entry into the aircraft engine business occurred in 1926, when Frederick Rentschler, former president of Wright Aero, sought to set up a new business to develop new air-cooled, radial engines for the U.S. Navy. He believed such a design to be superior to the heav- ier liquid-cooled designs of the time, but his finan- cial backers at Wright Aero were unconvinced. The Pratt & Whitney machine tool company had vacant, excess space in Hartford, and to Rentschler, the location was ideal. The combina- tion of the engineering and precision production skill embodied in the region’s “Yankee mechanics” and the ability to license the rights to use the Pratt & Whitney company name would allow Rentschler to translate his design concepts into an actual functioning engine with a brand name widely associated with quality and reliability. The product of that effort, the Wasp engine, was an enormous success. Within three years of its found- ing, the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company was the world leader in the industry, and with the Jet Engine Manufacturing in New England 7PDF Image | JET ENGINE MANUFACTURING IN NEW ENGLAND
PDF Search Title:
JET ENGINE MANUFACTURING IN NEW ENGLANDOriginal File Name Searched:
jetengine01.pdfDIY PDF Search: Google It | Yahoo | Bing
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
IT XR Project Redstone NFT Available for Sale: NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. Can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Turbine IT XR Project Redstone Design: NFT for sale... NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Includes all rights to this turbine design, including license for Fluid Handling Block I and II for the turbine assembly and housing. The NFT includes the blueprints (cad/cam), revenue streams, and all future development of the IT XR Project Redstone... More Info
Infinity Turbine ROT Radial Outflow Turbine 24 Design and Worldwide Rights: NFT for sale... NFT for the ROT 24 energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. This design can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. You may manufacture the unit, or get the revenues from its sale from Infinity Turbine. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Supercritical CO2 10 Liter Extractor Design and Worldwide Rights: The Infinity Supercritical 10L CO2 extractor is for botanical oil extraction, which is rich in terpenes and can produce shelf ready full spectrum oil. With over 5 years of development, this industry leader mature extractor machine has been sold since 2015 and is part of many profitable businesses. The process can also be used for electrowinning, e-waste recycling, and lithium battery recycling, gold mining electronic wastes, precious metals. CO2 can also be used in a reverse fuel cell with nafion to make a gas-to-liquids fuel, such as methanol, ethanol and butanol or ethylene. Supercritical CO2 has also been used for treating nafion to make it more effective catalyst. This NFT is for the purchase of worldwide rights which includes the design. More Info
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
Infinity Turbine Products: Special for this month, any plans are $10,000 for complete Cad/Cam blueprints. License is for one build. Try before you buy a production license. May pay by Bitcoin or other Crypto. Products Page... More Info
| CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com | RSS | AMP |