Document Type: Book (Historical Study).

Purpose: Informational.

Authority: Author Expertise.

Series: Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust Historical Series #47.

NB: The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust and the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation are closely related. From "Rolls-Royce: The Pursuit of Excellence" (1984): "Both organisations share the history of the early days and work closely in harmony. This Historical Series of books was started by the Trust and it is intended that a series shall follow, produced by both organisations in the same format, thus building up an embracing library of true Rolls-Royce history."

Scope (from the Preface): "There is little doubt that the decision to launch the RB211 in 1967 and subsequent decisions to continue its development through the difficulties of 1971 and again in the mid-1980s have shaped the company that is Rolls-Rovce in 2014. However there is no longer anyone who now works for the Company who was involved in the early development of the engine and no comprehensive record exists of the difficulties that were encountered both technically and commercially.

The three-shaft engine concept was a brilliant piece of architectural design by Geoff Wilde and the Preliminary Design Group but realising its potential took many years. It was not until the Trent engine, with its higher pressure ratio and bypass ratio, did the true benefits materialise, making the Trent the engine of choice by many of the world's airlines.

In writing this book I have endeavoured to present a factual account of the events as they occurred and to describe how engineering was carried out in the days before the computer had become the primary tool used to evaluate the design and functioning of the engine in all its respects. The main tools available to the engineer in the 1960s and 1970s were a slide rule or calculator, very basic computer programmes, rigs and engines. This approach developed people with an extremely good intuitive understanding of how engines behaved but an in-depth understanding was often only obtained after extensive testing, making problem-solving a slow process. This is clearly evidenced by the experience of the RB211-22 which only approached a mature level of reliability some 15 years after the start of the initial design.

By the time the Trent was developed the whole approach to product development changed from one of 'design it and breaking it' to 'designing it right first time' with the help of the computer and then using development engines to verify that the design intent had been satisfied. Consequently development programmes are now less costly and the engines are far more reliable when they enter service. These achievements were built on the back of the hard won experience of the RB211.

Of necessity the engineering descriptions in the book are sometimes rather detailed. For those readers not familiar with the gas turbine as a jet engine, reference to the Rolls-Royce publication The Jet Engine (Ref 1) might be useful as it gives a thorough account of the principles of the gas turbine, its design, development, manufacture and applications.

Many people contributed to the success of the RB211, only a fraction of whom are mentioned in the book. There are many others who could have been mentioned but with whom I had less frequent contact during the early years of the RB211-22 development, which is the primary focus of the book. The RB211 derivatives and the Trent family are included to illustrate how these engines benefitted from the experience gained during the original RB211-22 development.

Hopefully, fuller accounts of these programmes will be written by others in the fullness of time.

Contents (from the Table of Contents):

"Foreword

Preface

Chapter One - Early evolution of the jet engine

Chapter Two - Events leading up to the launch of the RB211

Chapter Three - Evolution of the RB211 design and the capability

Chapter Four - The programme challenges and financial consequences

Chapter Five - The RB211-06 and interim RB211-22 main design

Chapter Six - RB211-22, RB211-22C and RB211-22B main phase

Chapter Seven - RB211-06 and interim RB211-22 engine programmes

Chapter Eight - RB211-22, RB211-22C and -22B programmes

Chapter Nine - Performance and operability

Chapter Ten - The Lockheed Programme

Chapter Eleven - RB211-22C and RB211-22B service operation

Chapter Twelve - RB211-22C and -22B, solutions to the service problems

Chapter Thirteen - RB211-524 and RB211-535 derivatives

Chapter Fourteen - The Trent family, the third generation of RB211 engines

Chapter Fifteen - The RB211 Legacy

References

Acknowledgements

Glossary of Terms

Appendix One - RB211 and Trent Engine data

Appendix Two - Materials and their uses"