"Charles Gray" wrote in message
...
When was the earliest turbine powered helicopter? I khnow that the
turbine is far more effective than an IC engine.
Also, what was the delay? Was it just a matter of nobody really
got
around to it, or were there power/reliability issues with the
turbines?

I know that Dr Franz Anselem set his personal goal as the development
of a gas turbine engine for helicopters for which he saw that their
protperties would be hugely advantageous. I think this would be the
first such engine. The result was the T53 from Avco Lycoming. It
was used on the UH1 Iroquoise, Mohawk, XV-15 as well as the (scaled
up) T55 used on the Chinook and I believe as the core of the BAe 146s
regional jet liner when it was given a geared fan.

Anselem also headed development of the AGT 1500 for the M1 Abrams
tank.

Anselem is probably most famouns for his turbojet the Junkers Jumo 004
which he developed for the Messerscmitt Me 262 while working at
Junkers.

The T53 was a pretty engine.




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This is what the Soviets list as advantages of Gas turbines for tanks.

The T-80U's gas-turbine power plant has a number of advantages over a
diesel engine as it provides for:

- higher maneuverability and tactical mobility; higher medium and
maximum traveling speeds provided by the highest (among
domestically-produced engines) specific power of 26.9 hp/t (19.8
kW/t);

- high combat readiness in low ambient temperature conditions owing to
rapid engine starting;

- higher mobile fire effectiveness owing to lower vibration level at
gunner's and commander's stations, smoother curvilinear motion owing
to a wider choice of speed gears (from zero to the highest gear) and
optimal motion conditions at an engaged gear;

- lower (by a factor of eight) heat transfer to engine oil and absence
of a water cooling system, which significantly reduces the area of
weakened zones on the cover of engine/transmission compartment;

- reduced power consumption by the cooling system (by 50 percent);

- reduced labor intensity of maintenance services (by 50 percent); no
seasonal maintenance is required;

- reduced engine (monoblock) replacement time (by a factor of five or
six);

- reduced number types of fuels, oils and lubricants (by a factor of
three for round-the-year operation);

- ability to climb ice-covered upgrade slopes and move across terrain
where soils feature low load-carrying capacity. This has been achieved
owing to the smooth application of torque and use of the
gas-turbine-to-turbo-compressor gas coupling;

- easy tank steering owing to the specific engine features and
trouble-free engine operation under heavy loads;

- less crew fatigue owing to the low vibration and noise levels and
smoother torque application;

- reduction of such signatures as thermal emission; smoke, engine
noise, etc.;

- use of a less complex remote control system.