Delta Debuts World's Largest Jet Engine Test Room | Hacker News Reader

Delta Debuts World's Largest Jet Engine Test Room

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34 pointsTomte24 comments

If you're into this kind of thing, do a YouTube search for 'hush house' and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hush+house

Edit: For an up close and personal view of afterburner tests, as well as a comprehensive view into the inner workings of turbojets, turbofans and industrial turbines, it's hard to top AgentJayZ's channel from the frozen tundra of Fort St. John - https://www.youtube.com/user/AgentJayZ

Agreed 100% on AgentJayZ

So a question to the more math savvy of readers, how much air is the engines in the video moving? I did not find mention of it but I wonder what temperature and humidity levels they use.

You're looking for the 'air mass flow' specification. For the Trent XWB in the article it's just shy of 1500kg/sec.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Trent_XWB

Keep in mind that the bulk of that mass does not go through the turbine engine itself (aka the core), it's moved by the large fan that's visible at the front of the cowling. The ratio of that vs what goes through the core to support combustion is called the bypass ratio...which will vary somewhat widely based on application. Lots of great info in the Wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbofan

The only interesting bit to me was the Delta exec specifically mentioning right near the end of the article that they designed the facility with SSTs in mind.

If commercial flights are carrying passengers at supersonic speeds in the next two decades, I'll be very surprised.

For business/first class routes, I don’t see why not.

The Concorde couldn’t keep up economically, but it’s also a 40 year old design.

BA 001 is a great example of this concept. It’s a flight designed entirely to save business travelers from going to Heathrow. London City to JFK with a fuel stop and pre-clearance in Ireland. Business class only.

Do you have to de-plane during the fuel stop to do the pre-clearance? Or do they do that right on the tarmac?

Judging by the articles I've read on it it seems like they do de-plane briefly, it's just described as a "stopover."

The article seems to be describing a regular engine test stand, though one that is big and shiny and new. What's the big deal?

They are going vertical. It will impact UTC, Airbus, Boeing, etc.

United Technologies once owned United Airlines in a vertical play, before anti-trust pressure led them to split up:

>The origin of UTC lies with the company formed in 1928 by William E. Boeing as Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation, which held controlling interests in Boeing Airplane Company, Boeing Air Transport Inc., and Pacific Air Transport (see Boeing Company). Within a year the company was renamed United Aircraft and Transport Corporation and acquired a number of aircraft- and aircraft-component-manufacturing companies including Sikorsky Aviation, Stearman Aircraft, Avion (later Northrop Aircraft), Chance Vought (aircraft), Hamilton (propellers and aircraft), and Pratt & Whitney (engines). In another two years it consolidated four smaller airlines into United Airlines and made it a subsidiary. In response to legislation prohibiting the affiliation of airlines with aviation manufacturers, United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was dissolved in 1934, resulting in three separate companies. Manufacturing facilities west of the Mississippi River became Boeing Airplane Company, those east of it became United Aircraft Corporation, and all transportation services were unified as United Airlines. United Aircraft Corporation retained, among other companies, Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Hamilton Standard (later Hamilton Sundstrand), and Chance Vought. The first three companies remained core units of United Aircraft and then UTC until the early 21st century.

from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Technologies-Corpora...

I remember The Museum of Flight (aka The Boeing Museum) in Seattle has a large display showing the family tree of Boeing, McDonnellDouglas and others. Everything is coming full circle with consolidation.

First one of this size/scope built in 20 years, according to the article.

Something I think was left unsaid here is that airlines are starting to take over more of their own engine maintenance to reduce costs. The engine makers have secured huge margins with their maintenance contracts for years and the airlines are looking to bring this in-house.

The margins are not as huge as you imply. The engines are sold at a loss, with profit only being made up later in maintenance. If the airlines want to cut in on that business, they should be prepared to pay a lot more for the engines.

This is not the case with Delta. Delta techops is one of the world's largest airplane repair organizations

I'm not sure it is that big of a deal, but I read elsewhere that the stand is capable of supporting engines with up to 150,000 pounds of thrust. This is significantly more than any engine currently flying. The GE90 used on the 777-300ER is rated up to 115,000 pounds.

And yet is only half what is required to test a single SpaceX Raptor engine.

https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/0...

It’s probably more about sensor packages and planned airflow requirements that the physical strength of the test stand.

I got to watch a jet engine test in a different Delta facility at ATL airport. It was breathtaking. There is a big turbofan with an inlet taller than a person in the adjacent room, and you’re separated by just some (I’m sure very strong) glass. You get this visceral feeling of immense power.

Blast Basket is a good name for a band.

Or my toilet

Wow. Standing a dozen feet from a running engine. Only thousands of people do that every hour. Them with only a few mm of aluminum between. Of course they are mostly sitting.

There are plenty of these facilities. Big isnt always better. They are generally kept as small as practical.

Yes those people are sitting next to (generally) well-maintained engines that aren't run right up to the point of failure.

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