Allison Engine Company

Allison Engine Company

Company type	Division
Industry	Aerospace
Founder	James Allison
Fate	Acquired byRolls-Royce plcin 1995, becomingRolls-Royce North America
Successor	Rolls-Royce North America
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana , United States
Parent	General Motors (1929–1995)

TheAllison Engine Companywas an Americanaircraft enginemanufacturer. Shortly after the death ofJames Allisonin 1929 the company was purchased by theFisher brothers.Fisher sold the company toGeneral Motors,which owned it for most of its history. It was acquired byRolls-Royce plcin 1995 to become the USsubsidiary,Rolls-Royce North America.

History

A predecessor of Allison Engine Company, theConcentrated Acetylene Company,was founded in September 1904 by James Allison,Percy C. "Fred" AveryandCarl G. Fisher.Avery was the holder of the patent for the product. This company was the predecessor of thePrest-O-Lite Company,a manufacturer ofacetyleneheadlights. An explosion at the acetylene gas works in downtown Indianapolis caused the company to relocate out of town, near the race track inSpeedway, Indiana.Allison and Fisher raced automobiles at that track, each owning a race car team. This hobby resulted in Allison building a shop at the track in Speedway where he maintained his fleet of race cars. This shop became the site for Allison Plant #1. Fisher and Allison sold their interest in Prest-O-Lite toUnion Carbidefor $9,000,000.

Allison Speedway Team Company

Allison started as an engine and car "hot rodding" company servicing theIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayinIndianapolis.James Allison was the owner of theIndianapolis Speedway Team Company,a race car business in Indianapolis, Indiana. While it was founded as the Indianapolis Speedway Team Company, its name changed numerous times, first to the Allison Speedway Team Company, then the Allison Experimental Company and last as the Allison Engineering Company before becoming a division ofGeneral Motors.

The company's only regular production item was a patented steel-backed lead bearing, which was used in various high performance engines.It also built various drive shafts, extensions and gear chains for high power engines, on demand. Later its main business was the conversion of olderLiberty enginesto more powerful models, both for aircraft and marine use.

Allison needed a place where his race car engines could be modified and repaired. On January 1, 1917 Allison moved into a building at what was to become, in later years, theIndianapolis Motor Speedway.Along with the move, Allison hired Norman H. Gillman, a very talented engineer from a competing race team, as his chief engineer.

Allison's move to Florida

Allison moved to Florida to invest in real estate after World War I, leaving Gillman in charge. Allison did not want the company to wither, so he asked Gillman to build a V-12 marine engine worthy of the Allison name. Gillman then proceeded to build an engine that relied on what was learned from building and modifying the venerable Liberty engine.

Allison's company was sold to CaptainEddie Rickenbackerin 1927 for $700,000 after Allison moved to Florida. In 1929, shortly after the death of James Allison, the company was purchased by theFisher brothers.The Fishers sold the company toGeneral Motors,who owned it for most of its history. The Allison Engine Company was acquired in 1995 byRolls-Royce plc,and became theRolls-Royce Corporationsubsidiary.

Hyper engine

In the late 1920s theUnited States Armyfunded the development of a series of high-power engines, as part of itshyper engineseries, which it intended to produce onContinental Motors' production lines. Allison's manager, Norman Gilman, decided to experiment with his own high-power cylinder design. Allison's engine became Manufacturer Serial No. 1, AAC S/N 25-521. It was the X-4520, a 24-cylinder air-cooled 4-bank “X” configured engine designed by the Army Air Corps and built by the Allison Engineering Company in 1925. The result was presented to the Army in 1928, which turned down the development proposal.

General Motors

In 1929, shortly after the death of James Allison, the company was purchased by the Fisher brothers,who instructed it to use the cylinder design for a six-cylinder engine for a "family aircraft". Before work on this design had progressed very far, Fisher sold the company to General Motors, which ended development owing to financial pressures of theGreat Depression.Nevertheless, Gilman pressed ahead with the cylinder design, building a "paper project" V-12 engine. The Army was once again uninterested, but instead suggested Allison try selling it to theUnited States Navy.The Navy agreed to fund development of A and B models to a very limited degree for itsairships,until the crash of theUSSMaconin 1935, when the Navy's need for a 1,000 hp (750 kW) engine disappeared.

V-1710

GMH Allison Overhaul Assembly Plant in Brisbane during the Second World War

Allison V-1710-115

The very firstV-1710was purchased by the U.S. Navy as their GV-1710-2, and appears to have had an Allison serial of number 1, suggesting that they restarted numbering for the V-1710. The first V-1710 engine purchased by the USAAC was AAC 33-42, Allison Serial No. 2, the XV-1710-1, while Serial Nos. 3, 4, 5 were V-1710-4 engines for U.S. Navy airships, followed by a batch of 11 Air Corps engines purchased with FY-1934 funds (34-4 through 34-14) that covered Allison serials 6 through 16. After these the production race was on, totaling over 70,000 V-1710s.

By this time the Army had become more interested in the design, and asked Allison to continue with a new "C" model. They had few funds of their own to invest, and Allison supported much of the development out of their own pocket. TheV-1710-Cfirst flew on 14 December 1936 in theConsolidated A-11A testbed. The V-1710-C6 completed the Army 150 hour Type Test on 23 April 1937, at 1,000 hp (750 kW), the first engine of any type to do so. By then all of the other Army engine projects had been cancelled or withdrawn, leaving the V-1710 as the only modern design available. It was soon found as the primary power plant of the new generation ofUnited States Army Air Corps(USAAC) fighters, theP-38 Lightning,P-39 AiracobraandP-40 Warhawk.

The Army had been leaning heavily towards exhaust-driventurbochargers,instead of the more common mechanically drivensuperchargers,favoring the theoretical advantage of using the otherwise wasted energy in the exhaust. Thus, little effort was invested in equipping the V-1710 with a complex two-stage supercharger, and when placed in aircraft designs like the P-39 or P-40, which lacked the room for a turbocharger, the engine suffered tremendously at higher altitudes. It was for this reason in particular that the V-1710 was later removed from theP-51 Mustangand replaced with theRolls-Royce Merlin.

Post-war

With the need for the V-1710 winding down at the end of the war, Allison found itself with a large production infrastructure that was no longer needed. For this reason, in 1947, the Army decided to takeGeneral Electric's versions ofFrank Whittle'sjet enginesand give them to Allison to produce instead. The main production model was GE's 4,000 lbf (18 kN) I-40, produced as theAllison J33.By the time production ended in 1955, Allison had produced over 7,000 J33s.

Allison also took over GE'saxial flowengine design, becoming theAllison J35.The J35 was the primary powerplant for theF-84 ThunderjetandF-89 Scorpion,as well as appearing on numerous prototype designs. The J35 also finished production in 1955, by which point over 14,000 had been delivered.

Allison also began development of a series ofturbopropengines for the U.S. Navy, starting with theT38and a "twinned" version as theT40.The Navy was interested only in the T40,but the complexities of the drive shaft arrangement doomed the engine and the project was eventually cancelled. Allison tried again with theT56,basically an enlarged T38 with the power of the T40, and was eventually rewarded when this engine was selected to power theC-130 Hercules.Allison turboprop engines were also used to re-engineConvairprop airliners which resulted in theConvair 580turboprop passenger aircraft which was widely used by local service and regional airlines in the U.S. such asAllegheny Airlines,the originalFrontier Airlines,North Central Airlines,as well as major carriersAmerican,Eastern,United,andPan-Am.

Over the years a family of engines based on the T56 configuration was developed, culminating in the T406/Allison AE1107turboshaft for theV-22 Osprey,theAllison AE2100turboprop, used on newer models of the C-130 and the Allison/Rolls-Royce AE 3007turbofan which propels many regional airline aircraft, such as theEmbraerERJ 135,ERJ 140andERJ 145family of regional passenger jets that continue to be widely used in the airline industry.

One of Allison's most successful projects is theModel 250turboshaft/turboprop engine family, which was started by the company in the early 1960s, when helicopters started to be powered by turbine, rather than reciprocating, engines. Allison turbine engines were used to powerBell 206Jet Rangerand Long Ranger helicopters as well as the initial version of theSikorsky S-76helicopter.

Experiments

In the mid-1970s the Allison Division ofGeneral Motors Corporationin Detroit designedceramiccomponents into theAllison GT 404-4 turboshaft engineintended for trucks. Allison continued to work with General Motors on development of ceramic-turbinepowered engines until the early 1990s. During their work they were able to engineer fairly stable automobile engines that were capable of burning a variety of fuels, such as gasoline, Diesel, kerosene, alcohol, vegetable oil, and coal powder.

In the 1980s Allison collaborated withPratt & Whitneyon demonstrating the578-DXpropfan.Unlike the competingGeneral Electric GE-36 UDF,the 578-DX was fairly conventional, having a reduction gearbox between the LP turbine and the propfan blades. Noise considerations, plus a significant reduction in the real cost of aviation fuel, brought the NASA funded program to a halt.

In 1995, Allison tested a prototypelift fanfor theJoint Strike Fighter Programand a LiftFan nozzle was tested in 1997 at NASA's Lewis facility.By 1997, a complete prototype had been demonstratedby the Rolls-Royce owned but American-controlled Allison Advanced Development Company.

Automotive use

In 1965 a drag racer, Jim Lytle, created a car known asQuad Alwhich incorporated four World War II surplus V-12 Allison aero-engines in a four-wheel drive configuration, and developing approximately 12,000 hp (8,900 kW). Although its engines started, it never ran; the creator could not afford the custom gearboxes and clutches required to handle the enormous torque generated by the engines. The car survives, without its engines, inIndiana,USA.

Acquisition by Rolls-Royce

Main article:Rolls-Royce plc § Allison acquisition

In 1992 General Motors tried to sell Allison to concentrate on rebuilding automobile market share.Rolls-Royce attempted to buy the company in 1993, but General Motors opted for a management buyout instead for $370 million.

In 1995 US authorities approved, with restrictions onJoint Strike Fighter Program,the purchase of Allison by Rolls-Royce.The price was $525 million.In the year 2000, some of these restrictions were alleviated,and in 2001 the US government chose theF-35with Rolls-Royce LiftFan andPratt & Whitney F135engines.

Products

Allison V-1710-7

Allison T56

Allison J35

Model name	Configuration	Power
Allison V-1710	V12	1,100 hp
Allison V-3420	W24	2,100 hp
Allison J33	Turbojet	3,900 lbf
Allison J35	Turbojet	5,600 lbf
Allison J71	Turbojet	10,000 lbf
Allison J102	Turbojet
Allison TF41	Turbofan	14,250 lbf
Allison AE 3007	Turbofan	7,580 to 9,500 lbf
Allison 250/T63	Turboshaft	317 hp
Allison AE 2100	Turboprop	4,637 hp
Allison T38	Turboprop	2,550 hp
Allison T40	Turboprop	5,100 hp
Allison T56	Turboprop	5,912 hp
Allison T61	Turboprop	6,500 hp
Allison T71
Allison T78	Turboprop	4,000 hp
Allison T80
Allison T406	Turboshaft	6,150 hp
Allison T701	Turboshaft	8,079 hp
Pratt & Whitney/Allison 578-DX	Propfan	22,000 lbf

References

Bibliography

• Whitney, Daniel (1998).Vee's for Victory!: The Story of the Allison V-1710 Aircraft Engine 1929–1948.Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.ISBN0-7643-0561-1.

External links

• Allison's work on turbine engines for automobiles