The Boeing T50 (company designation Model 502) was a small
turboshaft engine produced by
Boeing. It was the first turboshaft engine to ever power a helicopter: a modified
Kaman K-225 in 1951.[1] Based on Boeing's earlier Model 500 gas generator, the T50's main application was in the
QH-50 DASH helicopter drone of the 1950s. An up-rated version designated Model 550 was developed to power the QH-50D and was given the military designation T50-BO-12.
Two T50 were tested on a HTK-1 (
Kaman HH-43 Huskie) in the 1950s, which was the first test of twin turbine engine on a helicopter.[2]
Variants
T50-BO-1
T50-BO-2
T50-BO-4
270 hp (201.34 kW) at 6,000 output rpm, military rating turboprop.[3]
T50-BO-6
T50-BO-8
300 hp (223.71 kW) at 5,950 output rpm, revised reduction gear ratio, fuelsystem and other changes.[3]
^
abcdeTaylor, John W.R. FRHistS. ARAeS (1962). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1962-63. London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd.
^
abcdefBridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
^Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1959). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1959–60. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. pp. 521–522.
Bibliography
Taylor, John W.R. FRHistS. ARAeS (1962). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1962-63. London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd.
Gunston, Bill (2006). World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines, 5th Edition. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. p. 79.
ISBN0-7509-4479-X.
Leyes II, Richard A.; William A. Fleming (1999). The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
ISBN1-56347-332-1.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boeing T50.