Armstrong Siddeley Screamer

Screamer
	Screamer engine on display at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Derby
Type	Rocket engine
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Armstrong Siddeley
First run	19 May 1954

The Armstrong Siddeley Screamer was a British rocket engine intended to power the Avro 720 manned interceptor aircraft (Avro's competitor to the Saunders-Roe SR.53 for a rocket-powered interceptor). Thrust was variable, up to a maximum of 8,000 lbf (36 kN).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Design and development[]

Work on the Screamer started in 1946, with the first static test at Armstrong Siddeley's rocket plant at Ansty in March 1954.^[4] The programme was cancelled, as was the Avro 720, before flight testing.^[5]

In 1951, a Gloster Meteor F.8 was experimentally fitted with a Screamer mounted below the fuselage.^[1]^[6]

The Screamer project was cancelled in March 1956, at a reported total cost of £650,000.^[7]

Specifications[]

General characteristics

Type: Variable thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine
Length: 78.5 in (199.4 cm)
Diameter: 27 in (68.6)
Dry weight: 470 lb (213.2 kg)
Fuel: Kerosene
Oxidiser: Liquid oxygen (LOX) and filtered water (coolant)

Components

Pumps: Three pumps

Performance

Thrust: 9,500 lb (42 kN) at 40,000 ft (12,200 metres) (estimated)
Burn time:

References[]

^ ^a ^b "Armstrong Siddeley Screamer". Flight (PDF): 160–164. 27 July 1956.
^ Allen, S., RAeS (7 December 1951). "Rockets for Aircraft Propulsion". The Aeroplane.
^ Allen, S., RAeS (19 October 1956). "ROCKET-MOTOR DESIGN:A Paper by the Chief Engineer of Armstrong Siddeley Motors (Rocket Division)". Flight (PDF): 637–638. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
^ "Scorpion and Screamer" (PDF). Flight: 76. 13 July 1956.
^ C.N. Hill (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme, 1950-1971. Imperial College Press. p. 28. ISBN 1-86094-268-7.
^ Keith Meggs. "A Man and his Machines".
^ "Cancelled projects: the list up-dated" (PDF). Flight: 262. 17 August 1967.

External links[]

"Sectional drawing of the Screamer" (image). Flight International.

[Flight,_27_July_1956,_Armstrong_Siddeley_Screamer-1] "Armstrong Siddeley Screamer". Flight (PDF): 160–164. 27 July 1956.

[2] Allen, S., RAeS (7 December 1951). "Rockets for Aircraft Propulsion". The Aeroplane.

[Flight,_19_October_1956,_Armstrong-Siddeley_Screamer-3] Allen, S., RAeS (19 October 1956). "ROCKET-MOTOR DESIGN:A Paper by the Chief Engineer of Armstrong Siddeley Motors (Rocket Division)". Flight (PDF): 637–638. Retrieved 27 November 2014.

[Flight,_13_July_1956,_Scorpion_and_Screamer-4] "Scorpion and Screamer" (PDF). Flight: 76. 13 July 1956.

[Hill,_Vertical_Empire-5] C.N. Hill (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme, 1950-1971. Imperial College Press. p. 28. ISBN 1-86094-268-7.

[6] Keith Meggs. "A Man and his Machines".

[Flight,_17_August_1967,_Cancelled_projects_list-7] "Cancelled projects: the list up-dated" (PDF). Flight: 262. 17 August 1967.

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v t Armstrong Siddeley aero engines
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v t Aviation rocket engines and rocket motors
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