Westinghouse J40

The Westinghouse J40 was an American turbojet engine, which was developed from 1946 on behalf of the Bureau of Aeronautics of the U.S. Navy. It is a Einwellentriebwerk with a 10 -stage axial compressor, an annular combustion chamber and an axial turbine.

In June 1947 was signed with Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric, a development agreement. The first prototype was in November 1948. By the spring of 1949, the development was on schedule. A further development with an afterburner, the J40 -WE- 8, was started and the engine should be as the Grumman XF10F, drive all new Navy fighter aircraft, the McDonnell F3H and the Douglas F4D. The Douglas O 3 should be equipped with J40 but without afterburner.

However, it was not possible to ensure sufficient reliability. The 150h endurance test was successfully completed in January 1951 with afterburner the test could be passed only in August 1952. Critical here were vibrations of the compressor. Also, the response time of the engine was criticized in flight test, the required for the transition from idle to full load about 20s, which caused problems during the landing approach. At this time, however, already equal power but proven engines of the rivals were in use. The project was therefore set in 1955, without there has been a series production.

Technical data (WE -8)

• Thrust: 32.9 kN, 48.5 kN with afterburner
• Diameter: 1.02 m
• Length: 7.62 m
• Weight: 1580 kg