Rolls-Royce / Snecma Olympus 593 Turboject Engine

British inventor Frank Whittle pioneered jet engine design before World War II. Rolls-Royce built on his work and created a series of successful engines, including the Olympus turbojet first used in 1956 by the Avro Vulcan, the United Kingdom's long-range strategic bomber. Concorde used upgraded Rolls-Royce and Snecma Olympus 593 engines equipped with afterburners, which injected raw fuel into the exhaust to provide extra power and enabled the aircraft to accelerate to supersonic speeds. With afterburners engaged, each engine produced a maximum thrust of 38,050 pounds and consumed 6,770 gallons of fuel per hour. At cruise altitude, Concorde flew at twice the speed of sound, or 1,350 miles per hour, without using afterburners. Because jet engines can only take in air traveling below the speed of sound, Concorde used deflector ramps and doors to create a shock wave that slowed incoming air before it reached the engine. One Olympus engine generated horsepower equivalent to 10,000 small automobiles. The engine measured 13 feet 3 inches long, 4 feet in diameter, weighed 7,000 pounds dry, and had a maximum thrust of 38,050 pounds.

New York, New York · United States