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Steam Power Plants in Aircraft

The employment of steam power plants in aircraft has been
frequently proposed. Arguments pro and con have appeared in
many journals. It is the purpose of this paper to make a prief a
analysis of the proposal from the broad general viewpoint of
aircraft power plants. Any such analysis may be general or de~
tailed. If the approximate analysis shows considerable promise,
then an ultimate analysis may be proceeded with.

Power plants for aircraft must meet certain requirements
considerably different from those which other power plants are
required to meet. A primary requisite of an aircraft power
plant is light weight in proportion to the horsepower developed.

Compactness is a fundamental requirement not only because come __
pactness is associated with light weight but also because com— “
pactness is, of itself, an important factor in design. On this
light weight horsepower ratio, aircraft power plants must be
unusually reliable and must attain this reliability without atten—
tion in the air. They must develop a high percentage of their
maximum horsepower at the beginning of a flight, and must sustain.
a relatively high percentage of their maximum power throughout
the fligt. -They_must attain high economy in fuel not only be—
cause of the cost involved in operation, but also because the
weight of fuel consumed necessarily limits the cruising range
and the pay load.-

Aircraft engines must be extremely flexible
in operation; that is, capable of quick acceleration or deceler-
ation from idling Speed to full throttle, and vice versa, and of
fine adjustment at any crank speed throughout the flying range.

Since the controlling factor in aircraft engine design is
weight, it is important to consider this requirement. We are
accustomed to compare engines on the basis of weight per horse—
power. This coefficient in a given engine is capable of reduc—
tion, first, by reduction of the weight itself; and, second, by
increasing the horsepower. Progress along these lines has been
rapid and the limit has not yet been reached.