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]

Engines on display

• A preserved Screamer is part of the engine collection on display at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust in Derby.

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:

See also

Comparable engines

• Bristol Siddeley 605
• de Havilland Spectre
• Napier Scorpion

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

1. "Armstrong Siddeley Screamer". Flight (PDF): 160–164. 27 July 1956. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
2. Allen, S., RAeS (7 December 1951). "Rockets for Aircraft Propulsion". The Aeroplane.
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. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
4. "Scorpion and Screamer". Flight: 76. 13 July 1956. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2018.
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". Archived from the original on 29 March 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
7. "Cancelled projects: the list up-dated". Flight: 262. 17 August 1967. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2018.

External links

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