To enter post-World War II jet engine production, Pratt & Whitney licensed production of the Rolls-Royce Nene engine. Converted to American standards, the resulting J42 Turbo-Wasp was first delivered to the Navy in 1948 for installation in the Grumman F9F-2 Panther.
Realizing the need for a higher-powered engine, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft worked together on a centrifugal-flow turbojet with a 30 percent power increase with no significant increase in overall engine size. Known in England as the Tay and in the U.S. as the J48 Turbo-Wasp, and publicly introduced in 1950, the 27,800 N (6,250 lb) thrust engine was then the most powerful engine flying in either country. Pratt & Whitney added water injection and an afterburner of its own design, which provided substantial power increases for short periods during combat.
The J48-P-8C powered the Grumman F9F-6 Cougar. Other models powered the Grumman F9F-5 Panther, the North American F-93A and Lockheed F-94C Starfire.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Circa 1952
United States of America
PROPULSION-Turbines (Jet)
Pratt & Whitney
Type: Turbojet
Thrust: 32,248 N (7,250 lb) at 11,000 rpm
Compressor: Single-stage centrifugal
Combustor: 9 combustion chambers
Turbine: Single-stage axial
Weight: 998 kg (2,200 lb)
Overall: 2200lb. (997.9kg)
Other: 9 ft. 2 in. × 4 ft. 2 in. (279.4 × 127cm)
Storage: 158.7 × 297.2 × 165.1cm (5 ft. 2 1/2 in. × 9 ft. 9 in. × 5 ft. 5 in.)
A19750601001
Transferred from the U.S. Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Virginia
National Air and Space Museum
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