Mar 1 1974
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
The refanned JT8D jet engine successfully completed its first test at full power, at Lewis Research Center. The engine, part of NASA'S program to reduce jet engine noise, was run through its complete operating speed range and achieved a thrust value above takeoff thrust. Built by United Aircraft Corp. Pratt & Whitney Div., the JT8D was used in a major portion of the U.S. narrow-body commercial air fleet. Modified by replacing the two-stage fan with a larger, single-stage fan, the engine could reduce the noise footprint areas of these aircraft by 75%. (NASA Release 74-57; LeRC PIO, interview, Oct 75)
The YCH-53E helicopter, largest and most powerful helicopter in the Western world, made its first flight, lifting off from the Stratford, Conn., plant of United Aircraft Corp. Sikorsky Aircraft Div. The three-engine helicopter had a rotor blade assembly 24 m in dia and fuselage 23 m long and could carry a 14 500-kg external payload. (W Post, 12 March 74, D7)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
