The turbonator: Design and development

AIRCRAFT electric system generators have been changing from the wide-speed-range, d-c machines of 15 years ago to the constant-frequency, 400-cps a-c systems widely used today. These constant-frequency generators require a fixed-speed shaft. This is sometimes provided by supplying engine shaft power through variable gear ratio devices. In other cases, generators are driven by fixed air turbines operating on air bled from the engine compressors. Design problems in these systems center on the reduction of weight and compatibility with the environmental conditions presented by high performance aircraft. It was in an effort to meet these problems that the Turbonator, an integrated turbine-generator package, was conceived and developed.