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plants even such highly efficient engines as the Nomad, their interest was passing to pure Jet power. By 1955 they cancelled their order for the Nomad. And development stopped.

Orders for the Engine from other customers did not materialise and further design was dropped which really meant there was no work here for me certainly not on this Aero Piston Engine side. With my knowledge of Diesel Engine design I was transfered to Mr Lunn’s section of the Deltic design team here started my involvement with the Deltic a high speed triangular opposed piston layout diesel engine. This 18-cylinder engine was being developed and by 1957 it had test and had achieved 5,600 bhp in the C18-5 Compound prototype unfortunately here too the Admiralty cancelled the order in favour of the all gas turbine marine engine despite the heavy fuel consumption compared to the Napier Compound Deltic.

The Deltic Engine had been developed from the Culverin Diesel aero engine built under (1937) license from Junkers of Germany. After the war a completely new and compact concept of this idea using a triangular opposed piston layout with the three banks of cylinders driving three crankshafts set as an inverted Delta using a unique phasing gear drive train with Quill shafts were designed to absorb cylinder vibration. The first test single line E130/3T was successfully tested in 1948

At the time I joined the department the first lightweight E130 Deltic 18 cylinder marine engine had been tested to give 2,500 bhp at 2,200rpm. These engines were fitted with hydtaulic reversing gearboxes. A pair of these engines were installed in a captured German E-boat. Later 17 Saunders-Roe MTB’s were ordered for the Royal Navy fitted with two 18cyl Deltics. I was given a number of small projects to design including “Self priming water pumps, Lubricating Oil gear pumps and Auxilary drive installations.

I was also involved with setting out layouts for large ocean going liners using Multi-Engined Deltic installations driving through reduction gearboxes to the Large Propeller shafts. The idea was to power the vessel with up to twenty individual Deltic engine units. Such a scheme would give the vessel a combined output power in the region of 40,000 BHP When lower outputs were required individual engines would be disconnected from the drive. Additional standby engine units would be available in cases of failure or servicing requirements. This was a completely new concept of powering a large marine vessel and was feasible These small light and compact units could be easily manhandled. They could be removed and replaced quickly to be serviced away from the engine room in a workshop tooled up and fitted out for such work. Clearly the idea could have been successful for over the past twenty years these type of engines were supplied to BR(E) in their Class 55 locomotives have run over three million miles.

The third generation of Deltic were on the drawing boards by 1955 The CT18-42K fitted with enlarged turbocharger plus cooled scavenge air was tested to 3,700 bhp. By 1956 a 12 stage axial compressor scavenge blower was fitted inside the Deltic triagle of cylinders which drove a 3-Stage exhaust turbine, plus 3 starting and boosting turbine chambers; this all made up the 13 foot long E185 Compound Deltic engine.

A friend at college whose father was a jeweller managed to obtain a lovely solitary diamond for me, which he agreed to get mounted for a special price. Even so this was a fortune to me to buy but with some help from my grandmother and parents, together with my own savings I managed to settle the account. I should of realised all

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