Here's
a brief look at the history of the General Electric T58 Turbine
Engine
The
T-58 gas turbine engine was a pioneer in many areas. It was
the first high-performance, axial-flow gas turbine engine
designed specically for powering helicopters. In the 1950's,
current 'precision forging' techniques were found to be inadequate
because the T-58 blades were just too small and clearances
too precise. General Electric engineers invented the 'pinch
and roll' process to mass produce the small blades in sufficient
numbers required for production of this new power plant. In
1959, the T-58 powered SH-3A Sea King was the first helicopter
to fly faster than 200 mph and went on to break a number of
other flight records. In 1960 Los Angeles Airways launched
a fleet of T-58 powered helicopters as the first gas turbine
powered helicopters to be used for scheduled commercial service.
In
the early 1950's, General Electric was awarded a 3 million
dollar contract by the US Government to develop a next-generation
lightweight, affordable and reliable power plant for rotary
winged aircraft. Under a secret program named the XT-58, this
"baby gas turbine" powerplant was to weigh a mere 400 pounds
and was required to produce 800 SHP. This was quite an engineering
feat when you consider this was during a time before the automated
tooling and exotic metals widely available today.
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A pair of GE XT58-GE-2 turboshaft engines powered the first
flight of a Sikorsky SH-34H Sea Bat in January 1957.
The original XT-58 looks much as it does today.
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Born
of this program, the T58 turboshaft engine broke new ground
by powering the first US jet helicopter. The T58 continues
to lead the industry today with a long history of 'firsts'.
The T58 was there providing power to the Sikorsky Sea King
helicopter when it recovered the Apollo astronauts. The T-58
turbine still powers Marine One, the U.S. President's official
helicopter as it has since President John F. Kennedy was the
(respected) leader of the free world. Continuously updated
and improved, the T58 has a long and colorful history as one
of the most reliable helicopter engines ever produced.
Early
turbine helicopters flew the T58-GE-1 Turbine Engine
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In
1962 Sikorsky began production of the CH-3B 'Sea King'
powered by twin T58-GE-1 turbine engines.
In the early CH-3B Sea King Helicopters, the T58-GE-1
was rated at 1,050 HP.
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Next
came the T58-GE-3 Turbine Engine
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Since
the US Air Force had many T-58 turbines already, they
ordered the UH-1F
Helicopter to be configured with a single T58-GE-3.
The UH-1P is powered by a single T58-GE-3 de-rated to
1100 HP.
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In
1966 Bell built a little known prototype called the
X-22. It was a bizarre design powered by four T58 gas
turbines in an attempt to combine the vertical flight
capabilities of a helicopter with fixed wing performance.
The four General Electric T58 turbojets were mounted
mid-cord in the rear wing and drove four Hamilton standard
props in tiltable ducts through a complex system of
shafts. It was scrapped after an inflight malfunction
and subsequent"hard landing".
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The
T58-GE-3 also powers the Bell Iroquois TH-1F, and XH-48.
More
details of the T58-GE-3 turbine engine can be seen
here.
The
T58-GE-5 turbo-shaft engine has increased power
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The
S-67
Blackhawk is an attack helicopter powered by two T58-GE-5
engines rated at 1500 HP each.
The
HH-3E, unofficially known as the Jolly
Green Giant is a twin-engine, heavy-lift helicopter
featuring a pair of T58-GE-5 turbines.
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In
the early 1960's a prototype of the Piasecki
16H-1 was flight tested with a T58-GE-5. Between
1966 and 1980 General Electric delivered 607 gas turbines
of this version.
Purchased
by the US Coast Guard in 1962, the HH-3F
Pelican is well suited for search and rescue.
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The
HH3F Pelican was the workhorse of the US Coast Guard.
Serving from the early 1960's until well into the late
1990's, the Pelican is credited with saving 23,169 lives
and assisted 65,377 others.
With
a speed of 142 knots and a maximum range of 650 nautical
miles, the HH-3F was well suited to its amphibious,
all weather search and rescue duties. A common phrase among USCG Aircrewman
is "Only God has saved more lives".
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Here's
another fine example of the HH3F Pelican serving as
a 'Coasty' Search and Rescue helicopter. When lost or
in distress, a Pelican hovering overhead is the most
beautiful site imaginable.
Don
has flown over 2500 hours as a USCG Aircrewman in this
aircraft. Thank you for your service Don.
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General
Electric T-58 Turbine Engine
Fuel and Lube Oil Requirements
About
the T58-GE-6 turbine engine
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A
pair of the T58-GE-6 turbines powered the HSS-2 which
went into service for the US Navy in 1961.
The
T58-GE-6 is rated at 1,050 HP. In 1962 the HSS-2 was
redesignated the SH-3 Sea King.
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Next
came the T58-GE-8 turboshaft engine
On
6 March 1965, a Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King helicopter (powered
by a pair of GE T58-GE-8B turbines), piloted by Cmdr. James
R. Williford, took off from USS Hornet (CVS 12) berthed at
Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, and landed 15
hours, 51 minutes later on the deck of Franklin D. Roosevelt
at sea off Mayport, Florida. This historic flight broke the
previous helicopter distance flight record by more than 700
miles.
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The
amphibious SH-3A
Sea King uses a pair of T58-GE-8B turbines for power,
was the first helicopter to incorporate an automatic
blade fold system and was the first helicopter to fly
faster than 200 mph.
Powered
by dual T58-GE-8F turbines, the twin-rotor, Canadian
search and rescue (SAR) helicopter CH-113
Labrador was a used in air-marine rescue operations
from 1962 until 2004.
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The
CH-46A
has a counter-rotating tandem rotor configuration where
either of the two T58-GE-8B turboshaft engines can drive
both rotors in an emergency.
The amphibious SH-3G can carry up to 15 passengers plus crew.
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Here's
a closer look at a pair of T58-GE-8 gas turbine engines
in the photo on the left. Standing on the storage cart
is a T58-GE-8B turboshaft engine (to the left on the
flag) and a T58-GE-8F engine (to the right of the flag).
Both views are of the underside of the engines. The
commercial derivitive of the T58-GE-8 gas turbine is
the CT-58-GE-110.
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More
details of the T58-GE-8F turbine engine can be seen
here.
The
T58-GE-10 turbine engine powers several helicopters
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The
H-46
Sea Knight has served the US Marine Corps for nearly
35 years. From Vietnam to Desert Storm the "Frog" has
been the Marine's front line medium-lift assault helicopter
and is scheduled to be replaced by the V-22 Osprey.
The CH-46D
Sea Knight is powered by a pair of 1400 HP T58-GE-10
turbines. General Electric delivered 1,507 of these
gas turbine engines between 1966 and 1984.
The
SH-3D
Sea King (along with the SH-3H Sea King and S-61D
Sea King) are powered by twin T58-GE-10 turbines. The
commercial version of this engine is called the CT58-140.
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Incidentally,
the US Navy uses a figure of $271,317 as replacement cost
for mishap reporting the loss of one T58-GE-10 turbine engine
(CY 2006).
The
General Electric T58-GE-10 powers the Sikorsky Sea King models
SH-3D, SH-3H, UH-3H, VH-3H, VH-3H, YSH-3J, HSS-2A,
and the Boeing Vertol Sea Knight models CH-46D, HH-46D, and
UH-46D.
The
Gnome
turbine engine is produced by Rolls Royce under license
from General Electric. Similar to the T-58, the Rolls
Royce Gnome is marketed overseas.
The
improved T58-GE-16 turbo-shaft engine supports the fleet
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The
US Marine Corps updated about 350 CH-46D Sea Knight
airframes and re-designated them as the CH-46E
. These aircraft have improved avionics, hydraulics,
drive train and a pair of upgraded 1870 shp T58-GE-16
turbines.
The
CH-46D
Sea Knight serves the US Navy and US Marine Corps, featuring
a range of 320 nautical miles and speed of 134 knots.
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The
T58-GE-400B turbo-shaft engine powers the VH-3D
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The
VH-3D
Sea King is a twin engine, all-weather helicopter flown
by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1). Under the
call sign "Marine-1" (while the President is onboard)
the VH-3D supports the executive transport mission for
the President of the United States.
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The
T58-GE-402 turbo-shaft engine powers the latest H-3
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Sikorsky
modified the SH-3G to improve asw performance, added
ASMD (Anti-Ship Missile Defense) capability and re-designated
it as the SH-3H
Sea King.
The
amphibious UH-3H
Sea King is utility configured for logistical support
and search and rescue missions. I made two WestPac deployments
aboard the USS Constellation with this HS-6 helicopter.
It was a comforting sight to see the "Indians"
flying in the 'plane guard' position to the starboard
of the island. That meant if you got blown off the flight
deck it would only be a matter of minutes until you
were rescued.
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