The Broomstick

A little engine called the "Road Transport Gas Turbine" was the sensation of the British Industries Fair, which opened last week at Birmingham. Though it has not yet completed its bench tests, London newspapers hailed the gas turbine as the advance guard of a power revolution. A vehicle driven by a gas turbine, the experts explained, would have no cooling system, no gearshift (except for reversing and extra-low gear), no continuous ignition system. It would be almost vibrationless, would need little lubrication, and would burn low-priced fuel such as kerosene or diesel oil.

Rather undescriptively nicknamed "the Broomstick," the new turbine is a contraption 17 inches wide at its widest and 5 feet long. It delivers 160 h.p. but weighs only 250 Ibs. An equivalent piston engine weighs about 800 Ibs.

Except for its small size, the Broomstick is not very different from larger gas turbines. A compressor at the front end drives air into a ring of seven combustion chambers, where it is heated by burning kerosene and kicked out at greatly increased speed. The blast of hot gases runs two turbines. The first turns the compressor, keeping the engine running. The second, spinning at 17,000-35,000 r.p.m., drives the transmission shaft that delivers the engine's power.

Other auto-size gas turbines are being developed in Britain, some of them farther along toward actual production. But no one thinks a turbine-powered car will be on the market for several years.

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