| XT57 / PT5 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist's concept of the C-132 powered by 4 T57 turboprops | |
| Type | Turboprop |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Pratt & Whitney |
| Major applications | Douglas JC-124C Globemaster II Douglas C-132 (intended) |
| Number built | 6 [1] |
| Developed from | Pratt & Whitney J57 |
The Pratt & Whitney XT57 (company designation: PT5) was an axial-flow turboprop engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in the mid-1950s. The XT57 was developed from the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet. [2]
One XT57 (PT5), a turboprop development of the J57, was installed in the nose of a JC-124C (BuNo 52-1069), and tested in 1956. [3] [4]
Rated at 15,000 shaft horsepower (11,000 kW), the XT57 was the most powerful turboprop engine in existence at the time, [5] and it remains the most powerful turboprop ever built in the United States. [2] The engine had a split-compressor (also known as "two-spool") design. [6]
Intended for use on the Douglas C-132 aircraft, the XT57 turboprop used a Hamilton Standard Model B48P6A propeller with a diameter of 20 feet (6.1 meters), which was the largest diameter propeller to be used in flight at the time. [7] The single-rotation propeller had four hollow steel blades, [8] a maximum blade chord of 22 inches (56 centimeters), a length of 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m), and a weight of 3,600 pounds (1,600 kilograms). [9]
In the late 1950s, the XT57 was studied for use in a United States Navy-proposed, nuclear-powered conversion of a Saunders-Roe Princess flying boat. [10] [11] Despite not having entered service, the engine was selected because it had passed a Pratt & Whitney 150-hour testing program, which involved running the engine for 5,000–7,000 hours. [12]
The XT57 engine is on display at the Pratt & Whitney museum in East Hartford, Connecticut. [15]
Related development
Comparable engines
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