In 1932 Shannon was was assigned as a flight instructor and an aviation advisor to the government of China. Lieutenant Ellis Dent Shannon, Air Corps, United States Army
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In 1930, he was stationed at Brooks Army Airfield, Texas. He transferred to the Air Corps, United States Army, in 1929. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant the Alabama National Guard (Troop C, 55th Machine Gun Squadron, Cavalry). He was the third of five children of John William and Lucy Ellen Barnes Shannon. (National Naval Aviation Museum)Įllis Dent Shannon was born at Andalusia, Alabama, 7 February 1908. 137634 taxis to the seaplane ramp at the north end of San Diego Bay. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum at Horsham, Pennsylvania, about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia. 135764, is in the collection of the Harold F. 135763, is displayed at the San Diego Air and Space Museum, and another, Bu. The XF2Y-1 prototype is in storage at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum’s restoration facility. There was one XF2Y-1 and four YF2Y-1 aircraft built, but only two of the service test aircraft ever flew. The service ceiling was estimated at 54,800 feet (16,073 meters), and the range was 513 miles (826 kilometers). The YF2Y-1 service test aircraft had a maximum speed of 695 miles per hour (1,118 kilometers per hour) at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), and 825 miles per hour (1,328 kilometers per hour)-Mach 1.25- at 36,000 feet (10,973 meters). The J46-WE-2 was 15 feet, 11.7 inches (4.869 meters) long, 2 feet, 5.0 inches (0.737 meters) in diameter and weighed 1,863 pounds (845 kilograms). These were rated at 4,080 pounds of thrust (18.15 kilonewtons), and 6,100 pounds (27.13 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The J46 was also a single-shaft axial-flow turbojet, but had a 12-stage compressor and 2-stage turbine. The YF2Y-1 service test prototypes that followed were powered by Westinghouse XJ46-WE-2 engines. It was rated at 3,370 pounds (14.99 kilonewtons) of thrust, and 4,900 pounds (21.80 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine used an 11-stage compressor and 2-stage turbine. The prototype XF2Y-1 was powered by two Westinghouse J34-WE-32 single-shaft axial-flow turbojet engines. 137634 in flight over San Diego, California. The airplane had an empty weight of 12,625 pounds (5,727 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 21,500 pounds (9,752 kilograms). The XF2Y-1 was 52 feet, 7 inches (16.027 meters) long with a wingspan of 33 feet, 8 inches (10.262 meters) and height of 16 feet, 2 inches (4.928 meters) with the skis retracted. It was equipped with retractable skis in place of ordinary landing gear to allow it to take off and land on water, snow or sand. The Sea Dart was a prototype single-seat, twin-engine, delta-winged fighter designed and built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation at San Diego, California. (Image courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers) Sam Shannon with the Convair XF2Y-1 Sea Dart. The airplane flew approximately 1,000 feet (305 meters) across the bay. 137634 during high-speed taxi on San Diego Bay (National Naval Aviation Museum)ġ4 January 1953: During a high-speed taxi test on San Diego Bay, Convair Chief Test Pilot Ellis Dent (“Sam”) Shannon inadvertently made the first flight of the prototype XF2Y-1 Sea Dart, Bu.
![westinghouse j34 58j300-1 westinghouse j34 58j300-1](https://www.radiomuseum.org/images/schematic-medium/westinghouse_el_mfg/h_304p4_277581.png)
The J46 engine was developed as a larger, more powerful version of Westinghouse's J34 engine, about 50% larger. company to produce a practical afterburner. The afterburner was developed by Solar Aircraft, the first U.S. Later models produced as much as 4,900 lbs with the addition of an afterburner. For instance, the Douglas X-3 "Stiletto" was equipped with two J34 engines when the intended Westinghouse J46 engine proved to be unsuitable.ĭeveloped during the transition from piston-engined aircraft to jets, the J34 was sometimes fitted to aircraft as a supplement to other powerplants, as with the Lockheed P-2 Neptune and Douglas Skyrocket (fitted with radial piston engines and a rocket engine, respectively). Built in an era of rapidly advancing gas turbine engine technology, the J34 was largely obsolete before it saw service, and often served as an interim engine. First run on 11 January 1947, the 24C was essentially an enlarged version of the earlier Westinghouse J30, the J34 produced 3,000 pounds of thrust, twice as much as the J30. The Westinghouse J34, company designation Westinghouse 24C, was a turbojet engine developed by Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division in the late 1940s.