Gas Turbines for Commercials First it
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I T is reported in the U.S.A. that power
unit and transmission engineers who gathered in Detroit this month for the S.A.E. conference were of the opinion that gas-turbine engines would be used in goods vehicles and off-the-road equipment within the next five years, but that this form of propulsion would be a long time coming for passenger cars. (This viewpoint has often been expressed in articles published by The Commercial Motor also—J.F.M.). It was revealed that Waukesha had developed a heavy-duty gas turbine of 400-b.h.p. output, and that a number of companies were at present testing this. Standard transmissions had apparently caused trouble when used with gas turbines, and such engines could well be used with torque converters or even with electric generators and motors. The rotary-combustion engine was not regarded as a competitor to the gas turbine, in the view of many of the engineers.