The Napier Sabre was a British H-24-cylinder, liquid-cooled, sleeve valve, piston aero engine, designed by Major Frank Halford and built by D. Napier & Son during World War II. The engine evolved to develop from 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) in its earlier versions to 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) in late-model prototypes.

Prior to the Sabre, Napier had been working on large aero engines for some time. Their Lion, had been a very successful engine between the World Wars and in modified form had powered several of the Supermarine Schneider Trophy competitors in 1923 and 1927, as well as several land speed record cars. By the late 1920s, the Lion was no longer competitive and work started on replacements.

Napier followed the Lion with two new H-block designs: the H-16 (Rapier) and the H-24 (Dagger). The H-block has a compact layout, consisting of two horizontally opposed engines, lying one atop or beside another. Since the cylinders are opposed, the motion in one is balanced by the motion on the opposing side, leading to no first order vibration or second order vibration. In these new designs, Napier chose air cooling but in service, the rear cylinders proved to be impossible to cool properly, which made the engines unreliable.

In 1927, Harry Ricardo published a study on the concept of the sleeve valve engine. In it, he wrote that traditional poppet valve engines would be unlikely to produce much more than 1,500 hp (1,100 kW), a figure that many companies were eyeing for next generation engines. To pass this limit, the sleeve valve would have to be used, to increase volumetric efficiency, as well as to decrease the engine’s sensitivity to detonation, which was prevalent with the poor quality fuels in use at the time. Halford had worked for Ricardo 1919-1922 at their London office and Halford’s 1923 office was in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, only a few miles from Ricardo, while Halford’s 1929 office was even closer (700 yards), and while in 1927 Ricardo started work with Bristol Engines on a line of sleeve-valve designs, Halford started work with Napier, using the Dagger as the basis. The layout of the H-block, with its inherent balance and the Sabre’s relatively short stroke, allowed it to run at a higher rate of rotation, to deliver more power from a smaller displacement, provided that good volumetric efficiency could be maintained (with better breathing), which sleeve valves could do.

The Napier company decided first to develop a large 24 cylinder liquid–cooled engine, capable of producing at least 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) in late 1935. Although the company continued with the opposed H layout of the Dagger, this new design positioned the cylinder blocks horizontally and it was to use sleeve valves. All of the accessories were grouped conveniently above and below the cylinder blocks, rather than being at the front and rear of the engine, as in most contemporary designs.

The Air Ministry supported the Sabre programme with a development order in 1937 for two reasons: to provide an alternative engine if the Rolls-Royce Vulture and the Bristol Centaurus failed as the next generation of high power engines and to keep Napier in the aero-engine industry. The first Sabre engines were ready for testing in January 1938, although they were limited to 1,350 hp (1,000 kW). By March, they were passing tests at 2,050 hp (1,500 kW) and by June 1940, when the Sabre passed the Air Ministry’s 100-hour test, the first production versions were delivering 2,200 hp (1,640 kW) from their 2,238 cubic inch (37 litre) displacements. By the end of the year, they were producing 2,400 hp (1,800 kW). The contemporary 1940 Rolls-Royce Merlin II was generating just over 1,000 hp (750 kW) from a 1,647 cubic inch (27 litre) displacement.

Problems arose as soon as mass production began. Prototype engines had been hand-assembled by Napier craftsmen and it proved to be difficult to adapt it to assembly-line production techniques. The sleeves often failed due to the way they were manufactured from chrome-molybdenum steel, leading to seized cylinders, which caused the loss of the sole prototype Martin-Baker MB 3. The Ministry of Aircraft Production was responsible for the development of the engine and arranged for sleeves to be machined by the Bristol Aeroplane Company from their Taurus engine forgings. These nitrided austenitic steel sleeves were the result of many years of intensive sleeve development, experience that Napier did not have. Air filters had to be fitted when a new sleeve problem appeared in 1944 when aircraft were operating from Normandy soil with its abrasive, gritty dust.

Quality control proved to be inadequate, engines were often delivered with improperly cleaned castings, broken piston rings and machine cuttings left inside the engine. Mechanics were overworked trying to keep the Sabres running and during cold weather they had to run them every two hours during the night so that the engine oil would not congeal and prevent the engine from starting the next day. These problems took too long to remedy and the engine gained a bad reputation. To make matters worse, mechanics and pilots unfamiliar with the different nature of the engine, tended to blame the Sabre for problems that were caused by not following correct procedures. This was exacerbated by the representatives of the competing Rolls-Royce company, which had its own agenda. In 1944, Rolls-Royce produced a similar design prototype called the Eagle.

Napier seemed complacent and tinkered with the design for better performance. In 1942, it started a series of projects to improve its high-altitude performance, with the addition of a three-speed, two-stage supercharger, when the basic engine was still not running reliably. In December 1942, the company was purchased by the English Electric Company, which ended the supercharger project immediately and devoted the whole company to solving the production problems, which was achieved quickly.

By 1944, the Sabre V was delivering 2,400 horsepower (1,800 kW) consistently and the reputation of the engine started to improve. This was the last version to enter service, being used in the Hawker Typhoon and its derivative, the Hawker Tempest. Without the advanced supercharger, the engine’s performance over 20,000 ft (6,100 m) fell off rapidly and pilots flying Sabre-powered aircraft, were generally instructed to enter combat only below this altitude. At low altitude, both planes were formidable. As air superiority over Continental Europe was slowly gained, Typhoons were increasingly used as fighter-bombers, notably by the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. The Tempest became the principal destroyer of the V-1 flying bomb (Fieseler Fi 103), since it was the fastest of all the Allied fighters at low levels. Later, the Tempest destroyed about 20 Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft.

Development continued and the later Sabre VII delivered 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) with a new supercharger. The final test engines delivered 5,500 hp (4,100 kW) at 45 lb/in2 boost. By the end of World War II, there were several engines in the same power class. The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major four-row, 28-cylinder radial produced 3,000 hp (2,280 kW) at first and later types produced 3,800 hp (2,834 kW), but these required almost twice the displacement in order to do so, 4,360 cubic inches (71 litres).

The first operational aircraft to be powered by the Sabre were the Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest; the first aircraft powered by the Sabre was the Napier-Heston Racer, which was designed to capture the world speed record. Other aircraft using the Sabre were early prototype and production variants of the Blackburn Firebrand (in 21 early production aircraft), the Martin-Baker MB 3 prototype and a Hawker Fury prototype (2 built (LA610, VP207), 485 mph). The Napier also flew in Fairey Battle testbed, Folland Fo.108 testbed and Vickers Warwick prototype. The rapid introduction of jet engines after the war led to the quick demise of the Sabre, as there was less need for high power military piston aero engines and because Napier turned its attention to developing turboprop engines.

Variants:

Sabre I (E.107)
(1939) 2,000 horsepower (1,490 kW).

Sabre II
(1940) 2,300 horsepower (1,715 kW). Experimental 0.332:1 propeller reduction gear ratio.

Sabre II (production variant)
2,200 horsepower (1,640 kW). Reduction gear ratio 0.274:1: mainly used in early Hawker Typhoons.

Sabre IIA
2,235 horsepower (1,665 kW). Revised ignition system: maximum boost +9 lbs.

Sabre IIB
2,400 horsepower (1,790 kW). Four choke S.U. carburettor: Mainly used in Hawker Tempest V.

Sabre IIC
2,065 horsepower (1,540 kW). Similar to Mk VII.

Sabre III
2,250 horsepower (1,680 kW). Similar to Mk IIA, tailored for the Blackburn Firebrand: 25 manufactured and installed.

Sabre IV
2,240 horsepower (1,670 kW). As Mk VA with Hobson fuel injection: preliminary flight development engine for Sabre V series. Used in Hawker Tempest I.

Sabre V
2,600 horsepower (1,940 kW). Developed MK II, redesigned supercharger with increased boost, redesigned induction system.

Sabre VA
2,600 horsepower (1,940 kW). Mk V with Hobson-R.A.E fuel injection, single-lever throttle and propeller control: used in Hawker Tempest VI.

Sabre VI
2,310 horsepower (1,720 kW). Mk VA with Rotol cooling fan: used in 2 Hawker Tempest Vs modified to use Napier designed annular radiators; also in experimental Vickers Warwick V.

Sabre VII
3,055 horsepower (2,278 kW). Mk VA strengthened to withstand high powers produced using Water/Methanol injection. Larger supercharger impeller.

Sabre VIII
3,000 horsepower (2,240 kW). Intended for Hawker Fury; tested in the Folland Fo.108.

Sabre E.118
(1941) Three-speed, two-stage supercharger, contra-rotating propeller; test flown in Fo.108.

Sabre E.122
(1946) 3,500 horsepower. Intended for Napier 500mph tailless fighter

The Junkers Jumo Fo3 and 204 were licensed to Napier & Son, who built a small number as the Napier Culverin just prior to the war. Late in the war, they mounted three Culverins in a triangle layout to produce the Napier Deltic, which was for some time one of the most powerful and compact diesel engines in the world.

In the early years of jet development, during WWII, it became clear that the jet’s fuel efficiency was well below that of the reciprocating engine. The low continuous temperature tolerated by the combustion chambers, under 1200°K, was to blame. Piston engines tolerate a peak combustion temperature of some 4800°K, because this high temperature is sustained only for one or two milliseconds. The thermodynamic efficiency of an ideal engine is given simply by 100(1-Te/Tp) in percent, where Te is the exhaust temperature in Kelvin, and Tp is the peak combustion temperature. Thus, a jet could easily triple its fuel efficiency by using a diesel engine to inject the kerosene fuel and combust the fuel/air mixture. The best gasoline fuel (130 avgas) at the time was unsuitable as it tolerated a maximum compression ratio of about 10:1, whereas ordinary diesel engines could attain 18:1, and 22:1 with Ricardo indirect combustion chambers.

In 1945 the Air Ministry asked for proposals for a new 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) class engine with good fuel economy. Curtiss-Wright was designing an engine of this sort of power known as the turbo-compound engine, but Sir Harry Ricardo, one of Britain’s great engine designers, suggested that the most economical combination would be a similar design using a diesel two-stroke in place of the Curtiss’s petrol engine.

Before World War II Napier had licensed the Junkers Jumo 204 diesel design to set up production in the UK as the Napier Culverin, but the onset of the war made the Sabre all-important and work on the Culverin was stopped. In response to the Air Ministry’s 1945 requirements Napier dusted off this work, combining two enlarged Culverins into an H-block similar to the Sabre, resulting in a 75 litre design. Markets for an engine of this size seemed limited, however, so instead they reverted to the original Sabre-like horizontally opposed 12 cylinder design, and the result was the Nomad.

The objective of the design was to produce a civilian power plant with far superior fuel efficiency to the emerging jet engine. Thermal efficiency is given by 1-(Tx/Tp), where Tx is the exhaust temperature (any absolute scale) and Tp is the peak combustion temperature. Jet engines have relatively low-temperature combustion systems which produce a Tp of no more than about 1000 kelvin, much less than the typical 5000 kelvin of a reciprocating engine, and so jets have very poor thermal efficiency. The Nomad design focused on replacing the low temperature combustion chambers of the jet engine with highly efficient Diesel combustion chambers. In practice, it was much too difficult to couple the Diesel power output back into the turbine cycle. The maximum practical power of the Nomad was 4,000 horsepower (3,000 kW), and it was much heavier than a pure jet of the same power.

The Napier Nomad was a British diesel aircraft engine designed and built by Napier & Son in 1949. They combined a piston engine with a turbine to recover energy from the exhaust and thereby improve fuel economy. Two versions were tested, the complex Nomad I which used two propellers, each driven by the mechanically independent stages, and the Nomad II, using the turbo-compound principle, coupled the two parts to drive a single propeller. The Nomad II had the lowest specific fuel consumption figures seen up to that time.

The initial Nomad design (E.125) or Nomad 3 was almost two engines in one. One was a turbo-supercharged two-stroke diesel, having some resemblance to half of a Napier Sabre. Mounted below this were the rotating parts of a turboprop engine, based on the Naiad design, the output of which drove the front propeller of a contra-rotating pair. To achieve higher boost, the crankshaft drove a centrifugal supercharger, which also provided the scavenging needed for starting the engine from rest. During take-off additional fuel was injected into the rear turbine stage for more power, and turned off once the aircraft was cruising.

The compressor and turbine assemblies of the Nomad were tested during 1948, and the complete unit was run in October 1949. The prototype was installed in the nose of an Avro Lincoln heavy bomber for testing: it first flew in 1950 and appeared at the Farnborough Air Display on 10 September 1951. In total the Nomad I ran for just over 1,000 hours, and proved to be rather temperamental, but when running properly it could produce 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) and 320 lbf (1.4 kN) thrust. It had a specific fuel consumption (sfc) of 0.36 lb/(hp·h) (0.22 kg/(kW·h)). In contrast, a very efficient Pratt & Whitney R-1830 petrol radial engine consumes 0.49 lb/hp.h at cruise settings. However, in practice the jet engine is still preferable since it is much smaller and lighter, and operates at much higher altitudes and speeds. The jet thus consumes about the same amount of fuel for a given trip distance, due to its much shorter transit time at higher altitudes.

The prototype Nomad I is on display at the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in Scotland.

Even before the Nomad I was running, its successor, the Nomad II (E.145) Nomad 6, had already been designed. In this version an extra stage was added to the axial compressor/supercharger, eliminating the separate centrifugal part and the intercooler. The turbine (which also received an additional stage) was now only used to drive the compressor, and feed back any excess power to the main shaft using a hydraulic clutch; the separate propeller from the turbine was deleted, just as the whole of the “afterburner” system with its valves etc. So the system was now like a combination of a mechanical supercharger, and a turbocharger without any need for bypass. The result was smaller and considerably simpler: a single engine driving a single propeller. Overall about 1,000 lb (450 kg) was taken off the weight. The wet liners of the cylinders of the Nomad I were changed for dry liners. While the Nomad II was undergoing testing, a prototype Avro Shackleton was lent to Napier as a testbed. The engine proved bulky, like the Nomad I before it, and in the meantime several dummy engines were used on the Shackleton for various tests.

A further development, the Nomad Nm.7, of 3,500 shp (2,600 kW) was announced in 1953.

By 1954 interest in the Nomad was waning, and after the only project, the Avro Type 719 Shackleton IV, based on it was cancelled, work on the engine was ended in April 1955, after an expenditure of £5.1 million. By this time civilian jets such as the Boeing 707 were nearing completion, and the Nomad was never seriously considered by any aircraft manufacturer.

A Nomad II is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Specifications:
Nomad II
Type: Twelve-cylinder, two-stroke valveless diesel engine compounded with three-stage turbine driving both crankshaft and axial compressor.
Bore: 6.00 inches (152 mm)
Stroke: 7.375 inches (187.3 mm)
Displacement: 2,502 cu.in (41.1 lt)
Length: 119 inches (3,000 mm)
Width: 56.25 inches (1,429 mm)
Height: 40 inches (1,000 mm)
Dry weight: 3,580 pounds (1,620 kg)
Valvetrain: Piston ported two-stroke
Supercharger: Napier Naiad turboshaft and gas generator, maximum boost pressure 89 psi
Turbocharger: Engine exhaust gases ducted in to Naiad turbine section
Fuel type: Diesel oil or kerosene or wide-cut petrol or “other fuels”
Cooling system: Liquid-cooled
Power output: 3,150 ehp (2,344 kW) max take-off at 89 psi (610 kPa)(208″Hg)(6.9Atm) boost including 320 lbf residual thrust from the turbine at 2,050 rpm (crankshaft) and 18,200 rpm (turbine)
Specific power: 1.25 ehp/cu.in (57.0 kW/lt)
Compression ratio: 8.1 (cylinder ratio), 31.5:1 (combined pressure ratio)
Specific fuel consumption: 0.345 lb/(ehp·h) (0.210 kg/(kW·h))(combined unit) at 11,000 ft and 300 knots
Power-to-weight ratio: 0.88 ehp/lb (1.44 kW/kg)

Turbine section
Type: Gas generator based on Napier Naiad
Compressor: 12-stage axial flow compressor
Turbine: 3-stage axial flow
Maximum thrust: 320 lbf residual at 18,200 rpm
Overall pressure ratio: 8.25:1