"Poverty Spec" MD-80.

Looks like a ghetto Tupolev

Sweet plane mate, yeah i got the Turbo..... Prop.... The what ?!!!!

The Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engines on the Russian Bear bomber pretty much establishes that contra rotating turboprops exceed the noise tolerance level of the human ear. 🙄🤪

1980s era testbed for Unducted Fan (UDF). Didn’t work out at the time. Too loud, concerns about fan breakage. Fuel savings UDFs could update achieve were achieved with other means. Most of those other means (winglets, lower drag wings, higher bypass shrouded turbofans) have been maxed out, so we’re circling back to UDFs again. UDFs are likely making a comeback, but with some changes. The model shown above has 2 contrarotating fans, more modern versions have a row of stators and one fan (quieter). Fan blades are composite now so a blade separation is a bit less dangerous. Better blade design keeps the tips subsonic. Seems crazy but the easiest path to increased fuel efficiency is higher bypass, and there is a declining gain between increasing fan size and increasing nacelle weight and drag.

I understand the concept, but it doesn't sound right haha

UDFs might be coming back.

Saw that fly at Farnborough in 88. Interesting to watch. Bit noisy though.

That's an Unducted Fan or Propfan. In the 80s they were thought to be the coming thing, but they proved too noisy and not much more economic.

I wonder why turboprops isn't used more in short commercial flights, especially now when we need to conserve fuel and become less reliant on dictatorial oil countries and a U.S.A that seems to go hi-wire.

Imagine the blade breaking off lol.

Poverty spec is pretty mean for the hindsight of the oil crisis. Dang fan supremacists

At least the GE UDF didn't have a giant dildo glued on the back 😬

Hey That is a Pratt/Allison/Ham Standard affiliation, Those are Hamilton Standard Counter Rotating props. The System was 40% more fuel efficient that the best Gas Turbine. Why did it die? The price of Fuel dropped like a rock. I came to Ham Standard in 1988 tail end of program.

Did I see an up-and-coming new passenger jet with two of these type configurations? Imagine an A320 but with these two (and ginormous) on the wings instead of current configuration. Wild, or maybe I was hallucinating 🤪

The vibration from the blade tips would induce early fatigue cracking, especially in the plug

It was loud and slow…

MD-80s in that poverty spec always looked like they skipped every optional extra from day one.

Probably quiet 😁

Was that just a single engine? 😱

There were a few issues that had to be ironed out, the slip rings to provide power to the props were wet, lubricated by engine oil (intentional or unintentional I don't recall) but the graphite was making a slurry cutting through the seals, it was slated to be fixed the poof end.

Hmm. Not a fan.

Fun Fact, Pratt and Witless engineering objected to Ham Standard putting their logo on the side of the engine, that's why everyone thought it was a Pratt system it was not...Uncle Hammy made the Fan! The Barrels were massive Forgings and were machined in CT at Sterling I believe.

Temu MD-80

Fun Fact Ham Standard and Sumitomo Heavy industries made components to create a hydraulic actuated UDF, and an Electric UDF, they were going to use an Otis Elevator motor controller because the power consumption was so enormous to swing those blades.

I remember seeing this video in 1991.

Soon™

810 standard passed

That thing looks like it was built in a garage with spare parts and pure optimism 😂

Plans were in the works to us active noise cancellation in the cab, similar to the Saab 340 at the time if things had progressed further.

I want the Antonov An-180!

CBA-123

GE had an inducted fan in that era as well

🚮