De Havilland Rocket Engines: Part 2* - The Sprite Rocket Engine: Catalyst Packs, Kerosene and the Comet Trials

摘要

Early in 1947 the de Havilland Special Projects Group, led by Val Cleaver, started work on their first project the Sprite rocket engine [1]. Officially given the Ministry of Supply [MOS] designation D. Sp.1 the Sprite was a fairly simple 'cold' hydrogen peroxide engine using liquid permanganate as a catalyst. The engine was intended as a rocket assisted take off [RATO] unit for the Comet jet airliner. Such a requirement was deemed necessary because it was thought that the early Ghost jet engines would need rocket take off assistance at 'hot and high' airfields such as Khartoum and Nairobi. The very first firing of the D.Sp.l Sprite rocket engine was carried out at Hatfield on 24 November 1949. However by the spring of 1950 it had become clear that the Ghost 50 Mk 1 engines, which powered the Comet 1, had performed better than expected during trials at tropical airfields. Consequently the Sprite was no longer required for its intended purpose.