Olympus 593 | |
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On display at the Aerospace Bristol museum | |
Type | Turbojet |
National origin | United Kingdom/France |
Manufacturer | Rolls-Royce Limited/Snecma |
First run | June 1966 |
Major applications | Concorde |
Developed from | Rolls-Royce Olympus |
The Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 was an Anglo-French turbojet with reheat, which powered the supersonic airliner Concorde. It was initially a joint project between Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited (BSEL) and Snecma, derived from the Bristol Siddeley Olympus 22R engine.[1][2] Rolls-Royce Limited acquired BSEL in 1966 during development of the engine, making BSEL the Bristol Engine Division of Rolls-Royce.[2]
Until regular commercial flights by Concorde ceased in October 2003, the Olympus turbojet was unique in aviation as the only turbojet with reheat powering a commercial aircraft.
The overall efficiency of the engine in supersonic cruising flight (supercruise) was about 43%, which at the time was the highest figure recorded for any normal thermodynamic machine.[3]