Napier Eland


The Napier Eland was a British turboshaft or turboprop gas-turbine engine built by Napier & Son in the early 1950s. Production of the Eland ceased in 1961 when the Napier company was taken over by Rolls-Royce.

Design and development

The Eland was first tested in 1953 in a Vickers Varsity aircraft. Further flight proving was carried out from 1955 using the first production Airspeed Ambassador 2. The Eland was dropped from production when Napiers was acquired by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1961.
The Eland was used to power various aircraft including the Westland Westminster heavy-lift helicopter, the Canadair CL-66; a turbine-powered version of the Convair CV-340 for the Canadian military, and the Fairey Rotodyne gyrodyne. In the Rotodyne, the Eland powered the tractor propellors for forward flight and a compressor, via a clutch and shaft arrangement, to feed the rotor tip-jets with compressed air for vertical flight.

Variants

; Eland N.El.1: + residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.
; Eland N.El.3: Powerplant for the Fairey Rotodyne driving the propeller and an auxiliary compressor to feed the rotor tip jets + residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.
; Eland N.El.4: + residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.
; Eland N.El.6:
; Eland N.El.7: The 504 adapted to helicopter / convertiplane, compressed air generator use.
; Eland E.211: The 504 adapted for mechanically driven helicopter rotors.
; Eland 504:
; Eland 508: 504 with increased max continuous rating.

Applications

Turboshaft

A turboshaft Eland is on display at the Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare.

Specifications (Eland N.El.6)