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Chrysler Corporation turbine-powered Plymouth Belvedere, 1953.

     Interest in gas-turbine engines was fueled by the rapid technological advances during and immediately following World War II.  Many ideas that were seen as futuristic had already become reality, and turbine technology was no exception.  Jet engines for aircraft were built and tested during the 1930s and by late 1940s and early 1950s, jet planes were rapidly rendering piston-driven planes obsolete, and it made sense to some in the auto industry that cars of the future would be powered by turbine engines derived from the same technology.

     A gas-turbine automobile engine has significant advantages over a piston engine, notably having fewer moving parts than a piston engine, less mechanical wear on moving parts, a smoother ride, and the capability to operate on a variety of fuels without modification.  However, applying turbine engine technology to automotive use also brings an array of challenges, such as poor fuel efficiency at the lower power levels encountered in a car moving in slow traffic or while idling, high exhaust temperatures, making the engines small enough to be installed in a conventional production car, and the expense of the exotic materials required that can cope with the extreme operating conditions in a turbine engine. In addition to those challenges, even such operational issues as the difference in acceleration and braking performance compared to a piston engine would have to be overcome to make the experience of driving a turbine engine equipped car no different than that of driving a car with a piston engine.

  

   The story of Chrysler’s gas turbine cars began in the late 1940s based on work done shortly after World War II on a US Navy turboprop-powered attack plane that ultimately wasn’t produced.  A turboprop engine is a type of aircraft engine that uses the turbines of a jet engine to turn a propeller rather that propelling the plane by jet thrust, and in a similar manner, a turbine automobile engine is geared to the car’s transmission to drive the car.  

     Around the same time it was reported by Motor Trend magazine that work was being done by both US and European companies on automobile turbine engines, however, Chrysler’s work was kept secret.  During the same period, turbine car work was also being done at General Motors and Ford, but the work at either company was not nearly as advanced as the work being done at Chrysler.  For example, experiments were carried out at Ford with Boeing aircraft turbine engines tested in existing cars, including a Fairlane and a Thunderbird, but work progressed no further than that.   An apocryphal story told about Ford’s turbine test cars burning roadside vegetation was proven untrue, and was later told about Chrysler’s turbine cars.   Meanwhile, work at General Motors progressed as far as a turbine bus and the company’s Firebird series of show cars, however, the major difference, besides how much more advanced the work at Chrysler had progressed, was in the greater focus on the practicality of a turbine car beyond the engineering development being pursued.  As stated by Chrysler engineer Budd Mann:

  

    “Our primary purpose was to demonstrate to the corporation and the rest of the automotive world that a passenger car driven by such an engine could compete with current production vehicles on the basis of fuel economy, emissions, and cost.”  “It would have to do this while displaying its unique characteristics in terms of performance, smoothness, and the sheer excitement of driving a car.  So from the very beginning our program was car oriented.  Although we did a great deal of laboratory and dynamometer work, every concept, every idea, every improvement, was evaluated on the road.”

  

     From the beginning, the goal was to produce a turbine powered version of the proverbial “family car”, rather than attempting to mass produce a production version of one of the many futuristic and visually striking designs reflected in the concept vehicles and future-themed art of the post-war period that ultimately would have been impractical to make into functional vehicles for consumers to drive. 

Chrysler’s first Generation Turbine Engine

   

     Initial development work began in October of 1949, with design work on the company’s first automobile  turbine engine beginning in December of 1952, with the engine installed in the company’s standard 1953 model Plymouth Belvedere and first tested in December of 1953, with the first public demonstration  taking place in March of 1954.

         Chrysler engineer George Huebner overseeing the installation of the turbine engine in the Plymouth Belvedere. (Chrysler Corporation)
                                                    

                                                 

                                      Public demonstration of the turbine Belvedere, March 1954. (Chrysler Corporation)                
     
     This engine was the first turbine engine to power a production car, generating 100 horsepower (74,570 watts).  This car was also demonstrated to the public at a ceremony for the opening of Chrysler’s proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan in June of 1954, however problems starting the car required that the car be started out of view of the assembled reporters and kept running to avoid   having the car shut down and unable to be re-started. The starting problems were avoided at a later display in New York City simply by placing the car on display indoors.                                                    

     The first generation engine was later installed in a different Plymouth and used in a cross-country test from New York to Los Angeles, with the use of radiotelephones by the test drivers adding even more of a futuristic air to the trip.

                                                The car driven on the demonstration trip. (Chrysler Corporation)

     Ultimately, this experimental vehicle did not lead to a production turbine, however, the research and testing that went into it was the basis for Chrysler’s research and development work in automobile turbine engines for the next 30 years.

Further reading:

Chrysler’s Turbine Car: The Rise and Fall of Detroit’s Coolest Creation.

Steve Lehto, 2010, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, Illinois.

The Chrysler Regenerative Turbine-Powered Passenger Car, George J. Huebner, Jr. (Chrysler Corp.) Paper 777A, presented at the Automotive Engineering Congress, Detroit, Michigan, January 13-17 1964. Society Of Automotive Engineers, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, New York

Chrysler’s Gas Turbine Car: Power plant Design Characteristics, W.I. Chapman (Chrysler Corp.)

Paper 777B, presented at the Automotive Engineering Congress, Detroit, Michigan, January 13-17 1964 Society of Automotive Engineers, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, New York

Chrysler’s Gas Turbine Car: Materials Requirements, Amadee Roy, Frederick A. Hagen, and Claude Belleau (Chrysler Corp.)  Paper 777C, presented at the Automotive Engineering Congress, Detroit, Michigan, January 13-17 1964. Society of Automotive Engineers, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, New York

Chrysler’s Gas Turbine Car: Laboratory Procedures and Development Methods, G DeClaire and A.H. Bell

Paper 777D, presented at the Automotive Engineering Congress, Detroit, Michigan, January 13-17 1964. Society of Automotive Engineers, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, New York

The Chrysler Corp. Turbine Car Heating and Ventilation System, R.A. Brauburger, R.S. Heym, and R.C. Ziengenfelder (Engineering Staff, Chrysler Corp.)    Paper 823B, presented at the Automobile Week, Detroit, Michigan, March 30-April 3, 1964. Society Of Automotive Engineers, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, New York

Black and white photography:






Higher resolution images at:
in the Black and White Photography Gallery.

New digital art:







Higher resolution versions can be found in the Galleries at:

http://www.simonboothstudios.com/

http://www.simonboothstudios.com/

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but now I have alot of new work to announce.

Check out my redesigned site, www.simonboothstudios.com and check out Portfolio 2009 and the new Galleries links.

A couple of examples of my current work:

Portfolio: Long Demo Reel

Portfolio: Short Demo Reel

I have completed my Computer Graphics degree! The final course in the program was Portfolio Development, and here's the online version of my portfolio:

Portfolio Site

Movie Poster and DVD cover (click to enlarge):



Movie Poster:

Great Pawtriotic War Victory Parade!

A greatly improved version of the original concept from several months ago. Overall a fun and challenging project, and open to even more improvement in the future as I gain more experience with Lightwave. On one hand I wanted to do so much more with this, but on the other hand I know that it's simply a matter of being more patient and taking the time to practice more with Lightwave rather than worry about how fast one becomes an expert with it.

Still, I'm impressed with the final result.

Enjoy!

More animation stills:

More stills:

More stills:

Stills from this fall's animation project:

My account of the Tori show in San Antonio on AT45 m3 d26

The concert, originally meant to be in Austin, was moved to the Majestic Theatre, and the announcement was made far enough in advance for me to make plans to attend the show. Ordering a ticket for wheelchair accessible seating online was initially very nerve-wracking but ultimately went well, although I had to make a phone call a week or so after ordering the ticket to find out I wasn't getting an actual ticket in the mail but it was a will-call ticket at the box office that I could pick up the day of the concert.

The 26th arrived and with my power chair going alone was very easy- I got to the theatre around noon so I need to kill some time before the estimate time the meet and greet might start, and the weather was only slightly chilly but otherwise nice so it was easy to head down the street to get lunch, then head back to the theatre. I didn't see much going on at the front of the theatre so I went around the block to the back and found a group of EWFs waiting. Met some really cool people, including a few people around my age, so I didn't feel too old being there ;-)

To anyone who there, I apologize for talking so much, my enthusiasm gets the best of me sometimes. And it's difficult *not* to get excited about a Tori concert ;-) I was the guy in the grey and blue striped shirt.

It turned out as we waited that there wasn't going to be a meet and greet that day, but even after we were first told, we still held out waiting just in case, and a good four hours just flew by as we all chatted with each other about other Tori shows we'd seen and in general about why we're so into her music.

But unfortunately in the end there was no m and g that afternoon, so around 5 I headed out in search of a place to get dinner, and came back around 7 to the theatre, got my *real* ticket from the box office, and met more people in front and chatted more about how lucky it was the show was moved to San Antonio.

Getting in was easy, a lot of people going in but not a huge crowd, and one of those rare occasions where I'm wheeling around and not feeling like I'm in anyone's way. And fellow EWFs are always really helpful ;-)

My actual "seat", a parking spot for myself in my chair, was near the front on the right side of the theatre, but the slope of the floor made that spot high enough that I wasn't blocking the view for people behind me, and my view wasn't blocked by the people in front of me.

Great opening act- need to find his CD.

And then we got to see what we came for- the awe, the wonder, the pure genius, the supernova brilliance, the embodiment of perfection beyond the infinite that is our favorite piano goddess.

Her performance just plain rocked. Really cool how the elaborate light show contrasted with the almost spartan stage set up. The tiny purple lights on the black backdrop reminded me of a weird star field. Mental note: get purple Christmas lights for next year
;-)

It was a great setlist, a great mix of ADP songs along with her older work. She really got the audience involved with "Big Wheel".

I've only had the opportunity to see a two other shows prior to this one (FtGH in '98 and SW in May '03) and I know all of her shows rock, but I think this is one where I've had the most fun. I've been working a huge project in my class, a lot of stress about it, and tonight was just a really great escape from that. But beyond that, there's just something about a Tori show that is so hard to describe, the same as it's difficult to really put into words how her music resonates with her fans. Seeing the energy and intensity she puts into her music is an inspiration to pursue what one is truly passionate about, and that one is never too old to still get out there and have cool things going on in one's life ;-)

When the show was over that energy was still there, not a letdown feeling one would expect. I made my way outside and back to the rear of the theatre in case she might do the m and g, and got to hang out some more with other fans, and had a great time talking about what a blast the show was. But I had to leave at 11:30pm because my ride home was arriving and I think we had gotten the word officially that she wasn't going to be able to do the m and g. Someone in the crowd reminded all of us that while it's disappointing that we didn't get to meet her and didn't get autographs, that we still got one excellent concert that night, not to mention all the cool music over the years.

Very true. Overall, still a phenomenal beyond the infinite show. If she was performing on Z'ha'dum I would make the trip without a millisecond's hesitation.

We live for The One, We die for The One.

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Testing the Blogger Dashboard Widget

Jericho might be coming back!

One of my favorite shows from the past season.

Initial it was thought that it was canceled, but it looks like CBS might bring it back after all:

Message from CBS

Cool Atlantis launch!

STS-117 just launched. After all these years I still get excited about the shuttle. The setting sun (Florida local time) provided unique lighting.



Frederick Sturckow
Lee Archambault
Patrick G. Forrester
Steven Swanson
John Olivas
James F. Reilly

more info at

NASA's site

After CNN's coverage stops, there's the actual NASA TV feed you can view online.

Hondo Air Show





June 2nd, 2007

I hadn't been to an air show in a long time, and this one was a lot of fun. Lots of light aircraft, experimental homebuilt planes, and vintage military prop-driven planes. Jets are cool, but at the same time it's a rare treat seeing historic planes up close and actually flying.

And Apollo and early shuttle-era NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz was there. That alone made the trip worth it!









Photo with Gene Kranz. What was really great was that he took a lot of extra time after his presentation to talk with everyone
who had gathered for a picture.

Short bio on

Wikipedia

And check out this sign along US 90 going through Hondo:




All in all, a fun Saturday.