The Little Engine That Could
Rolls-Royce announced last month the delivery of their 31,000th M250 turbine engine. Scheduled to power an Enstrom 480 Helicopter destined for Japan, it sounded to me much like a birth notice proclaiming my 31,000th grandchild. Fifty years ago I had the privilege, along with 6,000 Allison Engine engineers and craftsmen to breath life into that model’s first infant engine. It rolled off the assembly table at a mere 136 lbs developing a strapping 317hp … for over 30 years I was blessed with the honor of piloting it and it’s succeeding generations on their first development flights. It is exciting to see one’s offspring mature to 715 hp in such diversity and of aircraft including over 130 different helicopters, single and multiple-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and lighter-then-air installations flying in almost every country around the world. An excellent history of this “Little Engine That Could” is available at http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2009/Presentations/Model250Hx.pdf