SWB Custom Projects
SWB Turbines has done several custom projects for a variety of customers from NASA to the Guy next door. We focus on quality in everything we do. If you have a Idea and would like us to work it out for you, contact us at
Phone: (920)725-3721
Email: swbturbines@sbcglobal.net
Single Engine Go Kart
We have always used our innovation to take things to the next level. We have seen lots of Go Karts out there with a JFS Engine, for one of our customers we developed an Afterburner which increased the thrust by 50%. But we did not stop there! We mounted TWO JFS Engines With Afterburners to the back of his Go Kart.
Jet Bike
Another fun project that we did was we took a JFS Turboshaft Engine and mounted it into a modified FLH Harley Davidson Frame. After some time the bike was sold to Arlen Ness. As shown below he made a complete body for the bike and is now known as the MACH NESS.
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UAV History
Back in 1993 SWB Turbines started a second division building UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to several Government agencies along with building the engines to power the Vehicle. Also in the same time frame we supplied the University of North Carolina two SWB - 35 engines for their F/A-18E/F for the Navy, we were contracted by the University to integrate the engines into the airframe.
SWB Turbines F/A-18
Back in 1993 SWB Turbines unveiled the worlds FIRST Kerosene Powered Jet Model Aircraft. SWB Turbines selected a Yellow Aircraft 1/7th scale F/A 18 for this project and installed a swb - 35 turbojet with 35 pounds of thrust
North Carolina University F/A-18E/F
The 17.5% scale RPV of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has an all composite airframe. The RPV is powered by two SWB turbojet engines supplying a total of 80 1bf of thrust and burning 2.3 gallons of Jet-A fuel during a flight. The aircraft is over 10 feet in length, with a 7.6 foot wingspan and weight of 140 1bf. The plane is flown by radio control by a pilot standing on the edge of the runway. The full avionics array obtains the data for application of the parameter estimation techniques. This array is also a multiple computer network which measures fifty channels of dynamical data and controls all of the flight control surfaces. The airborne computer network is connected to a computer network on the ground via telemetry, for storage and real time display of the aircraft dynamics. A real time, out-of-the-cockpit video is transmitted to the ground. The video and flight data are provided to a simulator cockpit on the ground for the pilot to fly the RPV from the remote cockpit. The simulator computer takes the pilot's stick commands and transmits these to the airborne computer network for control of the RPV. When the aircraft is at the appropriate altitude, the radio control pilot turns over control of the RPV to the pilot in the remote cockpit. Upon completion of the flight tests, the radio control pilot takes over control of the RPV and lands the aircraft. The radio control pilot can also take immediate control of the RPV in the event of an emergency.
LoFlyte Experimental Aircraft
NASA and the U.S. Air Force unveiled a jet-powered aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art flight control technologies at a briefing in Oshkosh, Wis. on August 2, 1996. The 8-foot 4-inch aircraft was built to demonstrate a computerized flight control system that learns as it flies -- especially important for the demands of ultra high speed flight. The experimental LoFlyte aircraft will be used to explore new flight control techniques involving neural networks, which allow the aircraft control system to learn by mimicking the pilot. The model is a Mach 5 waverider design which is a futuristic hypersonic aircraft configuration that actually cruises on top of its shockwave. Waverider aircraft powered by air breathing hypersonic engines, would fly at speeds above Mach 4, LoFlyte represents the first known flying waverider vehicle configuration, but in upcoming flight tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California it will be flown at subsonic speeds to explore take-off and landing control issues. The remotely-piloted aircraft has been designed to demonstrate that neural network flight controls are superior to conventional flight controls. Neural networks are computer systems that actually learn by doing. The computer network consists of many interconnected control systems, or nodes, similar to neurons in the brain. Each node assigns a value to the input from each of its counterparts. As these values are changed, the network can adjust the way it responds. The LoFLYTE aircraft's flight controller consists of a network of multiple-instruction, multiple-data neural chips. The network will be able to continually alter the aircraft's control laws in order to optimize flight performance and take the pilot's responses into consideration. Over time, the neural network system could be trained to control the aircraft. The use of neural networks in flight would help pilots fly in quick-decision situations and help damaged aircraft land safely even when controls are partially destroyed. The construction of the model was completed at SWB Turbines of Neenah, Wis. This company provided the small turbine engine that powers the model. The shell of the model was made at Mississippi State's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and then shipped to SWB Turbines so that the radio control gear and the engine could be installed. The wave rider was chosen as the test bed for the neural networks because the configuration has an inherently high hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio. If neural networks can control this "worst-case scenario" configuration, then they should be able to handle any other desired configuration. The wave rider configuration was also chosen because it allows for long hypersonic cruise ranges of up to 8,000 miles. At an altitude of 90,000 feet the Mach 5 wave rider would be able to fly at a rate of one mile per second.
SWB - 65 Turbojet 65 lbs Thrust
SWB's team properly designs engine cycles for each engine, drawing on extensive experience with military and aerospace projects. SWB Turbines has teamed with the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate of the US Army, NASA, Hamilton Sundstrand, and others in their years in the industry. The advanced engine designs offered by SWB Turbines reflect the high performance and high efficiency expectations associated with these customers. SWB completes a rigorous design process, including combustor and fuel injector analysis, advanced diffuser aerodynamic design, and in-depth thermodynamic cycle analyses, driving the engineering of every SWB Turbines engine to provide the kind of reliability, power, and fuel efficiency that any customer would expect.
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