RU19A-300 Gas Turbine (Turbo Jet)
RU19A-300
Rather than just making another purchase from eBay, I decided to go the extra mile — literally. About 600 miles all told!
I'd heard whispers of another APU that was available, but this one was a little different.
An APU, or Auxiliary Power Unit, is traditionally used on aircraft to provide things like compressed air for starting the main engines and, depending on the aircraft, electrical power for onboard systems. They're essentially a self-contained power source that can operate without the main engines running.
Well, this wasn't simply an APU sitting quietly in the corner producing compressed air and electrical power.
The RU19A-300 is a small gas turbine engine that can also produce jet thrust.
And that's where things started to get interesting.
Rather more interesting, in fact, than I had originally intended.
This particular engine is derived from the RU-19 family of Soviet-era auxiliary power units. Unlike many conventional APUs, the RU19A-300 was designed with a propulsion capability, making it a rather unusual piece of engineering. It has a gas generator driving the compressor and turbine system, with the exhaust producing useful thrust.
In other words, it's an APU...
...but one that can also make a fairly serious attempt at leaving the shed.
And that brings me neatly to the first problem I encountered.
Customs
The first major hurdle wasn't getting the engine running. It was getting the engine into the country.
My problem was deciding what exactly to put on the customs paperwork.
What do you describe an aircraft gas turbine engine as without either:
making yourself sound like a complete nutter who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a workshop, or
attracting the immediate attention of every customs officer and tax inspector who thinks you're attempting to smuggle half a Rolls-Royce jet engine into the country?
I rather liked the idea of the first one, but probably not enough to actually try it.
So, as usual:
Research. Research. Research.
It turned out that importing something like this involves considerably more information than simply putting “old engine” on a form and hoping for the best.
I needed to establish exactly what it was, who manufactured it, its approximate age, country of origin, value — which is an interesting question when you're buying something that isn't exactly available at Halfords — whether it contained fuel or hazardous materials, its intended use, and, of course, the appropriate commodity code.
There was also the small matter of demonstrating where it had come from and that it wasn't stolen.
I managed to find most of the information I needed and even contacted HMRC Customs.
They were actually very helpful and pleasant to deal with.
Unfortunately, they were also about as much use as a chocolate fireguard when it came to telling me exactly what I should put on the paperwork.
The general theme seemed to be:
“Prove it's not stolen.”
Which, to be fair, is probably a perfectly reasonable starting point when someone announces that they are importing an aircraft gas turbine engine.
That got me about 80% of the way through the process.
The remaining 20% was where the nerves started to kick in.
While researching the import process, I found several specialist shipping companies that can transport it but can also deal with the customs paperwork independent of transport and importantly, pre-pay the import VAT and duties.
At that point I decided that sometimes it's worth paying someone who actually knows what they're doing.
Especially when the alternative is arriving at customs wondering whether you've accidentally ticked the box that causes boarder force to appear before you get out of the van.
So I handed the problem over to the professionals.
Next came the interesting bit...
Getting the RU19A-300 home.
So the engine is in the Netherlands and im in the UK. Doing a little planning brings me to thinking of taking the ferry as the euro star is expensive and the long traveling distance will be a killer. With the ferry i can sleep on the boat, fetch the engine and be back on the boat the same day.
Check the van has oil, water and breakdown insurance, all good but first attempt failed at the docks, blasted passport needs 6 months validity to enter Europe.
2nd attempt, better, onto the ferry, meal and a good nights sleep. Off the ferry, satnav plugged in, make sure im on the other side of the road (this seemed important so lets go with it for now) only to find the bloody sat nave needs internet and i don't have roaming. backup Plan B, everyone needs a plan B so out came the google maps i printed and we will do this the old fashioned way. follow the signs!
Actually the roads were pretty good and i got to the location in pretty good time. Met up with my contact, i have known him for a few years but this was the first time i had seen him so good to meet up. You know that little excitement when you see the car you are about to buy for the first time.. yes that's me. So i didn't waist much time, i had already done some homework and the box of bits was quite heavy so its got to be good right.
Great i knew it would be heavy and luckily we had the use of a hoist to get it into the van (pre measured and it just fits) plenty of straps and we are off. Again easy drive and we are back at the port with plenty of time. Lock up the van and a quick walk around found a nice restaurant on the shore line, nice day too.
Time to go, first time doing this so not sure weather we get grilled on this side in Holland or the UK. as it happens strait onto the boat, no messing. (big boat..)
Have you ever noticed at airports, no one goes into the red rout! We are the only driving into the customs dock and the boarder lass look surprised. Ok we have some pre paid duty on some goods, paper work in hand, just needs scanning.
After about an hour and being locked into a customs warehouse we finally get in contact with the shipping company who had to release something at there end. Boarder force seemed fine and they were pretty good to be fair. But hang on a moment, did you not want to see the goods!
Good back on the road and a long drive back to Leicester
And this is where the re-build journey will start
After my experience with the AI-9 the job is done in two parts, Indoor tasks (the house) and outdoor (the shed). While the weather is good i can get photos, minor parts off and basic electrical checks done, but we are at the tail end of summer so it is mostly Indoor stuff.
Research
As part of the deal i also got a German translation of the technical guide for the RU19A-300. A few hours later after scanning touch-ups and OCR I'm pushing AI to translate the pages. AI is good but it just keeps asking questions and bluffing its way through, there is obviously a limit to what AI will do for free. I ended up using a bulk translator that gave me the basic manual which i will slowly bring up to a reasonable level of Technical English throughout the project.
Electronics
As with many of the documents you acquire with old projects, the image quality is really bad. so i have spent many hours building a high res version of the schematics. I can now workout how many inputs and outputs the engine needs.
Ok cool, more on that later.
Connections
One thing i like to do is keep the engine side as standard as possible, Why? Not because im a traditionalist but in the event i or someone else wants to do the same thing, then i have a ready to go control box, just plug it in. In most cases there is usually only one or two main plugs and this one is a doozy, i managed to get an outer shell win no innards,
Along with the engine came that heavy box i mentioned earlier. Time to see what we have.
- Oil Pressure
- Fuel Pressure
- EGC Temperature
- RPM Counter
They are all Analogue devices and tend to be bulky, super reliable but im not going to be flying around with this thing (well its not in the plan). I prefer digital, compact and easy to move around. but comes with a big dose of nerdy programming. But i got some good news, a college of mine has offered the services of a bunch of HND students that would like a hand in what's going on. So this could speed things up, "we will have to see".
RPM Speed tachometer
The engine is fitted with a small 3 phase generator (DTE-1), not for power, this is only 36v to drive the Analogue RPM counter a (TCA-157M). the basics are the generator create a voltage, passes it through the wiring to a RPM counter that does some fun stuff with 2 set points, once each set point (RPM) is reached a contact is triggered.
Oil Pressure & Fuel Pressure
These two gauges use the same principle just at different pressures, the engine was originally designed with a 400Hz supply for the gauges, the engine i have seems to have a similar arrangement but uses 27v DC pressure sensos that will be easier to handle
Should be simple, couple of resistors, amplifier and some voltage protection
ECG (External Gas Temperature)
Typically nothing is strait forward on a 40 year old RUSSIAN engine. We have K type thermocouples but they are wired in series, this is unusual but it will provide an average temperature from the 4 thermocouples.
More Ideas to come on this one
Central ECU (Arduino Q)
Im getting used to the Arduino, but the Linux will be a new challenge.
Testing
As before, i wont be just throwing a switch and hope it runs, so some defined stages to laydown the processed and expectations
Electrical Tests
Test actuators & Solenoids, Thermocouple readings, Pressure Sensors
Starter Contactor
400A contactors, Current Dump System,
Fuel
Delivery system, pressure test, pressure readings
Programme
Evaluate timing chart, Auto control of equipment, Shutdown processes, Alarm notification & lockouts
Cold Scroll
Confirm core spin up, Oil pressure confirmation, Mechanically sound
False Start
Actuator tests, Fuel delivery, Pressure Test, Wetting of combustion chamber
Hot Run (3 stages)
Location, RAMS, Anchors, Noise levels, Duration, Fire control
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