Michael Fuchs Personal Projects

This engine was a significant improvement on my first two turbojet engines.  For this engine I designed and built custom compressor and turbine assemblies.  The compressor wheel was sourced from a turbocharger, but I billet machined the compressor diffuser and compressor casing from scratch.  The turbine was completely custom (I CNC machined it from 304 stainless steel).  It was the first axial turbine assembly and annular combustion chamber that I built. The engine produced about 10 lb of thrust.  The engine used a centrifugal compressor (with vaned dump diffuser), internal annular combustion chamber, axial turbine, and compressed air impingement starting. The engine was started and warmed up using propane gas.  Once running, the engine was transferred to kerosene injection.

These two simple turbocharger derived turbojets were the first two successful turbine engines that I designed and built.  At the time, the idea of making a turbojet from a turbocharger core was new and unique, and both engines ran relatively well.  Both engines were small and produced only about 10-15 lbs of thrust.

Both engines used centrifugal compressors, single external can combustion chambers, annular inflow turbines, and compressed air impingement starting. The first engine used low pressure fuel vaporizer tubes (40 psi diesel) and a total loss lubrication system. The second engine incorporated high pressure fuel injection (kerosene) and a semi-recirculating oil system.