Rolls-Royce/JAEC RJ500

The Rolls-Royce/JAEC RJ500 was a civil turbofan rated at 20,000 pounds-force (89 kilonewtons) that Rolls-Royce and the Japanese Aero Engine Corporation consortium hoped to develop for aircraft such as the Boeing 737-300 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-80. A single-stage fan, driven by a three-stage low pressure turbine, supercharged a nine-stage high pressure compressor, which was driven by a two-stage air-cooled high pressure turbine; the combustor was annular and the exhaust used separate jets. The high pressure compressor was a scale-up of the one in the Rolls-Royce RB401, with a ninth stage added at the rear. Fan diameter was restricted to 60 inches (1,524 millimetres) because of the relatively short undercarriage of the 737, and even then the engine nacelle needed an oblate shape to improve ground clearance. Two prototype engines were built and ground tested, but the project was cancelled in the early 1980s.