Engine Model: RD-106. Manufacturer Name: RD-106. Government Designation: 8D72?. Designer: Glushko. Developed in: 1952-54. Application: R-7 ICBM stage 2 (core) initial project. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene. Thrust(vac): 645.300 kN (145,069 lbf). Thrust(sl): 519.000 kN (116,675 lbf). Isp: 310 sec. Isp (sea level): 250 sec. Burn time: 330 sec. Mass Engine: 802 kg (1,768 lb). Diameter: 1.40 m (4.50 ft). Length: 4.75 m (15.58 ft). Chambers: 1. Chamber Pressure: 58.80 bar. Area Ratio: 20.40. Oxidizer to Fuel Ratio: 2.70. Thrust to Weight Ratio: 82.04. Country: Russia. Status: Out of Production. Single chamber engine intended for the R-7 sustainer. Version of RD-105 with larger nozzle. Subsequently replaced by the 4 chamber RD-108. Glushko was having difficulties in achieving stable combustion in a chamber of the size of the RD-106, which represented a huge scale-up from the ED-140 German-design 7 tonne thrust engine. In the beginning of the 1950's, various experimental chambers of 600 mm diameter were built, but Glushko was unable to achieve stable combustion. An increase in the payload specification of the R-7, requiring a 50% increase in thrust per stage, got him off the hook. At the end of 1954, he abandoned the RD-106 and instead used four more modest V-2-size chambers for the RD-108.
Bibliography:- Glushko, V P, Albom Konstruktsiy ZhRD, Vol. 1 1968, Vol. 3 & 4 1969 via Dietrich Haeseler.
- Rakhmanin, V F, Odnazhdy i Navsegda, NPO Energomash, Moscow 1998 via Dietrich Haeseler.
- Michels, Juergen and Przybilski, Olaf, Peenemuende und seine Erben in Ost und West, Bernard & Graefe, Bonn, 1997.