Re: Funny Story About the XP-59

Ed Rasimus wrote:

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:37:49 -0500, Dan <B2431@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Daryl Hunt wrote:

You know, tinkerbell, you really could have kept quiet on this and let
the Avio boys discuss it.

On the C-130 it can run both Jetfuel and gasoline. But the performance
level is not real pretty on Gas. Kerosene is what it normally runs (or
a dervitive as in JP-4 just to name one). But if you do have to make an
emergency landing at a filling station, you can fill up with Gasoline
and get off the ground but lighten your load before you do it.

Check out the -1 for C-130 for operating limitations when using
alternate fuels. Tankfixer is correct in that turbines will run on many
fuels including diesel. Daryl is correct in that there are variations in
power derived from different fuels. Both aircraft and tank turbine
engines have limitations as to how long one can safely use alternate
fuels before overhaul.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

As late as 1985 while I was at Holloman, we still had a small unit
operating an early Navy jet, the F-10. They were now Army guys and the
airplane did some sort of electronics testing. They had three or four
of them.

The bird was pure jet, single-engine and it ran on AVGAS--115/145.
They were noteworthy because if you had to taxi behind one they
smelled like a pig farm after a bad rain.

Oddly enough, Ed, back in the early '80s, I actually considered a FTE
(Flight Test Engineer) slot with Raytheon flying those beasts.
Twin engine, actually - a pair of Westinghouse J34s (With big bright circles
on the turbine blades where the cracks had been polished out.)
While it may have been small compared to an F-4, it was a lot of airplane
for those two tiny by today's standards (They're about the same as a
non-afterburning J85) to push around.
And they did burn AVGAS. In fact, the main fuel tank was above
the engines - so that a thrown turbine blade had about a 60% chance of
finding it. Cockpit escape was through a chute in the bottom of the
airplane - no ejection seats. I turned down that job - I was beginning to
like the idea of growing old.
Other than age and AVGAS, they were useful for hauling avionics around -
In its original incarnation as a Navy Night Fighter (The F3D-2 before the
Great Redesignation of 1962), it carried 3 complete radar systems - a big
search radar in the nose, a separate tracking radar for computing the
intercept, also in the nose, and a third full search radar in the tail
covering the rear. It had lots and lots of rack space for electronics,
lots of panel space in the right side of the cockpit, and tons of radomes.

--
Pete Stickney
Without data, all you have is an opinion
.