The biggest problem with the TF30 engine is surge, which was cursed by pilots as a plague-like engine.
For the F-14, the TF30-P-412A is not very suitable. The engine has a small thrust. The maximum military thrust is 5,600 kg, and the afterburner thrust is 9,480 kg. The tomcat thrust-to-weight ratio is only 0.7, which limits it. The play of mobility. If Nathan hadn't used the tomcat, which consumes more than half of the fuel, to fudge, the bs king would have seen a slow tomcat, and he might have really chosen F-15.
At the same time, in order to improve compression efficiency, Pratt & Whitney designed the compressor stall tolerance to be too small, making the engine extremely sensitive to changes in airflow, prone to surging or stopping. Compared to the small push-to-weight ratio, this is more terrifying.
Because this means that the pilot must be cautious in flight. You don't know when the Tomcat suddenly loses power and the engine starts to cough!
Originally, the TF30 was prepared for the F111 bomber, and the bomber would not perform highly maneuverable flights, but fighter jets would not work.
In flight, always pay attention to the state of the engine, any pilot is uncomfortable.
The U.S. Navy is very clear about its own engines. As early as 70 years ago, before the F-14's first flight, Grumman suggested to the Navy to use new engines in the development of the F-14. Will be produced in the competition between General Electric's GE1/10 and Pratt & Whitney's JTF22.
In other words, the F-14A currently mass-produced equipment is actually just a transitional model. The TF30 is used for emergency. After the F-14B with a new engine is put into service in the future, the earlier A-type will be upgraded to the B-type standard.
In 1973, a TF30 and an F401-P-400 were mixed and installed for the first flight. The new engine enabled the F-14B prototype to exceed 1 for the first time, allowing it to perform a vertical climb similar to the F-15.
It could have been changed now, but the terrible Vietnam War made the people very disgusted with the army. The domestic economy was sluggish, the navy funding was drastically cut, and the upgrade funding had nowhere to go. Therefore, the upgrade had to be delayed.
At the same time, the F401 engine exposed many serious reliability problems and failed the flight test. During this period, the Air Force's F100 also slumped due to the reliability of the engine and won the title of the hangar queen.
As a result, the Navy continued to use the TF30, while HP is constantly improving this engine, but no matter how it is improved, the congenital defects cannot be changed.
For example, as of 1984, Tomcats that crashed due to engine problems accounted for 28.2% of all accident losses, and a total of more than 20 aircraft were lost.
The navy is still thinking about changing the gears. It has successively changed GE's F101DFE engine and GE's F110-GE-400 engine. The latter engine finally successfully won the contract and eventually became the Super Tomcat.
However, that has been 86 years.
In Nathan's eyes, the power of the Tomcat fighter is of course based on the F110, and the future F119 will be developed, but now, in the past few years when the F110 has not matured, relying on the TF30 is too tragic.
Therefore, Nathan has been actively promoting.
The release of the high-spirited movie gave the U.S. Navy a spotlight. The chief planner, author, and protagonist of this movie are all Nathan. Therefore, Nathan has a certain influence in the upper ranks of the Navy.
With the addition of funds for the purchase of Tomcats in the bs country, and some needs in the UK, in this way, after repeated consultations and research, the Tomcats on TF41 were promoted.
The TF41 engine was originally a turbofan engine jointly developed and produced by Allison of the United States and Rolls-Royce of the United Kingdom. It is a modification of the Spey RB168-25, without a rear combustion chamber, used to install the A-7 attack aircraft.
After several years of hard work, this engine is quite mature. The original Spey prototype is not bad. The improved TF41 has been heavily equipped in the US Navy for A-7 attack aircraft and other aircraft.
And now, the replacement for the F-14 is the new and improved model of the two companies, the 912 series. Among them, the 912-B32 engine has an afterburner thrust of 10.2 tons, and the 912-b32B engine has an afterburner thrust of 11.5 tons.
Historically, both of these engines were used by Allison to participate in the F-14 replacement selection in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, they did not win the bid. Now, the latter is still under development, while the former has been Used on the Tomcat fighter!
Compared with the F100's thrust of more than 12 tons, its thrust is not high enough, and the thrust-to-weight ratio of the whole machine still does not reach 1. However, its biggest feature is that it is mature and reliable, and there is no need to worry about the surge of the engine. The pilot is in the sky and can do whatever he wants!
After all, this is just a temporary alternative. After the F110 matures, the later ones will definitely switch to the F110 engine. At that time, this batch of engines will have reached the end of their life.
"Start the engine." With the gesture of the deck crew, the roar of the engine came from the tail, which was quite similar to the original TF30.
However, the fighter can no longer restrain the urge to take off.
"The Lone Ranger asked to take off."
"You can take off, good luck." The voice of the tower came from the headset.
Turning on the afterburner, watching the gestures of the people on the deck, releasing the brakes, pulled by a strong catapult, the Tomcat fighter swiftly slid away, and the two waves of heat from the tail swept the entire deck.
Compared with the original TF30, the thrust is 8% larger, which is reflected in the take-off, that is, when it leaves the deck, the speed is about 20 knots higher.
Nathan restrained his impulse and did not directly pull the joystick to climb at a large angle. Following the usual course, he flew steadily and vigorously, until he left the aircraft carrier over the sea 100 kilometers away, before starting to make maneuvers one by one. .
At this time, the speed has increased to 800 kilometers per hour, Nathan suddenly pulled up the control stick, the fighter raised its nose, and climbed at a high angle of attack. Then, Nathan started to push the control stick to one. side.
In the previous Tomcat, climbing would have caused turbulence in the airflow in the intake duct. Now coupled with the side slip, there will be irregular tremors of the tail engine. It wants to breathe air. However, the air intake was blocked, and the airflow was rapidly reduced. As a result, the TF30 engine began to reduce its speed irregularly until the flame was turned off. All the airflows on the compressor blades were turbulent.
But now, I can't feel anything behind, the TF41 engine is providing thrust steadily. In this state of high angle of attack climb and sideslip, it still provides thrust very steadily!
Although the improvement in mobility is not obvious, at least the reliability of the engine is improved!
Then, roll, roll the barrel, break the S maneuver... maneuvers one by one, no more scruples, fly as you want! If you encounter enemies in the future, you no longer have to guard the flight envelope carefully. This is a normal Tomcat! (End of this chapter)