Bob Smith, Grumman’s chief test pilot, has been appointed as the new chief test pilot since Grumman’s chief test pilot was killed in an F-111B takeoff accident several years ago.
After that, Bob spent most of his time on the Tomcat fighter. He was familiar with all the tempers of the Tomcat, and he was also complacent about the improvement of the previous TF41, and finally had a usable engine.
And now, he is even more looking forward to the performance of the new engine. After all, according to the thrust on the bench, the afterburner thrust of this F101 engine has reached nearly 13 tons, and the two F101 engines at the rear can make the Tomcat The fighter has a thrust of nearly 26 tons.
what does that mean
The empty weight of the Tomcat fighter is 18 tons, plus 7 tons of internal fuel, which is about 25 tons. It can also be equipped with a 1 ton plug. This is almost a combination of medium-range and short-range missiles.
If the Phoenix is not mounted, its thrust-to-weight ratio is enough to reach 1!
If the phoenixes are hung, six phoenixes are three tons. Therefore, the total weight of 29 tons of the Tomcat fighter in air combat is calculated in this way.
Generally speaking, if the Phoenix is mounted, it will also be launched at a long distance. When it is close to the target and a part of the fuel in the aircraft has been burned, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the Tomcat fighter in air combat will reach 1. It is a terrible number, and it means that the Tomcat fighter can quickly climb upward and vertically without any effort.
In the past, when comparing F-15 fighters with Tomcats, they were complacent with their high thrust-to-weight ratio. Now, Tomcats will soon have this ability.
When the thrust-to-weight ratio is not high, relying on the variable swept wings, it is already possible to abuse the ordinary third-generation aircraft, and once the replacement is completed, it will have even more terrifying capabilities!
"Falcon, start the engine." A voice came from the headset.
With the help of the ground power vehicle, Smith skillfully flipped the switches, and then the whistle of the engine came from the back of the body. Compared with the previous engine, it had a higher frequency and stimulated the eardrum.
"The engine is normal." Smith looked at the various dashboards in front of him and said into the radio.
Because it was an experimental engine, Smith could fly by himself, and he did not carry a radar officer behind him. In the event of a malfunction, it could reduce the loss of one person.
"You can take off."
Smith turned on the afterburner. In an instant, two hot flames burst out from the tail engine, the introverted nozzles were all opened, and the lavender flame looked so dazzling.
The brakes were released, and suddenly, the Tomcat fighter jets rushed forward as fast as they had been hitting hormones, and a violent push came from the back.
"Oh, God!" Smith couldn't help but yelled, "It's great!"
Smith's adrenaline is secreted rapidly, this feeling is almost the same as a catapult taking off, yes, it is this feeling.
This is the first test flight, so the aircraft has no external plug-in, but it is still full of fuel. In this case, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the aircraft has reached 1, and it has reached such a sky-defying level.
The Tomcat spread its wings, swished and flew out, as if being kicked hard by someone. On the runway, it slid for less than 160 meters, and the front wheel actually got up!
That's right, relying on its own power, without using a catapult, it was actually such a pervert. The plane continued to roll forward for more than ten meters, and the main landing gear also left the ground!
It's already flying, it's too bad!
Everyone opened their eyes wide, watching the Tomcat fighter plane immediately raised the angle of attack after taking off, a full seventy degrees, and under the surging thrust of the tail, the Tomcat fighter plane quickly climbed upwards.
Climbing at a high angle of attack, this chic movement was previously only possible with the F-15. Nathan made the same movement when he burned the fuel inside the plane to nearly clean.
Now, but full of oil! When it was full of oil, the Tomcat fighter was as light as a swallow. Watching its high angle of attack climb, everyone's faces were filled with joy.
Smith's voice came from the sky: "I feel that on an aircraft carrier, it can fly by itself without opening the catapult."
This is of course an exaggerated statement, but this statement expresses Smith's view of this improved engine. It is too powerful. It perfectly matches the Tomcat fighter, giving it a powerful performance!
At this time, the Tomcat fighter was climbing rapidly, and quickly rose to an altitude of 10,000 meters. At this altitude, Smith leveled the plane: "The Falcon reports to Grumman, and the Falcon reports to Grumman. It has reached 1. The height of 10,000 meters is ready for accelerated testing."
Then, Smith opened the afterburner again.
The turbulent airflow poured into the engine, and the fuel burned hot, turning into high-temperature and high-pressure gas, surging out from behind, and Smith felt the sensation of pushing back, and it came again powerfully.
The Tomcat fighter has begun accelerated testing!
The sensors inside the aircraft were rapidly recording the test data. The wings on both sides swept back along with the increase in speed. Then, shock waves began to appear on the nose of the aircraft.
After that, the nose of the aircraft passed through the shock cloud, and the fighter had already entered supersonic speed, leaving the sound behind.
The wing is swept back, and the resistance of high-speed flight is greatly reduced. This kind of wing shape can perfectly solve the wing selection at various speeds. Now, driven by the powerful engine, it is even more abnormal. In 90 seconds, it has accelerated from 0.8 Mach to 1.8 Mach, and then it continues to accelerate.
In the past, when using the TF30 engine, relying on the weak thrust, the Tomcat fighter can reach the top speed of 2.35 Mach. This is the power of the variable swept wing. Now, under the promotion of the F101 engine, it quickly It reached Mach 2.35, which is still at an altitude of 10,000 meters instead of the theoretical height of 18,000 meters.
The speed continued to increase, but Smith turned off the engine and he could no longer experiment, otherwise, the body might not be able to withstand it.
"It seems that this engine is okay." On the ground, everyone was very excited: "Next, we will continue to carry out the test flights of various flight envelopes. If there are no problems, we will report the good news to the Navy! "
It's time to put pressure on Pratt & Whitney.
In history, Pratt & Whitney did not have much pressure, and kept the Navy to make do with TF30. It was not until October 1982 that the P-414A was launched, which improved the reliability and compressor stall problems. It was truly "usable" in the TF30 family. model.
Even so, it has serious problems. Under a certain combination of speed and thrust, strong vibrations will occur. If the pilot does not take measures in time, the Tomcat will enter a horizontal spiral. In addition, under a more severe turning action, the tomcat will turn. The engine on the outside will stall due to the turbulence generated by the fuselage block.
In short, this is a bad power, and now, finally, there is a new suitable engine available! (End of this chapter)