![]() ![]() ![]() The day before an important demonstration flight of a YB-49 prototype, its fuel and oil tanks were filled. That played a role in the B-52 being the bomber still flying instead of the B-49. The planes needed extra large oil tanks because all the oil that went to the engine bearings went out the exhaust. Earlier jet engines ran a total loss oiling system. ![]() Fixing that was also a benefit to defense because it was much harder for people on the ground to aim surface to air missiles when they didn't have a big sooty trail pointing right at the planes. When the engines on such planes got upgraded to models that had much better seals, they no longer needed large oil tanks to make up for the loss out the exhaust. When I was a kid in the 1970's there were regular flights of Phantoms from Gowen Field that went near my house and I remember seeing the black smoke trails when they had the throttles wide open. The early F-4 Phantom fighters also used engines like that. The engines the B-52 used before the TF-33 didn't have bearing seals capable of holding the oil pressure so under high thrust operation, which came with increased temperatures, oil would blow out of the bearings due to higher pressure used to keep the bearings cool. View gallery - 4 The black smoke trails were from oil. "The F130 is a proven, efficient, modern engine that is the perfect fit for the B-52." Air Force program and provide world-class, American-made engines that will power its missions for the next 30 years," says Tom Bell, Chairman & CEO, Rolls-Royce North America, and President – Defense. "We are proud to join a truly iconic U.S. This means that, among other improvements, will be able to B-52 fly longer without in-air refueling. With 16,900 lb of thrust, the F-130 has a 50-in (130-cm) fan with swept titanium blades, a two-stage turbine, and an HP axial compressor, as well as an improved combustor for significantly lower emissions and greater efficiency. One advantage of this is that the F-130 already has 27 million engine flight hours under its figurative belt and is already being used in the US Air Force's C-37 executive jet and E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) communications aircraft. What is unusual is that the F-130 isn't a bespoke engine for the B-52, but a militarized version of the company's BR725 commercial engine that was developed for the Gulfstream G650 business jet. The engines will be built and tested at Rolls-Royce North America's Indianapolis, Indiana facility. The latest life extension will involve replacing the current engines with 608 engines (eight per plane) and 42 spares, at a cost of US$2.6 billion under the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP). ![]()
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