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Fighter Aircraft
Fighters are a type of military aircraft used for air-to-air combat. Ask questions in this category about types of fighters as well as their use in warfare.
966 Questions
The simple answer is: "Suck, Squeeze, Burn and Blow." Or, more accurately, air is taken into the inlet of a jet engine (suck) and then compressed (squeeze) by a series of rotors and stators. A fuel mixture is then injected into a chamber with the compressed air and ignited (burn). The subsequent combustion is directed aft and the resulting exhaust (blow) pushes the engine (and vehicle) forward. The exhaust gasses also turn a shaft connected to the inlet turbine which continues the compression process. It's really a lot more complicated than this, but this is the quick and dirty of how it works.
A modern jet engine is made up of several rows of spinning propeller blades called Rotors. As the airflow goes through each row, the air is accelerated and compressed. Behind the row is another set of blades that are not really turning---but attached to the out housing. These are called Stators. These help to re-direct the flow to be more efficient and prepare it to meet the next set of spinning blades. After going through several rows of Rotors, the air is compressed. This stage of the engine is called the Compressor.
The compressed gas enters a Combustion Chamber where fuel is added an a spark ignites the fuel/air mixture and this flame is self-sustaining. The hot gases want to expand and it passes through another set of Rotors and Stators that extract some energy out of the fast flowing air gases. This section of the engine is the Turbine stage because it acts like the turbines in a dam to pull energy out of flowing fluid. This engergy is used to turn the Turbine disc that is connected back to the Compressor stage, thus compressing the next amount of air entering the engine.
The gas escaping the engine has a great amount of energy and velocity and applies thrust to the engine and thus to the airplane.
Hi bypass commercial jets (Trent 900, GEnx) use outer guide vanes or OGV's to rotate and eject air before the compressor stage. The air rotates around the exhaust to reduce friction of exhaust gases increasing efficiency and reducing noise.
The steps in a jet engine are essentially the same as in a car engine: Intake, Compression, Combustion, Exhaust.
In modern jet engines, the air is pulled into the engine by a large disc of spinning blades called the fan. This is what you see if you look into the front [intake] of the engine. Behind the fan is the bypass duct [mentioned later] and the engine core.
The engine core contains more spinning components similar to the fan called 'compressors' that simply compress the air into a smaller area.
Behind the compressors is the combustion chamber, where the air is sprayed with jet fuel from a nozzle and ignited by a flame.
It then passes through one more spinning component called the turbine, which accelerates the air out the back of the engine. That turbine is connected to the compressors by a shaft running through the center of the engine and is what runs them.
The bypass duct [mentioned earlier] is simply a hollow area surrounding the engine core. Some of the air that gets taken in is routed by the fan through the bypass duct so that it totally bypasses the engine core, and mixes with the exhaust behind the engine. This makes the engine more efficient and muffles the sound of the exhaust, making the engine quieter. A better understanding of thrust
A common misconception about thrust is that the exhaust gasses expelled from the rear of the engine cause the engine and the attached aircraft to move forward. This is not true.
Although the expelled gasses do add a minimal amount of forward thrust, the majority of thrust created by the engine is from the aerodynamic forces generated by the aforementioned Rotors.We must first understand that Rotors are aerodynamic devices known as Airfoils because of their designed curvature. An Airfoil that passes through a body of air will cause a pressure differential that causes lift. The wings of an aircraft are examples of an airfoil, and as air passes around the wings, the curvature that engineers design into the wing will cause a higher pressure to act upon the underside of the wing, and a lower pressure to act upon the upper surface of the wing. As this pressure differential becomes greater, it eventually overcomes the combined forces of gravity and the mass of the aircraft, and the aircraft flies. This same principle can be used to explain why the Rotors are the primary source of forward thrust. As the rotors spin, they too will develop pressure differentials, but because they are mounted vertically like a propeller on a small plane, they will produce forward thrust, instead of creating upward lift as we are used to associating with horizontally mounted aircraft wings. NASA explanation of thrust See the the discussion page for more information.
Anyone can own a fighter jet yet not everyone is able to fly them. For example in Australia a jet pilot licence is needed. This licence is near impossible for civilians to obtain. It is only usually issued to military pilots or in extreame conditions. without that licence you cannot fly it but you can own one.
What type of fighter jets are flown in the USA air force?
The US Air Force uses an extensive variety of aircraft for fighter jets. The most notable being the "Hercules" AC-130 Gunship, F-22 Raptor, F-15 Eagle, and the A-10 Warthog (otherwise known as A-10 Thunderbolt).
How many people did it take to fly a Spitfire?
Only one person could fit in a Spitfire, it was very tight cockpit.
Vickers Aviation's chief test pilot, Joseph "Mutt" Summers, followed by test pilot Jeffery Quill.
The Spitfire origin was fast racing seaplanes. Reginald Mitchell's designs later became one of the first fast monoplane fighters.
Is America the best military in the world I think so but I want other opinions?
first of all America has the best military in the world. this is because we could beast any nation in an all out war 5000+ nukes could make every single part of Europe or Asia fatal to breathe the air or everyone vaporized. also we have never lost a war. yes you will say ohhhh you lost Vietnam. no we didnt we withdrew because our stupid congress wouldn't let us finish our arse-kicking of the viet cong. the American to vietnamese kill ratio was about 1:20 in other words for every American dead 20 vietnamese died. also America has a larger army than any country other than china and India both of which use crappy equipment. America also has the best air force in the world hands down. we have the best jet, the f-22 which is way better than the eurofighter. only reason they didnt get the lockheed is that they couldn't pay for it. oh and America has a laser weapon no one else does. if you don't believe me search wikipedia for active denial system. also America has the biggest and best navy in the world. we have the worlds largest aircraft carriers, with the worlds best carrier born aircraft. we also have the osprey which is the best troop carrier ever. we also have military bases in 130 countries around the world. our first strike teams can be on the ground in just 24 hours anywhere in the world. America also has more expeireince than any other nation in the world except for the israelis who are constantly at war. when people think east vs. west do they think England against russia? do they think England against Iran? do they think England against china? do they call any other nation (except for russia which really isn any more) a world superpower? do they call any other nation the worlds police force? the answer to all of these questions is no, because America is simply the best. hjowever i like debating with dumb people about this topic so please unleash your patriotism at me and suggest England, china, russia, israel, or even Canada if u r really dumb!
oh and by most powerful i mean all of military not just special forces or any other thing. as a whole America is BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER, AND STRONGER!!!
***I don't mean to butt in but seriously MEXICO has the best Army and Naval Forces in the world. Mexico has has over 5,000,000,000 soldiers who at any given time are ready to defend their country with their lives, their Basic Military Training is 20 weeks long compared to the USA 9 week army and 12 week marine. Mexico always stays off the radar and doesn't like to show off, Mexicans are the ultimate soldiers they fought off the spanish with rocks. Mexico has 1000+ nukes ready to take out any country. well now lets not forget since the US invasion no one has dared mess with Mexico let alone try any invasion, i mean come on they have the CARTELS, i wouldn't want to invade Mexico city, even if Britain invaded Mexico city and killed off the remainig resistance they would all wake up with their balls in their mouth and nobody would know what happened
Actually England has the best military in the world, you should do your re-search. The SAS has one of the best special forces in the world. They can adapt to any climate worldwide. America failed in Vietnam and also Iraq, Afganistan, and the list goes on. And by the way no one beats the Royal Air Forse especially America lol. Rome was the super power for 500 years, England was the superpower for 500 years, America might make it to 100 years as a superpower if there lucky but I don't bet on it
Why was the plane P-51 A Mustang named that specific name?
When the first NA -73 was delivered to the Royal Air Force in September 1940 they ( the RAF ) decided to call them Mustang 1. -The name stuck.
Feature of the world best fighter plane?
Who is to say what is the "world's best fighter plane" - there are many criteria to judge this by.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a 'canard' , that is, an aircraft that has an elevator or small wing AHEAD of the main wing. This is particularly obvious in the Typhoon, and it's competitor, Rafale,
Is it safe to fly a fighter aircraft using contact lenses or spectacles?
The safety of it is irrelevant - no air force will let you do that.
When did the first fighter jet take off from a ship?
The real answerOn July 21, 1946, in the first U.S. test of the adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, an FD-1 Phantom, piloted by Cmdr. James Davidson made successful landing and take-offs on board USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42).
1910? Are you kidding? Not for a jet.
The actual real answer:
3 December 1945 - pilot was Eric "Winkle" Brown, in a de Havilland Vampire, from HMS Ocean.
When did the spitfire retire and why?
I think it retired in 1960s and it retired because their were better fighter jets
Can an f-18 fighter jet land any where?
No, it is restricted to landing on either a conventional runway, or on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
Right now there are around 175 F-22 Raptors in existence. The number will grow to 187 and production will be stopped at that number if the program is not extended.
What was the dimensions of the Spitfire?
The Spitfire is 30 ft.long with a wingspan of 36 ft. 10 inches.
If you mean the person who designed it, the answer is Michael Pelehach, Grumman's chief designer. If you mean which company, the answer, of course, is Grumman, now Northrop Grumman.
What is the numbering difference between the F-14 F-16 and F-18?
Well, there all even numbers. The f-15 is a jet, was designed (i think) to fill in for the weaknesses of the f-14. The f-17 is a real jet (sort of). It actually was a prototype that never got in production, at the time it was dubbed the yf-17 search it on wikipedia.
Yes, you can buy fighter jets for personal use, most likely fighters jets that are no longer in use or are not brand new, it will cost a lot of money, and any model or specification you buy will not have any secret military equipment or weapons on board.
How much fuel does a fighter jet hold?
Depends on the jet, they hold about one 25th of a Boeing 737's fuel.
How fast is an f14 phantom jet?
The F4 Phantom II did over 1,500 mph. If you meant F14 that was a post Viet War jet called the F14 Tomcat.
Why was the B-29 plane a gigantic leap forward in aviation technology?
The B-29 was a large bomber, the first pressurised bomber. It had many new features including remote controlled guns, self sealing fuel tanks and radical new 28 cylinder engines.
