F/A-18A/B/C/D F404-GE-400/402 Engine Slotted Spraybar Inlet Flameholder Follow-On Flight Test Evaluation

Abstract

The current production F404-GE-400/402 flameholder (P/N 6056T68G07) experiences a high rate of replacement in the F/A-18A-D fleet, The replacement of the F404-GE400 (-400) and F404-GE-402 (-402) flameholder requires the removal of the spraybars and support links, which can only be accomplished with the removal of the engine from the aircraft, For the -402 engine, flameholder replacement is the number one reason for unscheduled engine removals. The flameholder is exchangeable between the 402 and -400 engine, although the flameholder installed in the 402 engine has a lower life than the -400 engine flameholder because of the increased temperature severity to which the flameholder is exposed. A slotted flameholder designed to allow flameholder replacement with the engine installed in the aircraft was determined to be the best design solution. It would not require any modification to other afterburner (A/B) hardware, and after the initial installation the flameholder could be removed with the engine installed. Previous flight tests were conducted with the first version of the slotted flameholder (P/N 6056T68G10GK). Improvements to durability and operability were incorporated into the second flight test version of the slotted flameholder (P/N 6056T68G10G1) in an attempt to produce a slotted flameholder with similar durability and operability as the current production flameholder. The purpose of this flight test was to evaluate the A/B light-off performance of the slotted flameholder (P/N 6056T68G10G1) for the F/A-18A-D aircraft with F404-GE-400/402 engines. These tests were conducted from 20-28 September 2000. While evaluating the slotted flameholder, some degradation in light-off performance was observed in the upper left-hand corner of the F/A-18A-D flight envelope.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 23, 2002
Accession Number
ADA407860

Entities

People

  • Mary Picard
  • Scott Whitley

Organizations

  • Naval Air Warfare Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afterburners
  • Aircrafts
  • Degradation
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Engines
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • High Altitude
  • Inertial Navigation
  • Inertial Navigation Systems
  • Lessons Learned
  • Mach Number
  • Production
  • Resilience
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Methods
  • Turbines

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Computer Networking
  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Technology.