General Electric J79
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The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter aircraft and bomber aircraft. Produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines, it was one of the first US-designed engines to outperform designs from England, which had previously led in the jet field.
It was developed in the 1950s as an outgrowth of the J73 engine program, originally called J73-GE-X24A, intended for reliable Mach 2 performance. J79 was a single-shaft turbojet with a 17-stage compressor with a novel arrangement of variable stator blades which allow the engine to develop pressure similar to a two-stage engine at a much lower weight.
The first flight of the engine was in 1955 where the engine was placed in the bomb bay of a J47-powered B-45. The J79 was lowered from the bomb bay and the four J47s were shut down leaving the B-45 flying on the single J79. The first flight after testing was on 17 February 1956, on a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. While the engine proved highly successful from an operational standpoint, the Vietnam War experience showed the disadvantages of its highly visible, smoky exhaust when used to power military aircraft. It enjoyed a production run of more than 30 years. 16,950 J79s were built in the United States and under license in Israel and Germany.
The J79 was used on the F-104 Starfighter, B-58 Hustler, F-4 Phantom II, A-5 Vigilante, IAI Kfir. A J79-powered version of the F-16 was developed for export, but not produced. A simplified civilian version, designated the CJ-805, powered the Convair 880 and Convair 990 airliners.
In the F-104 and the F-4, the J79 made a unique howling sound at certain throttle settings. The sound is thought to be due to airflow in the exhaust section of the engine being disturbed by the engine bypass flaps. This led some pilots to call the F-104 Howling Howland.
In a photo shoot of aircraft with GE jet engines, including the J79, a F-104 would collide with one of the few XB-70 test aircraft resulting in a massive crash and fatalities, and an end to publicity photo shoots of this nature.
Like its host F-4 Phantom II, the J79 will be remembered as one of the most successful aviation feats to come out of the 1950s and 1960s.
It is speculated that J79 from wrecked US aircraft in the Vietnam War served as the basis for the Soviet Lyulka AL-21 jet engine.
Specifications (J79-GE-17)
References
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