F-22 Raptor

[Bushwacker]

You got my attention with this one Chuck! Couldn't resist a follow-up! Here's the last project I worked on at Pratt & Whitney before I retired. F-35 Lightning II Mission X Flight Test

I stopped by Edwards AFB during a post-retirement vacation to see this historic flight, but as is typically the case with experimental testing, it was delayed for a couple of days to change an APU, and had to leave before they flew. Did get to see the F-35 up close however and meet the guys from Pratt, Lockheed and British Aerospace that I had worked with. This bird is the replacement for the F-16, F-18, and Harrier; engine is bigger version of the one in the F-22 with about 30% more thrust. It's stealthy like the F-22, but you can buy several of these for the price of one F-22!

I worked on the Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) which drives the lift fan. Driving that lift fan requires about 50,000 HP from the LPT (try to visualize a compact lightweight gearbox and clutch capable of transmitting 50,000 HP! ), which meant that total LPT output had to go from 30,000 HP for a conventional takeoff to about 80,000 HP for a vertical takeoff, and still maintain 90% efficiency (with another 20,000 or so horsepower available, just in case Allison's lift fan missed IT'S efficiency goal!) Up till then, no one had ever built a turbine that can produce that wide a range of horsepower with that level of efficiency!

If only our government had the vision and leadership to turn the sort guys that developed this aircraft/engine system loose on developing energy independence, something on the scale of the Apollo program, the USA could REALLY put the hurt on the oil cartel and END this energy crunch once and for all! One would hope that 4-5 $/gal gas would be enough of a "Pearl Harbor" event to get the attention of our politicians, but nobody has yet proposed a program of the required scope! Maybe they'll eventually get there as each candidate tries to out-promise the other!

I'll get off the soapbox now! Denny