Flyingfortress Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 So Saturday at Thunder we saw the B-52 20 minutes before it fly overhead because of the plume of smoke it left. Sunday,it flew over my house on its way to Thunder again,this time,no smoke at all. Can anyone tell me why it was so smokey one day and smokeless the next? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 It depends on engine power settings. Full military power = lots of smoke. Flight idle or about = much less smoke. The only BUFFS still flying are the H models with the TF-33 Turbofan engines which I am pretty sure do not have the water injection system. They have so much thrust dry that they don't need it. The earlier models used water injection for added thrust at take off and produced very dense clouds of black smoke. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov-47 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Check out old pics from Anderson AFB Guam from during the Linebacker missions. Talk about smoke! We had B-52G's when I was at Fairchild AFB back in the 80's and I got to see quite a few MITO take-offs. Those babies could smoke! The KC-135A tankers with original engines were the same way. It's like yardbird78 said. Those 1950's vintage engines were smokers. F-4's were notoriously smokey airplanes too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark S. Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Flyingfortress: Couple of reasons for the smoke. The new JP-8 fuel is formulated to reduce it's flammability in a crash which causes coking at lower power settings. Coking is when you have incomplete combustion of the fuel which results in unburned carbon or coke in the exhaust stream. As for the KC-135's with the J57 the gas temperature is lowered in the engine helping coke to form as well even at higher power settings. Jennings may know more on that aircraft. Even C-130's leave smoke trails now. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne S Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Anyone see the B-52 fly with the new Biofuel, wonder if it is smokey. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Anyone see the B-52 fly with the new Biofuel, wonder if it is smokey. Yes it still is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Yes it still is. when you have to deliver iron in an environmentally friendly manner? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnny_7713 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 when you have to deliver iron in an environmentally friendly manner? or not depend on a foreign country for a vital strategic resource? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hawkeye's Hobbies Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Most engines that run on combustion to ignite the fuel tend to be smokey. Modern engines including diesels have fuel management and emission systems to reburn the unburnt fuel. Modern jet engines burn leaner and cleaner. Good side by side example of sooty burning and cleaner burning is the Collings Foundations F-4C which is operating with both an early smoker and a later nonsmoker engine. In a fighter, smoke trail was a dead give away to the enemy where you were and the direction you were flying. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dthank Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Check out old pics from Anderson AFB Guam from during the Linebackermissions. Talk about smoke! We had B-52G's when I was at Fairchild AFB back in the 80's and I got to see quite a few MITO take-offs. Those babies could smoke! The KC-135A tankers with original engines were the same way. It's like yardbird78 said. Those 1950's vintage engines were smokers. F-4's were notoriously smokey airplanes too. :) I was at Wurtsmith in the 80's and I also remember the smoke from those MITO takeoffs! What about the sound as well? My god I swear the KC-135s were louder than the BUFFs. Quite a sight after they all launched, complete silence with a brown haze in the air. Ah the memories..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
F106A Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I recall someone posted this video a few months ago on that very subject. One of my favorites! Smoke then...from "A Gathering of Eagles" Smoke now...from a MITO exercise at Minot AFB, ND. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Good to see it again...AWESOME thanx for posting it.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Yes it still is. The exhaust smells like popcorn now though ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikar Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 At Utapao R.T.N.A.F. they would launch every hour a combined force of "D" models and KC-135s. The only time it stopped would be during Bob Hope's show or at Christmas. After an attack the base would be empty of flyable aircraft because they would evacuate everything except the Pedros even if there was fighting going on near the flightline. It was something to see, a launch that would last over an hour, and then dead quiet until they returned. Where they evacuated to is anybody's guess but I'd say probably Bangkok and Japan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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