Photo By Greg L. Davis | General Electric J79 turbojet engine on transport cart. The engine is over 17 feet...... read more read more
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The General Electric J79 engine is a variable stator, axial flow turbojet with afterburner used to power multiple types of aircraft including, but not limited to the F-4 Phantom II, F-104 Starfighter, Israeli Aircraft Industries Kfir, A-5 Vigilante and B-58 Hustler.
The J79 is an outgrowth of an earlier engine produced by GE, the J73. The J79 was designed to meet requirements issued by the United States military for a, “high-thrust, low-weight, mechanically-simple jet engine that could perform efficiently at Mach 0.9 cruise and Mach 2.0 combat speeds,” according to a fact sheet from the National Air and Space Smithsonian museum. The resulting engine was truly a dramatic advancement for the jet engine with the introduction of variable stator vanes in the compressor section which lowered weight, reduced compressor stalls and worked well across the flight envelope.
The J79 first powered an aircraft in-flight, a Douglas XF4D Skyray on loan from the Navy to General Electric as a testbed, in December 1955 at Edwards AFB, California. On Feb. 17, 1956, it powered a Lockheed YF-104 Starfighter aloft and within a month the YF-104 Starfighter had surpassed Mach 1, a significant milestone at the time.
Tinker had a long-term relationship with the J79 engine. According to historical documents in Sept. 1955 the Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area, as it was then known, “becomes the specialized Air Material Area for J79 engine maintenance.” This association continued at steady work levels for 20 years until there was a major project called Project Have Horn which converted and overhauled 96 in-service J79s destined to support 48 F-4E Phantom II aircraft instead of purchasing new engines.
For the period Sept. 19, 1975 through Aug. 12, 1981 J79 engine maintenance and workload was shifted to the San Antonio Air Logistics Center before being moved back to Tinker’s Oklahoma Air Logistics Center. The move back may have been precipitated by the fact that total management and engineering functions for the J79 engine program had been transferred from Air Force Systems Command at the beginning of fiscal year 1975.
Tinker ended full overhaul functions for the J79 engine on Feb. 20, 1992 when the last overhauled engine passed acceptance tests and was returned to service. Repair service continued until 2003 with a total 7,646 J79 engines repaired for U.S. and foreign military sales use.
The J79 served across the world in the most extreme conditions from arctic cold to desert heat in reliable fashion. While the engine was a thirsty beast capable of consuming massive amounts of jet fuel, the power it produced enabled the U.S. and its allies to send aircraft in to the skies for decades and establish air-dominance across the battlefield. Aircraft powered by the J79 engine are credited with more enemy kills than any other western jet fighter.
The J79 engine continues in service across the world with F-4 Phantom operators and legacy platforms still in-service. Additionally, many J79 engines which cost over $600,000 when purchased new can be bought as surplus for a fraction of the original price and have been used to power land-speed record vehicles and car/jet-trucks popular at air shows and drag strips across the nation.
Manufacturer: General Electric
Engine type: J79 turbojet
Maximum thrust: 17,900 pounds of thrust (with afterburner)
In-service dates: 1956-present
Number produced: 17,000+
Tinker connection: Program management, maintenance, repair and overhaul
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2017 09:19 |
| Story ID: | 243385 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 1,234 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Tinker Celebrates 75 Years: General Electric J79 turbojet engine profile, by Greg L. Davis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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