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Originally Posted by redbrian
"a flyover by four A-10 “Warthog” fighter jets sucking down your tax dollars at ten gallons a minute @ three bucks a gallon."
Just to nit-pick, the A-10 as all jets do burns JP-4 fuel.
The fuel allotment for each wing is procured on an anual bases, with the military fiscal year ending this month.
Contractor Fairchild Republic Co.
Power Plant Two General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofans
Thrust 9,065 pounds each engine
Length 53 feet, 4 inches (16.16 meters)
Height 14 feet, 8 inches (4.42 meters)
Wingspan 57 feet, 6 inches (17.42 meters)
Speed 420 miles per hour (Mach 0.56)
Ceiling 45,000 feet (13,636 meters)
Maximum Takeoff Weight 51,000 pounds (22,950 kilograms)
Range 800 miles (695 nautical miles)
Fuel Capacity 10,700lbs
They are also on a use it or lose it bases, so if they don't burn it they don't get it next year.
I'll pay extra tax's anyday to have the hog's fly over Arrowhead every home game.
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Sent your comments to Mr. Doggity, and he had this reply:
"Oy vey! It’s a joke, son. I know what they are and what they burn, but chose to make a joke, rather than write a whitepaper on it.
I only inferred by the pricing that I was talking about gasoline. They aren’t even very similar fuels. Gasoline is flammable and Jet fuel is combustible (meaning it has a much higher flashpoint). Jet fuel is nearly identical in composition to kerosene, not gasoline.
By the way, not “all jets” burn JP-4. Air Force JP-4 is called a “wide-cut” fuel or “Jet-B”, and differs from say, commercial aircraft fuels, called “Jet-A”, which is essentially filtered pure kerosene. Commercial fuel is similar to the “JP-5” preferred by the Navy for carrier-based aircraft, and JP-8 and JP-8+100 used by many Air Force planes. The Air Force preferred JP-4 for many of its aircraft because it has fewer contaminants, making the engines more efficient, but has a lower flashpoint and higher volatility, making it more dangerous to store and impossible to use at high altitudes and high speeds. Therefore JP-8 and JP-8+100 (with thermal stabilizers) are preferred for most applications. Some ultra-high altitude/high speed aircraft like the old YF-12 and SR-71 (both obsolete) burned JP-7 which has such a high flashpoint; you can put a match out with it. This was ncecessary to keep it from exploding in the wings at high speed and altitude.
I also know that the A-10 Thunderbolt (warthog) is an “attack” aircraft used for close air support, and thus it is often called a “tank killer”. But it is also listed by the Air Force as a fighter jet. The one’s we saw were flown by the 442nd Fighter Wing.
As for the procurement aspect, I did not know that."