[Radar Chief]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

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."

Ah, see I didn’t know that. Guess we both learned something.