Why do fighter jets have flames?

Fighter jet engines use the exhaust gasses from the turbine directly to produce thrust, so there are not large amounts of non-exhaust air. The flames that you see are from a process called reheating.

Why do engines flame out?

Engines can flame out for a variety of reasons: Fuel starvation or exhaustion. Compressor Stall. Ingestion of foreign objects such as volcanic ash, hail, ice,birds or an exceptionally large quantity of liquid water.

What suffers a flame out?

The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, compressor stall, foreign object damage deriving from birds, hail, or volcanic ash, severe precipitation, mechanical failure, or very cold ambient temperatures.

Why is the nozzle on a jet engine so dangerous?

Because the nozzle conducts the hot exhaust back to the free stream, there can be serious interactions between the engine exhaust flow and the airflow around the aircraft. On fighter aircraft, in particular, large drag penalties can occur near the nozzle exits.

What is the nozzle on a fighter jet called?

They’re also sometimes referred to as the Ejector. The nozzle of a fighter’s engines these days have adjustable diameters using overlapped “leaves” or “pedals” to compensate for the exhaust flow rate. When the throttle is low, the nozzle closes to prevent back pressure from occurring.

Why do military fast jets glow?

Military fast jets use high performance gas turbine (jet) engines. They have much lower bypass ratios than airliners, and often have reheat, or afterburner. Reheat is igniting fuel in the jet pipe, that is, after all of the rotating parts of the engine including the turbines. Burning fuel this far back makes a noticeable glow!

Where do nozzle-afterbody drag penalties occur on fighter aircraft?

On fighter aircraft, in particular, large drag penalties can occur near the nozzle exits. A typical nozzle-afterbody configuration is shown in the upper right for an F-15 with experimental maneuvering nozzles.