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by Tondoteottotote on May 5th, 2005

Tondoteottotote

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Why don't jet planes have safety grates in front of their engines so birds, debris, and people don't get sucked in?

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  • by Pointeman1 on May 6th, 2005

    Pointeman1

    Any device put in front of the intake of a jet engine can have catastrophic results in that such devices can seriously disrupt the airflow into the intake and this can result in a compressor stall and flame-out. It took a great deal of engineering to use even the modest egg-crate steath grating that is part of the intake of the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter.

    Please note that during ground run-ups and tests of engines grates are used on the intakes where stationary their affect on intake airflow is virtually irrevelevant. However for aircraft operations, such safety devices are removed.

    One aircraft that does have a built-in intake safet of sorts is the Su-27 Flanker. When the landing gear extend, a grating comes into place over both engine intakes which deflect any large FOD (foreign objects & debris) that are being sucked into the engine. However when the landing gear retracts, so do the grates.

    Another aircraft--the MiG-29 Fulcrum does this another way: when on the ground and during takeoffs and landings the main intakes to the engines are blocked off by doors that wing down from the top leading edges of both intakes and totally block off air coming directly into the intkakes; This forces open spring-loaded slats at the tops of both intakes to now open and deliver air to the engines which now prevents virtually any FOB from intering the engines.

    US and other Western aircraft manufacturers solve the problem by carefully designing their engines so that the first couple of stages of the compressor section of jet engines will throw out any FOB being sucked into the engine and this works about as well as the Russian designs do.

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