The Finnish Air Force got some F-18s into an ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull.
Far, far from the source, somewhere over Europe.
They then checked the engines with a boroscope.
This is why you don't fly turbojets through volcanic ash plumes.
Glassy pumice flakes meet metal turbine at 900 km/h.
From an F-18 part of a flight of five on training mission April 15th, just before air space closure.
click to enlarge from ilmavoimat.fi
view of melted volcanic ash on the korkeapaineturbiinin ;-)
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korkeapaineturbiini = high pressure turbine, in case it wasn't clear.
wow. neat shot. volcanic ash is affecting lots of things http://feeltiptop.com/volcanic+ash/ nowadays:)
Is it customary to present dates in M/D/Y format in Finland or does this just indicate that the Finnish air force is rather well integrated with friends out West?
Finland normally uses D.M.Y format. most likely the inspection camera software was written by morons -- note the brightness and exposure parameters aren't localized either.
All those oh-so-old russian nuclear bombers, with their prop engines, they used to laugh at...
;-)
Sorry to spoil the fun. Those Russian bombers would be affected since they are turboprops with turbines instead of an internal combustion engine. I'd seriously wonder what this ash would to an internal combustion engine (like the old props), apart from screwing the filter and stalling the engine.
Hakan: Turboprops can readily fly below 18,000 feet, though as with jets a lot more fuel is sucked up by the engines to push the plane through the atmosphere.
So is this Iceland's revenge on the UK for screwing them during the financial crisis?
High power aircraft piston engines come equipped with turbochargers to push air into the cylinders at high pressure, and the clearance between piston and cylinder wall is as small as possible. So, lots of air, lots of airborne dust, high temperatures, narrow clearances, what could go wrong?