PLAAF Shenyang J-11B Sino-Flanker
WS-10A Taihang turbofan.
Posted on 01/03/2010 10:42:42 PM PST by myknowledge
The Chinese Air Force is satisfied enough with its locally made WS10A jet engine, to put it into production. This can be seen from that fact that the WS10A is now powering some of their J-11B fighters. Originally, the J-11 used a Russian AL-31F engine, but China has been working for a decade to manufacture their own version of this, the WS10A.
The WS10A is something of an acid test for China, as it is a powerful military engine, and a complex piece of work. Russia refused to license China to produce the AL-31F, so the Chinese stole as much of the technology as they could and designed the WS10A. This engine was tested, and officially approved for production, several years ago, but kept running into quality control and performance problems. The WS10A may still not be as reliable as the AL-31F, but it's good enough to equip fighters in regular service. That's a major victory for Chinese industry, as only half a dozen countries can produce high-end jet fighter engines, and now China is one of them.
Love the flowers...
It looks like it would flex badly in serious dogfighting...
Jet engines are seriously complex machinery.
The Flanker would pull a high-G maneuver behind an Eagle or Raptor, but in doing so, the turbofans would flame out, the jet would stall and fall like a stone, with little or no chance of midflight recovery, forcing a pilot ejection.
The Chicom government is an equal opportunity stealer
Well, that’s how the Russians got their technology start back in the day. They stole all they needed from British Rolls Royce to help perfect the Mig 15.
Well the printer they put together that I received as a gift is a piece of c**p.
They didn’t steal the Nene engine-the British government sold it to them.
http://www.aviation-history.com/mikoyan/mig15.html
Exactly - the reasoning was kinda’ like “to improve trade relations between nations.”
Boy, look at the size of those twin vertical stabilizers...they seem large in comparison to other aircraft in this class...
Indeed, for stability of the Flanker in flight along with increased maneuverability.
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