The biggest problem with the TF30 engine is surge, which is cursed by the pilot as a plague-like engine.

The TF14-P-30A was not very suitable for the F-412, the engine had a small thrust, with a maximum military thrust of 5,600 kg and an afterburner thrust of 9,480 kg, giving the Tomcat a thrust-to-weight ratio of only 0.7, limiting the play of maneuverability. If Nathan hadn't fooled with a tomcat that consumed most of the fuel, King BS might have really run to choose the F-15 when he saw a slow tomcat.

At the same time, in order to improve the compression efficiency, Pratt & Whitney designed the compressor stall tolerance to be too small, making the engine extremely sensitive to changes in airflow, and prone to surge or stop. Compared with the thrust-to-weight ratio, this is even more terrifying.

Because this means that the pilot has to be careful in flight, you have to wait carefully, you have no idea when the Tomcat fighter suddenly loses power, and the engine starts coughing!

Originally, the TF30 was intended for the F111 bomber, and the bomber would not perform a highly maneuverable flight, but the fighter could not do it.

In flight, always pay attention to the state of the engine, any pilot is unhappy.

The U.S. Navy knew exactly what was going on with its engines, and as early as '70, before the F-14's maiden flight, Grumman suggested to the Navy that new engines be used in the F-14's development variety, which would be produced in competition between General Electric's GE1/10 and Pratt & Whitney's JTF22.

That is to say, the F-14A, which is now mass-produced and equipped, is actually only a transitional model, and the TF30 is used for emergency purposes, and when the F-14B with a new engine is put into service in the future, the early A type has been improved to the B type standard.

By '73, a mixed installation of a TF30 and an F401-P-400 made its maiden flight, and the new engines allowed the F-14B prototype to have a thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 1 for the first time, allowing it to do a vertical climb similar to that of the F-15.

It could have been changed now, but the bad Vietnam War made the people very disgusted with the army, the domestic economy was sluggish, the navy funding was drastically reduced, and the upgrade funds were not available, so the upgrade had to be delayed.

At the same time, the F401 engine exposed a number of serious reliability problems and did not pass flight tests, and during this period, the F100 of the Air Force also fell on its stomach because of the reliability of the engine, earning the title of Hangar Queen.

So, the Navy continued to use the TF30, and HP continued to improve the engine, but no matter how it was improved, the congenital defect could not be changed.

For example, as of '84, Tomcats that crashed due to engine problems accounted for 28.2% of all accident losses, with a total of more than 20 lost.

The Navy continued to think about changing its hair, replacing it with General Electric's F101DFE engine, and then with General Electric's F110-GE-400 engine, which finally managed to win the contract and eventually became the Super Tomcat.

However, that was already 86 years old.

In Nathan's eyes, the power of the Tomcat fighter is, of course, based on the F110, and the future F119 is the development, but now, in the past few years when the F110 has not matured, it will be too tragic to rely on the TF30.

So, Nathan has been actively pushing for it.

The release of the Top Gun movie made the U.S. Navy a big hit, and the chief planner, author, and protagonist of this movie are all Nathan, so Nathan has a certain influence in the upper echelons of the Navy.

Coupled with the funds for the purchase of Tomcats in bs countries, plus some demand from the United Kingdom, in this way, after repeated consultations and research, the Tomcats on TF41 were promoted.

The TF41 engine was originally a turbofan engine jointly developed and produced by Allison Corporation of the United States and Rolls-Royce Corporation of the United Kingdom. It is a modification of the Spey RB168-25, which does not have a rear combustion chamber and is intended for the A-7 attack aircraft.

After several years of hard work, this engine is quite mature, the original prototype Spey is good, and the improved TF41 is equipped in the US Navy with a large number of A-7 attack aircraft and other aircraft.

And now, the F-14 is being reconditioned, and the two companies are once again in contact with the improved new model, the 912 series. Among them, the 912-B32 engine has an afterburner thrust of 10.2 tons, and the 912-B32B engine has an afterburner thrust of 11.5 tons.

Historically, these two engines were all Allison companies involved in the replacement of the F-14 in the early 80s, but unfortunately did not win the bid, and now, the latter is still under development, and the former has been used in Tomcat fighters!

Compared with the thrust of more than 12 tons of F100, its thrust is not high enough, and the thrust-to-weight ratio of the whole machine still does not reach 1, but its biggest feature is that it is mature and reliable, and there is no need to worry about the surge of the engine.

After all, this is only a temporary alternative, and when the F110 matures, the later ones will definitely switch to the F110 engine, and when the time comes, this batch of engines will also just reach the end of their life.

"Start the engine." With the gestures of the deck crew, the roar of the engine came from the tail, which was quite similar to the sound of the original TF30.

However, the fighter could no longer resist the urge to take off.

"The Lone Ranger asks to take off."

"You can take off, good luck." The sound of the tower came from the headphones.

Turn on the afterburner, watch the gestures of the people on the deck, release the brakes, and under the pull of a powerful catapult, the Tomcat fighter slid quickly, and the two streams of heat in the tail swept the entire deck.

Compared with the original TF30, the thrust is eight percent larger, which is reflected in the takeoff, that is, when leaving the deck, the speed is about 20 knots larger.

Nathan suppressed his impulsiveness, did not directly pull the operating lever to climb at a large angle, according to the usual route, he flew smoothly and powerfully, until he left the sea area a hundred kilometers away from the aircraft carrier, and then began to maneuver one by one.

By this time, the speed had increased to 800 kilometers per hour, and Nathan jerked up the lever, and the fighter raised its nose to climb at a high angle of attack, and then, Nathan began to push the lever to the side as if to death.

In the previous Tomcat, the climb would have caused the airflow disorder in the air intake, and now with the sideslip, it will be followed by the irregular tremor of the engine in the tail, it wants to breathe in a big breath of air, but the air intake is blocked, and the airflow is rapidly reduced, so the TF30 engine begins to reduce the speed irregularly until the engine stalls, and the blades of the compressor are all disordered airflow.

And now, you can't feel anything behind, the TF41 engine is providing thrust steadily, and it is still providing thrust very smoothly in this state of climbing and skidding at high angles of attack!

Although the increase in maneuverability is not very noticeable, at least the reliability of the engine has increased!

Then, rolling, barrel rolling, breaking S maneuvering... Maneuver one by one, no scruples, fly how you want! In the future, if you encounter enemy entanglement, you don't have to carefully guard the flight envelope, this is a normal tomcat!