B-1B Flies Using Synthetic Fuel

[unhappycamper]

B-1B Flies Using Synthetic Fuel
Air Force Print News | SSgt. Matthew Bates | March 20, 2008

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - A B-1B Lancer from the 9th Bomb Squadron here became the first Air Force aircraft to fly at supersonic speed using an alternate fuel March 19 in a flight over Texas and New Mexico.

The fuel, a 50/50 blend of synthetic and petroleum gases, is being tested as part of an ongoing Air Force program to help the environment and to use a fuel produced domestically.

Air Force officials are in the process of evaluating and certifying this alternative fuel, which is derived from natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process, for use in all Air Force aircraft.

~snip~

Air Force officials previously have tested the fuel blend in the B-52 Stratofortress, the first aircraft to use the fuel, and the C-17 Globemaster III. The supersonic flight by the B-1B occurred over the White Sands Missile Range airspace in south-central New Mexico, but the flight took off from Dyess AFB.

Within the federal government, the Air Force is the single largest user of aviation fuel, using an estimated 3 billion gallons per year. Each time the price of oil goes up $10 per barrel, it costs the Air Force an additional $600 million for fuel. The FT process gives the Air Force a cleaner, more cost-efficient fuel source.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,164467,00.html

[orangerevolution]

1. When will it make it to our autos?