PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - When was the last steam-powered airliner?
Old 27th Dec 2011, 07:15
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WHBM
 
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There are probably still a few such takeoffs around. The last built were probably the earlier 747s with JT9D engines, also being constructed into the 1970s were extended range/payload BAC One-Elevens that the Mediterranean holiday operators went for. The water injection was in tanks for each engine, and normally lasted or about 2 to 3 minutes from brake release.

Some used plain demineralised water, others a water-methanol mix. A BAC One-Eleven was lost at Hamburg in 1971 just after takeoff through the water tanks having been filled with the methanol mix in error.

Saying the aircraft is powered "mainly by steam" is a bit misleading, it's like saying it's powered "mainly by air" as this is required for combustion. Power comes entirely from the fuel, with a much greater fuel flow during the injection phase, the water injection just allows this extra fuel to function in a given engine. It's not like the power from a steam railway locomotive at all.

Detailed discussion in the archive here.

Water Injection [Archive] - PPRuNe Forums
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