When did "Reheat" become "Afterburner" ?
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When did "Reheat" become "Afterburner" ?
I know that in the earlier days of jet aviation the UK adopted the term reheat for the process of injecting fuel into the jet efflux, while the US went with afterburner, or more commonly just "burner" or even other acronyms such as Zone 5 etc.
I have heard RAF pilots talking about using "afterburner" which made me wonder if this is now the official term and if so when the change was made ?
I have heard RAF pilots talking about using "afterburner" which made me wonder if this is now the official term and if so when the change was made ?
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Leicestershire, England
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I would've thought it was more down to personal preference than anything else, afterburner, 'burner, re-heat, zone 5, augmented thrust, carrot power, etc etc... 
-RP

-RP
Ah, reached a certain age, have we?

I believe the VC10 had thrust augmentation BTW with that little outlet just aft of the Baggage door ( I mean the freight one, not the crew one)
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Talking of which, the photo I mean, we seem to have become the centre of the French low flying programme this afternoon - great, except for the dog chasing "noisy sticks" down the garden whilst barking furiously.
Well you are part of NATO right?
As the US Forces are the largest component and provide the majority of the Funding....is it not natural for the Majority to rule?
Had you hung on to a good thing all those years back....the shoe might still be on the other Foot.
(I was just leaving....getting my Cap and Jacket on the way out!)
As the US Forces are the largest component and provide the majority of the Funding....is it not natural for the Majority to rule?
Had you hung on to a good thing all those years back....the shoe might still be on the other Foot.
(I was just leaving....getting my Cap and Jacket on the way out!)
Had you hung on to a good thing all those years back....the shoe might still be on the other Foot.
We couldn't.....you lot were too busy bleeding us white! Ah, the special relationship!
MD
According to the OED
The same source refers to 'reheat' as
So it looks like 'afterburner' was first with 'reheat' coming later
1947 Sci. News Let. 2 Aug. 70/1 Emergency spurts of speed of jet-propelled combat planes will result from a development of the Ryan Aeronautical Company which the makers call an ‘after burner’
[1947 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 87/1 As a next step, they've devised the after~burner. It's principle, essentially the same as the steam-turbine reheat system, is fairly simple.]
1948 Brit. Patent 606,176 4/1 The act of turning on the re-heat will open the propelling nozzle.
1949 Flight 8 Sept. 285/1 Exhaust reheat, or ‘afterburning’, is the name given to the process of burning fuel in the exhaust pipe of a jet-propulsion unit.
1972 D. Hart-Davis Spider in Morning ii. 21 The reheats were in and burning fuel at a terrifying rate.
2005 R. R. Lawrence Mammoth Bk. Space Explor. & Disasters i. 4 The XF.91 was powered by a General Electric J.47 turbo-jet engine equipped with reheat
1948 Brit. Patent 606,176 4/1 The act of turning on the re-heat will open the propelling nozzle.
1949 Flight 8 Sept. 285/1 Exhaust reheat, or ‘afterburning’, is the name given to the process of burning fuel in the exhaust pipe of a jet-propulsion unit.
1972 D. Hart-Davis Spider in Morning ii. 21 The reheats were in and burning fuel at a terrifying rate.
2005 R. R. Lawrence Mammoth Bk. Space Explor. & Disasters i. 4 The XF.91 was powered by a General Electric J.47 turbo-jet engine equipped with reheat
At one time (WWII) the manuals had a page of "interpretations" at the back. Battery = accumulator for example. I know not now what an accumulator was called in the hydraulic system.