[NorthMountain]

GE9X engine on the GE engine test aircraft.

[NorthMountain]

[Robert A Cook PE]

I’m not convinced that 2x “giant” engines (even if the B-52 could fly on only one engine after getting hit by a missile or AA flak), but it is an interesting question.

The B52 has 8x small, relatively inefficient old medium bypass engines on 4x struts now. Each small engine does tend to self-shield its partner (Vietnam flak and AA missile rarely took out both engines in a pod when they were hit). But, do 8x low-bypass or 4x high-bypass engines provide more of a “target area” for debris and frag particles than 2x larger diameter engines, one on each side?

Reading the stories of each B52 shot by North Vietnamese SAM’s doesn’t seem to prove the theory either way.

My instinct says “Better 2x engines on each wing than 1x engine, since the out-of-symmetry forces and damaged ailerons and tails and flaps would make controlled flight harder after the rocket hits.”

[xkaydet65]

I recall seeing a similar pic 45 years ago when Boeing was testing the 747’s P&W JT9D on a B 52.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

A fairly substantial Hoovering Danger Zone in front of that bad boy!

Preventing Engine Ingestion Injuries when Working near aircraft!

[M Kehoe]

Thanks.

I didn’t even have to ask.

FReepers rock.

5.56mm