Have you ever seen and heard how an F-22 Raptor’s Pratt & Whitney F119 engine starts?
Most probably our readers remember the B-52’s MITO departures: crew members and crew chiefs rushing to the planes followed by a series of “booms” with white smoke. That’s the effect of “cart-starts,” small starter cartridges, coffee cup sized shotshells used to jumpstart the engines removing the need for ground power or air start.
Older aircraft used external air compressors or cartridges for engine start-up whereas new aircraft, like the F-22 Raptor feature self-startup on internal power.
The following video shows a stealth aircraft starting up the Pratt & Whitney F119 turbofan engine (delivering thrust in the 35,000 lbf class) at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
