"MSTANG cleared takeoff runway 24, cleared unrestricted climb, contact Langen Radar local channel 17. Have a good flight!" - I push the thrust levers against the first resistance and turn my gaze to the engine displays. The two EJ200s initially react somewhat sluggishly to the commands of my left hand, which is typical for jet engines. This gives me time to concentrate again on what lies ahead of me: a perfectly executed climb with maximum power to 48,000 feet.
The 74cm titanium blower now sucks the air through the inlet with a clearly audible hiss, the three low-pressure and five high-pressure compressor stages press 60% of the sucked-in air through the core engine and compress it 26 times. The mixture of air and kerosene is ignited in the large ring combustion chamber and drives the two turbines on its way out. The hot gases pass through the thrust nozzle, which narrows the path to the outside and thus increases the flow speed.
In the cockpit, the speed display passes 70% NL (low-pressure compressor speed), the nose wheel deflects under the thrust force, and the wheel brakes can no longer hold the machine in position. I push the two “throttles” forward over the resistance as far as they will go. Around 250kg of kerosene per minute is now fed to each of the two EJ200s, a large part of which ends up in the afterburner section. The mixture ignites, the thrusters open so as not to block the path, the inferno begins.
I release the wheel brakes and the jet jumps forward. In less than 5 seconds we reach 200km/h and we rise from the ground. I retract the landing gear and feel the increasing acceleration pressing me into the seat. It now takes just over a second to reach 100km/h. 600, 700, 800, I pull the stick towards me and am pressed into the seat with seven times the acceleration of gravity. 85° pitch, the climb rate is well over 200m/s. I break through the cloud cover, the inferno is under my control.
"Inferno"
Gerald Groß