The US Navy flew an F/A-18F Super Hornet powered by a 50:50 mixture of JP8 jet fuel and a camelina oil based biofuel at supersonic speeds to commemorate Earth Day on April 22.
The flight saw the aircraft, dubbed the ‘Green Hornet’, reach Mach 1.2 and was the first time a biofuel blend had been used with afterburners engaged. The Navy intends to conduct a further 14 demonstration flights totalling 23 flight hours to test and certify the blend, with the intention of clearing it for use on other types and for introducing the blend into operational service by 2012.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
The Green Hornet program is part of the US Navy’s larger Green Fleet initiative, which plans to have 50 per cent of the service’s energy produced by non-fossil based fuels by 2020.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.