Air International 2017-05
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M.Broadbent - Ready to Respond /Commercial/
A practice spray run over the North Sea. For spraying operations, the aircraft is flown at altitudes between 150ft (45m) and 1,500ft (457m) and at speeds from 150kts (277km/h) to 170kts (315km/h).
The 727's tri-jet layout enables the crew to keep the pod engines at static thrust and use the central engine for variable thrust to assist in achieving the correct speed for spraying.
Boeing 727-2S2F(RE) G-OSRA, the last 727 ever built, in the hangar at T2’s base at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, from where the 727s can be mobilised in four hours to respond to oil spills worldwide.
The TERSUS Aerial Dispersant System features seven interconnecting 2,200-litre (483-gallon) tanks.
A close-up of the TERSUS Aerial Dispersant System releasing fluid. The flow rate during spray operations is between 500 and 1,200 litres (109-264 gallons) per minute.
One of the two Boeing 727-2S2F(RE)s operated by T2 for Oil Spill Response demonstrating its spraying capabilities at Farnborough in 2016. The TERSUS Aerial Dispersant System is visible on the underside of the aircraft's rear fuselage.
Both 727-2S2F(RE)s operated by T2 were formerly used as freighters by FedEx in the United States.
The good provenance of former FedEx aircraft and powerful Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines were two factors in the 727's selection for the oil spill response role.