Av Gas Types in Korea

[Conslaw]

Can anyone tell me what types of aviation gasoline were available to the US Air Force in Korea. I saw one site that talked about JP1 jet fuel used by the Air Force and JP3 used by the Marines, but the Marines also used 100/130 and 115/145 av gas in their jets and eventually just standardized on 115/145 av gas in all their combat aircraft. Was ther 100/150 gas available? What was the Air Force using in Japan in 1950?

I'm curious if the type of av gas available might have had some bearing on the decision to use the F-51D vs the F-51H in Korea. I suspect the performance advantage of the H model would be minimal if the gas available was 100/130. On the other hand, as I understand it, the primary version of the Corsair used in Korea was the F4U-4, with the -5 models being mostly used as nightfighters and night-interdiction. The F4U-4 was rated at 100/130, as I understand it. Did it perform better on 115/145?

 

[MIflyer]

While not about Korea I recently read an interesting item about Avgas types in WWII.

The USAAF was flying a captured Ju-88 back to the US from North Africa. They outfitted it with P-38 drop tanks for the trip, which required a refueling stop at Ascension Island. They had checked to make sure that 90 octane fuel was available at Ascension, but when they got there found that the 90 octane fuel drums were empty. They had no choice but to refuel with 100 octane.

On the flight from Ascension one engine cylinder quit firing. They decided it would be prudent to increase the power levels on the engines to get them closer to land in the event they had to ditch. After increasing the power levels things went well.

After landing they found that the dead cylinder was due to the heavily leaded 100 octane fuel had causing the spark plugs to foul. They concluded that increasing the power levels saved them, since it burned off the other spark plugs. Anyone who has used 100LL in a small aircraft engine originally designed for 73 octane is familiar with the problems that occur.

By the way, a friend who was a maintenance chief at Muroc after WWII said that initially the USAF planned to use kerosene, JP-1, in its jets. They went to JP-4, a mixture of gasoline and kerosene, because the petroleum industry pointed out that a barrel of oil only yields a certain amount of kerosene, and they could hardly afford to throw the rest of the oil products away (as was done back around 1900, when there was little or no use for the gasoline). If they went to using gasoline in the jets it almost certainly was because the logistics situation demanded it.

Also, I understand that when the Mustangs underwent overhaul after WWII they were not too careful about which engine went in which airplane. There were P-51D's and K's with engines from P-51H's, and vice versa.

 

[Conslaw]

Great stuff, MiFlyer. Thanks for the input. Does anyone else know whether the USAF was using 100/130, 100/150, 115/145, or something entirely different in Korea 1950-1952?

 

[Conslaw]

Can anyone tell me what types of aviation gasoline were available to the US Air Force in Korea. I saw one site that talked about JP1 jet fuel used by the Air Force and JP3 used by the Marines, but the Marines also used 100/130 and 115/145 av gas in their jets and eventually just standardized on 115/145 av gas in all their combat aircraft. Was ther 100/150 gas available? What was the Air Force using in Japan in 1950?

I'm curious if the type of av gas available might have had some bearing on the decision to use the F-51D vs the F-51H in Korea. I suspect the performance advantage of the H model would be minimal if the gas available was 100/130. On the other hand, as I understand it, the primary version of the Corsair used in Korea was the F4U-4, with the -5 models being mostly used as nightfighters and night-interdiction. The F4U-4 was rated at 100/130, as I understand it. Did it perform better on 115/145?

 

[Conslaw]

It looks like I found the answer to my own question. The main av gas in Korea was 100/130.

. The Air Force used four types of fuel: JP–1 or JP–4 for jet aircraft;34 100/130 octane aviation gasoline for piston-engine aircraft; 87 octane gasoline for engine vehicles and ground support equipment; and diesel fuel for some trucks, heaters, and heavy equipment. The bulk of fuel consumed by the Air Force was JP–4 and high-octane gasoline. Large quantities of gasoline were also used to make napalm, which was mixed onsite at the tactical air unit operational bases.​

Source: Coalition Warfare in the Korean War 1950-1953, page 271

With 100/130 gas, the same grade as the USAAF used in WWII prior to spring 1944, the F-51D would likely have performed very similarly to the P-51H and maybe more reliably. (That's speculation on my part.)

 

[davparlr]

JP fuel is typically kerosene based and not gasoline. JP-4 apparently is a kerosene/gasoline mix. Some jet engines like the TF-33 military engine can just about burn most common JPs and avgas (gasoline). Some performance degradation may need to be accounted for.

 

[Shortround6]

I don't believe 100/150 was ever a USAF fuel. yes it was used by American planes flying out of England but the Americans were going for 115/145 fuel and the were supplied 100/150 by the British. The two allies had standardized 100/130 fuel between them but the search for even better fuel took different directions.
115/145 was certainly a standard USAF fuel in the post war era and into the 1950s. How much was shipped to Korea or Japan in 1950-53 I don't know.
But it was the specified fuel for such aircraft as the Bearcat, many of the Skyraiders, The B-50s and so on, even the C-119 flying boxcar.

The USAF may have used 87 octane in ground support equipment due to supply problems but most of the US Army trucks (and by extension USAF trucks) ran on 68-72 octane fuel. Very, very occasionally you will find a spec sheet listing 80 octane, like for tanks/vehicles using M-4 tank chassis that radial aircraft engines for power.

 

[Tripod]

JP fuel is typically kerosene based and not gasoline. JP-4 apparently is a kerosene/gasoline mix. Some jet engines like the TF-33 military engine can just about burn most common JPs and avgas (gasoline). Some performance degradation may need to be accounted for.

J-34 engines used 115/145 as on the P-2 with R-3350 recips.