See How Volcanic Ash 'Polished' a Jet Engine

I saw this and wanted to share. This is an article about the effects of volcanic ash on jet engines. Apparently, as they lose millions of dollars, the flight industry is running test flights to see what, if any, effects the ash clouds will have on the planes. here is an excerpt from the article. Follow the link to see photographs of various parts of one of the planes that did a test run.

Seeing the shredded insides of a plane's jet engine after it flies through a volcanic ash cloud has got to be a big *gulp* moment. The fan blades of the engine are gouged (top), the cooling fins plugged with muck (middle), and insides lined with what is basically remelted, glassy lava (bottom, rind on inside of hollow portion). Analysis of data from the engine during flight confirmed that the engine was indeed above the 1832 °F (1000 °C) required to melt silicate rock.

Oddly, in-flight data on engine performance showed no adverse effects upon encountering the ash. In fact, it seemed to improve performance by polishing the engine's insides, allowing air and exhaust to flow more freely. This moderate "turbocharging" effect is short-lived, though, and will turn to disaster if there's too much ash in the air. It also drastically shortens an engine's lifespan.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/eefbf01e07de.jpg[/atsimg]

SOURCE: news.discovery.com...

I do not believe that I would want to be flying on this plane.

[edit on 19-4-2010 by Aggie Man]

My fellow employee and I were talking about what ash would do to any combustion engine.
Vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, etc.

The damage is costly.
Good find!