United Airlines: First commercial jet with synthetic fuel takes off from Denver
The first-ever U.S. commercial airline test flight using synthetic fuel took off from Denver International Airport Friday morning, United Airlines announced.
The synthetic jet fuel was “RenJet,” made by Los Angeles-based Rentech Inc. (NYSE Amex: RTK), which has a plant in Commerce City near DIA. It is a liquid fuel made from natural gas.
The “engineering validation” flight of an Airbus 319 jet left the runway at DIA at 8:15 a.m. MDT Friday, United said. Capt Joseph Burns, United’s managing director of technology and flight testing, piloted the jet, with 19 engineers and observers on board.
The RenJet fuel was used in a 40-60-percent mix with conventional “Jet A” fuel in one of two engines on the jet.
The aircraft climbed to 39,000 feet, “where the onboard team collected data on the performance of the fuel during several maneuvers, including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, auxiliary power unit start, descent and approach,” United said in a statement.
Read the full account of the flight in the Denver Business Journal.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.