Reply to post: Third, how is this pre-cooler going to do when it sucks in a bird?

Brit rocket boffins Reaction Engines notch up first supersonic precooler test

John Smith 19 Gold badge
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Third, how is this pre-cooler going to do when it sucks in a bird?

Firstly I'd like to congratulate you on your amazing grasp of SABRE and Skylon.

No, really, it's truly quite abnormal.

In answer to your question the front end of the nacelle housing the SABRE has a spike inlet. The pre-cooler sits behind this so there is no direct path. In the very unlikely event it ricochets round this and does hit part of the pre-cooler the pre-cooler is actually in 4 sections, which I'd guess can all be isolated.

It's a launch abort, not a loss of vehicle situation. And yes Skylon was designed to take off with one engine failing. Once it's in the air there's time to sort things out. The payload won't go to orbit that day, but nor will it rain down in little pieces.

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