F-20 Air Turbine Cartridge Start System

An air turbine cartridge start system (ATCS) was developed for the F-20 fighter aircraft to provide an assisted in-flight restart capability. Normal starts are accomplished with a pneumatic ground cart. In-flight engine restarts are accomplished using a catalytically decomposed hydrazine-water mixture as the energy source, to drive an air turbine starter. The products of decomposition are primarily steam and ammonia. The starter incorporates many safety features.