Low NOx combustor for gas turbine engine

A method of combusting fuel in the combustor of a gas turbine engine is disclosed which includes injecting fuel and a first predetermined amount of airflow into the combustion chamber to form a fuel-rich, highly mixed, uniform distribution fuel-air spray pattern flowing downstream in the combustion chamber and introducing a second predetermined amount of airflow into the fuel air spray pattern from combustor air inlets positioned at a first predetermined distance downstream from the combustor dome with the first predetermined distance being greater than 0.75 times the dome height and said second predetermined amount of airflow being sufficient to cause rapid mixing and quenching of the rich fuel-air mixture to a lean fuel-air mixture. A combustor for a gas turbine engine is also disclosed which includes sidewalls and a dome wall to form a combustion chamber, a fuel injector/air swirler assembly for injecting a fuel air spray, a first and second array of air inlets for introducing airflow into the combustion chamber sufficient to cause rapid combustion and rapidly resulting lean-fuel air mixture, the first array being positioned a predetermined distance downstream from the dome wall with the predetermined distance being greater than 0.75 times the dome height and the second array of air inlets being positioned downstream from the first array.