Pilot burner assembly with central pilot fuel injection for a gas turbine engine combustor

A pilot burner assembly for a combustion chamber in a gas turbine engine, the pilot burner assembly comprising:

• a pilot burner comprising a burner head face having a plurality of pilot fuel injection holes adapted to provide pilot fuel for combustion, wherein the burner head face has a center;
• and
• a radial swirler adapted to generate a swirling mix of a main fuel and air, the radial swirler comprising a plurality of swirler vanes arranged circumferentially and radially disposed around the center of the burner head face;
• wherein the swirler vanes include radially inner thin ends that define a burner region and wherein the burner region is concentric with the center of the burner head face;
• wherein each of the pilot fuel injection holes on the burner head face is positioned within the burner region such that a distance of the pilot fuel injection hole from the center of the burner head face is equal to or less than 50 percent of a distance of an edge of the burner region from the center of the burner head face when measured along a straight line that joins the center of the burner head face to the edge of the burner region passing through the pilot fuel injection hole.