The relation of the inlet fuel distribution, velocity, and overall equivalence ratio to the stability of a lean burning no-swirl dump combustor was examined. Premixed or partially premixed natural gas was introduced into the air stream, which flowed to the dump region through an annular inlet pipe. Inlet air was preheated upto 400 deg.C. Combustion instability was observed to occur at higher value of equivalence ratio (> 0.6) as the degree of unpremixedness was increased. Instabilities exhibited a dominant frequency of ~ 500 Hz, which corresponded to a half wave mode of combustor. CH chemiluminescence and pressure fluctuations were in-phase when combustion instabilities occurred. Acetone LIF images revealed that there was a strong fuel concentration gradient across the inlet annulus. Phase resolved OH LIF images showed that inlet fuel distribution was affected by the combustion instabilities.