The Airplane Thread

[Lady Jane]

C-47 " Gooney Bird".

https://blog.museumofflight.org/the-...g-hero-of-wwii

[3798j]

another Corsair...the '58 senior Edsel...

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

It's too bad they could not have made it sound like a PW R-2800

I played around with SoundRacer back when I owned a Mazda RX-8 (Wankel engine). I had it setup so my car stereo system played a V-8 engine sound. The sound followed the Wankel engine RPM. I thought it was pretty cool.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

It's too bad they could not have made it sound like a PW R-2800

2000 HP and torque that could flip it in a heartbeat with too much throttle.

Here is some beautiful music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjKEbOswd4s

[2008M36MT]

Mig 35

[Jbrown7403]

Really cool short clip…

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Jbrown7403

Really cool short clip…

I'm truly sorry to post this response.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

Nice looking, but not competitive. Too bad Beechcraft couldn't make the performance numbers match the price.

I read somewhere that the Starship was a bit too heavy and Beechcraft ended up destroying the ones that didn't sell.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

2000 HP and torque that could flip it in a heartbeat with too much throttle.

Here is some beautiful music:

My Dad did operational training in 1943 on the R-1830-powered Grumman F4F Wildcat and was then assigned to the Southwest Pacific Area as a replacement fighter pilot. When he got to the SWPA, he checked out for the first time in the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat with that magnificent Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine and then went into combat. Late in the war, his squadron flew the R-2800-powered Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat and then as a test pilot (1947-1950) he flew F4Us, F6Fs, F8Fs and the twin-engined Grumman F7F Tigercat, which I read once described as "two Bearcats strapped together" I think his final flights behind an R-2800 were in tired old F6F Hellcats during the early 1950s for proficiency while going to school. So call it ten years of flying R-2800-powered aircraft.

Aircraft with R-2800s that he did NOT fly include the AJ Savage heavy attack bomber, TBY torpedo bomber, P-47 Thunderbolt, the B-26 Marauder, the A-26 Invader, the C-46, C-123 and C-131 transports and anything with four engines. I've probably missed one or two there. The TBM Avenger torpedo bomber of WW2, which was powered by a Wright R-2600, was scheduled to be tested with the R-2800 but the end of the war cancelled that plan.

Here is some sweet R-2800 music:

[Fly320s]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I read somewhere that the Starship was a bit too heavy and Beechcraft ended up destroying the ones that didn't sell.

Beech destroyed nearly all models.


"The last Starship, NC-53, was produced in 1995. In 2003 Beechcraft said that supporting such a small fleet of airplanes was cost-prohibitive and began scrapping and incinerating the aircraft under its control."

According to wikipedia, only 6 remain airworthy.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Llarry

My Dad did operational training in 1943 on the R-1830-powered Grumman F4F Wildcat and was then assigned to the Southwest Pacific Area as a replacement fighter pilot. When he got to the SWPA, he checked out for the first time in the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat with that magnificent Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine and then went into combat. Late in the war, his squadron flew the R-2800-powered Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat and then as a test pilot (1947-1950) he flew F4Us, F6Fs, F8Fs and the twin-engined Grumman F7F Tigercat, which I read once described as "two Bearcats strapped together" I think his final flights behind an R-2800 were in tired old F6F Hellcats during the early 1950s for proficiency while going to school. So call it ten years of flying R-2800-powered aircraft.

Aircraft with R-2800s that he did NOT fly include the AJ Savage heavy attack bomber, TBY torpedo bomber, P-47 Thunderbolt, the B-26 Marauder, the A-26 Invader, the C-46, C-123 and C-131 transports and anything with four engines. I've probably missed one or two there. The TBM Avenger torpedo bomber of WW2, which was powered by a Wright R-2600, was scheduled to be tested with the R-2800 but the end of the war cancelled that plan.

Here is some sweet R-2800 music:

How cool it is that your dad had those aviation experiences and on top of it, shared them with you so you can write about it 70+ years later.

My dad was a Marine pilot and his favorite plane was the F4U. He was mum about his time in the Marines until his later years when he opened up and shared stories and gave me his log books. As I've mentioned in other posts, his stories are right in line with the movie Devotion.

I'm just now digging in to see what airplanes he flew; I'm sure many of them are the ones you mentioned. I do know that he started training in a Stearman Bi-plane and ended with the F2H Banshee jet.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

How cool it is that your dad had those aviation experiences and on top of it, shared them with you so you can write about it 70+ years later.

My dad was a Marine pilot and his favorite plane was the F4U. He was mum about his time in the Marines until his later years when he opened up and shared stories and gave me his log books. As I've mentioned in other posts, his stories are right in line with the movie Devotion.

I'm just now digging in to see what airplanes he flew; I'm sure many of them are the ones you mentioned. I do know that he started training in a Stearman Bi-plane and ended with the F2H Banshee jet.

My Dad and I were discussing Tom Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation" in 1999 and I told Dad he was a great example and should write down some recollections. As a 76-year old cattle rancher with horses, cattle, etc., he replied that he didn't have time. A cancer diagnosis later that year gave him time and he sat at the computer and pecked something out. The last time I visited him in 2000 I sat at his computer and added a couple of stories that he dictated. After his death in late 2000 my sister and I edited the recollections and now it is treasured family history.

I also have my Dad's pilot log books -- priceless!

[F87M2.]

cx

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Llarry

My Dad and I were discussing Tom Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation" in 1999 and I told Dad he was a great example and should write down some recollections. As a 76-year old cattle rancher with horses, cattle, etc., he replied that he didn't have time. A cancer diagnosis later that year gave him time and he sat at the computer and pecked something out. The last time I visited him in 2000 I sat at his computer and added a couple of stories that he dictated. After his death in late 2000 my sister and I edited the recollections and now it is treasured family history.

I also have my Dad's pilot log books -- priceless!

Good for you to get him to write it down. I wish I'd got my dad to write it down. Oh well. When he was in his late 80s, I took him to the Reno Air Races so he could see his beloved F4U flying. The smile on his face was priceless. He was so proud that day. I should have gotten him to talk about it when he was in such a good frame of mind about it.

Did your dad fly in Korea? I wonder if they were in the air on the same days.

When I saw the movie Devotion about the first black Navy pilot and the F4U, I went back home to see if my dad was flying on that key date in the in the movie. He was in fact there. What a history of all the planes he flew over a 14 years flying career.

[Dang3r]

I saw just another balloon...

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

Good for you to get him to write it down. I wish I'd got my dad to write it down. Oh well. When he was in his late 80s, I took him to the Reno Air Races so he could see his beloved F4U flying. The smile on his face was priceless. He was so proud that day. I should have gotten him to talk about it when he was in such a good frame of mind about it.

Did your dad fly in Korea? I wonder if they were in the air on the same days.

When I saw the movie Devotion about the first black Navy pilot and the F4U, I went back home to see if my dad was flying on that key date in the in the movie. He was in fact there. What a history of all the planes he flew over a 14 years flying career.

After my Dad's test pilot tour at Patuxent River, he got tapped to go to VF-61 'Jolly Rogers' flying the F9F-2 Panther on the Atlantic side and did a deployment to the Atlantic/Med. His only tour on that side in his career so he missed the Korean War. I have a priceless photo taken by him from the deck of the Roosevelt of my mother next to the family station wagon with three little kids (me the oldest, sister, little brother; all in cowboy boots ) waiting on the pier in Norfolk for the ship to tie up and let the crew ashore. How did my Mom do it? Of course, the deployment was for only six months -- they were nine months on the Pacific side and he did a couple of those later on, but we were older.

[Llarry]

Aircraft carrier-based antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft:

The first carrier-based ASW aircraft were central to the Battle of the Atlantic against the German U-boats of World War II. The Allies mostly used small escort carriers (CVEs) for this effort. For the U.S. Navy, this meant an aviation complement of largely torpedo bombers, although fighters were along in smaller numbers in case of German long-range aircraft attack on the escorted ships.

The torpedo bombers were Grumman TBF Avengers, designed to carry a torpedo or multiple bombs in an internal bomb bay. Later, to allow Grumman to concentrate on production of the F6F Hellcat, production of the TBF was turned over to General Motors subsidiary Eastern Aircraft and most of the torpedo bombers produced during the war were designated TBMs. Modifications for ASW were minimal to non-existent; depth charges could be loaded instead of bombs and detection of subs was by Mark 1 eyeball, and later airborne radar.

The U-boats were strictly-controlled by naval HQ and sent periodic radio updates during their patrols. This proved their undoing, as the Allies established a robust network of direction-finding sites to track the subs. In addition, code-breaking enabled the Allies to predict U-boat movements.

After the war, the U.S. Navy had thousands of surplus aircraft and converted a number of TBM-3 torpedo bombers to TBM-3S aircraft; for the first time, there was a specialized ASW aircraft.

During the war, Grumman had developed a replacement torpedo bomber: The TB3F with both R-2800 piston engine in the nose and a jet engine for combat speed. But it was clear that the era of the torpedo bomber was ending, and the TB3F was re-purposed as the Grumman AF Guardian specialized ASW aircraft and entered service around 1950 supplementing the remaining tired TBM-3S. Given the lesser need for speed, the jet was removed; the AF Guardian was the largest single-engine piston aircraft operated by the USN -- and from the smallest carrers. The Navy found that they could not fit all the required sensors and weapons into the AF and so developed two variants: The AF-2W radar plane and the AF-2S with weapons. They operated in pairs from the same escort carriers.

Clearly the team approach was not ideal; if one airplane developed engine trouble, both had to return to the carrier and land. A larger, more capable airplane was needed.

Grumman turned to the task and came up with the S2F Tracker, which became the first widely-used twin-engine carrier plane in the fleet. The S2F first flew in 1952 and quickly replaced remaining TBMs and AFs in the ASW role. At the same time, the smaller CVEs were retired from fleet duty and repurposed as aircraft transports; the S2F squadrons were embarked in full-sized fleet carriers.

As was the style during the 1950s, nuclear weapons were considered essential to Cold War operations; the S2F's internal bomb bay was too small for the initial bulky nuclear depth charge and Grumman developed a bulged weapons bay that could accommodate it. Later nuclear depth charges were more compact and the bulged bay did not last long.

The S2F served admirably during the dark blue paint era of naval aviation into the grey and white era. It remained in production into the 1960s; sort of an anachronism with its twin Wright R-1820 piston engines in a jet era Navy. In 1962, the S2F was redesigned S-2; by then the early S-2As were no longer used by ASW squadrons and the S-2D and S-2E were used by ASW squadrons.

Early S-2As served as training aircraft, towed gunnery targets for the fleet and were used for many other utility tasks. Many were also exported to other nations.

Canada undertook production of the Tracker as the CS2F (later redesignated CP-121) and even exported S2Fs to the Netherlands.

During the 1970s it became clear that a successor to the S-2 was needed. The Navy planned to upgrade their ASW carriers (former attack carriers redesigned CVS) and wanted an updated aircraft to counter Soviet submarines. The result was the Lockheed S-3 Viking, a compact twin-jet aircraft with a crew of four and chock-full of a range of ASW sensors. While the S-3 was purchased, the CVSs were retired as a post-Vietnam economy move. The S-3A ASW planes ended up being integrated into the carrier wings of already-crowded attack carriers and were often seen as second-class citizens there. The S-3s were useful for more than ASW; they were also used for buddy tankers with refueling pods on wing pylons. In fact, late in the S-3's career, the ASW equipment was removed and they were almost exclusively used as tankers. For a few years, a SIGINT version of the S-3 was also in service; it became a victim of budget cuts after the Gulf War.

Other nations developed carrier-based ASW aircraft as well. The turboprop-powered Fairey Gannet was the Royal Navy's entry. The French Navy used a somewhat similar-class Breguet Alize, also with turboprop power.

The U.S. Navy retired the S-3 in 2009 without replacement and now uses only helicopters for ship-based ASW.

[Llarry]

One extra photo for the ASW aircraft post...

[Llarry]

Somewhat related to the ASW aircraft post is the issue of delivery of high-priority parts and people to aircraft carriers at sea far from their homeports. The U.S. Navy calls this carrier onboard delivery (COD) and has used a variety of COD aircraft over the years.

The earliest COD was -- surprise! -- the ubiquitous TBM Avenger, which seemed to do all the various extra tasks needed by the carriers. After WW2, the Navy modified TBMs into a TBM-3R configuration -- R for transport -- and this aircraft served during the late 1940s and well into the 1950s.

The first dedicated COD aircraft was the confusingly-designated Grumman TF-1 (T for training) Trader, which was a modification of the S2F ASW aircraft. A key requirement for the TF-1, which first flew in 1955, was the capability to transport a nuclear weapon to a carrier at sea. More usually the payload was critical cargo, up to nine passengers and mail. The TF-1 was redesignated C-1A (C for transport) in 1962.

After development of the twin-turboprop airborne early warning E-2 in the early 1960s, Grumman proposed a version using the wings and powerplants of the E-2 married to a new larger fuselage and a rear loading ramp, thus providing a greatly-improved COD aircraft. The resulting C-2A served from the late 1960s until quite recently.

The current COD is a modification of the Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor. A key requirement for this aircraft, designated CMV-22B, was the capability to transport the main power module of an F135 turbofan engine (used by the F-35) to a carrier at sea. The F135 is a monster and it is a tight fit.

The only dedicated foreign COD I've come across is the Fairey Gannet used by the Royal Navy in small numbers.

Out of the COD mainstream was a proposal some 60+ years ago to ferry cargo to an aircraft carrier at sea with a huge Lockheed C-130 Hercules. It proved feasible to land and take off from a carrier with a C-130 but impractical, as it would require a clear flight deck. A U.S. aircraft carrier cannot fit all assigned aircraft into the hangar deck below, so this would require offloading aircraft to clear the deck for C-130 operations. Nevertheless, it is an interesting footnote to aircraft carrier operational history.

[3798j]

.

[Llarry]

Turret truck for training aerial gunners in WW2

[BMWGUYinCO]

I want one of these....are they sold on Amazon?
FLS Microjet

Shipping instructions: "Just leave it under the mat"