The Airplane Thread

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

I missed 1. I expect 100% from most of you!

Scored 100% and probably because I had recently posted on the Sukhoi which was a tough one to know.

[Llarry]

[QUOTE=ezaircon4jc;30264429]I missed 1. I expect 100% from most of you!

I "missed" the first two, which I knew perfectly well, because every time I answered, the test stopped. Then I gave up.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I "missed" the first two, which I knew perfectly well, because every time I answered, the test stopped. Then I gave up.

You have to wait until the clock starts. Then answer and wait for the clock to elapse with the right answer and further wait for the next one and so on.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

You have to wait until the clock starts. Then answer and wait for the clock to elapse with the right answer and further wait for the next one and so on.

I just took it by hand and scored 100%. I also gave more complete designations in most cases, e.g., not B-17 but B-17G. The trickiest one for me, since I just answered without waiting for the choices was the F-20; at first glance, F-5E but then you see the tailpipe and know it's an F-5 with an F404 engine.

[vreihen16]

All of the regional news coverage is reporting this as a Cessna, making me scream at the screen/TV every time I see the story. The pilot walked away, FWIW:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_DA40_Diamond_Star


.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

All of the regional news coverage is reporting this as a Cessna, making me scream at the screen/TV every time I see the story. The pilot walked away, FWIW:

Wow -- that's great that the pilot survived. Looks pretty awful; never seen a Cessna look that bad.

[M-technik-3]

Sure it's not a Piper?

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

All of the regional news coverage is reporting this as a Cessna,

.

N44HH

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/316218

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Sure it's not a Piper?

Maybe a really badly-mangled Boeing.

[Lady Jane]

[Llarry]

The U.S. Naval Academy also has a flight training program, but apparently the powered flight instruction is only in the summer months. I believe, like the Air Force Academy, they also instruct in gliders.

[Llarry]

Here's an interesting chart; how many aircraft does the U.S. Air Force and its reserve components -- The Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard -- have that are in active use? 5,519 per this chart.

TL;DR summary:
-- The Air Force operates a lot of really old aircraft. The B-52s, RC-135s and KC-135s are all at about age sixty. The B-52Hs are planned for re-engining as B-52Js and going for eighty. The KC-135s are slowly being replaced by the troubled Boeing 767-based KC-46A and the Air Force is also planning a stealthy tanker to replace other -135s. I haven't heard anything about an RC-135 replacement.
-- The fighters are in better shape, but then they get used in a high-G environment that puts a lot of stress on the airframe. New F-15EXs and F-35As are coming. The F-22A is already old enough to get a driver's license but the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter is in the planning stage.
-- The active Air Force is just about done operating the C-130H and its various versions with their troubled propellors. The MC-130Hs listed have been retired since the effective date of this list; only the EC-130H Compass Call remains and the replacement Gulfstream-based EC-37B Compass Call II is imminent.
-- The Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard will have to put up with their C-130Hs for a while longer; they are slowly getting replacement C-130Js.
-- The HH-60W combat search and rescue helicopter is replacing the older HH-60Gs nicely.
-- The T-38C is badly in need of replacement but as Lady Jane recently posted, the T-7A is on the way.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Here's an interesting chart; how many aircraft does the U.S. Air Force and its reserve components -- The Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard -- have that are in active use? 5,519 per this chart.

The newest Navy/Marine Corps version I have of this list totals up to 3,876 aircraft as of 11 years ago; Google tells me that the total is now 3,621. The U.S. Army (along with the National Guard) has almost a thousand more than that -- mostly helicopters.

The bottom line is well over 10,000 active U.S. military aircraft -- it's a wonder they don't blot out the sun.

[Llarry]

In the late 1920s, Consolidated Aircraft's Reuben Fleet decided to try to expand the company's business from the small trainers that they had built and zeroed in on flying boats for the U.S. Navy.

After a few prototypes and a few flying boats produced for commercial airlines in South American service, Consolidated came up with the P2Y Ranger, which ended up replacing a number of other companies' flying boats in the Navy in the 1930s. One prototype had three radial engines -- two between the wings and one mounted centrally above the main wing. It was found that the third engine didn't really add to performance; the extra power was wasted in extra weight and drag and increased fuel consumption. Production P2Ys stayed with two Wright R-1820 nine-cylinder engines -- the same engine that continued in production, in greatly improved form, until the 1960s!

Interestingly, one P2Y was purchased by Japan and a couple of Japanese flying boats showed a strong similarity to the Consolidated design. An enlarged Kawanishi H6K four-engine boat, which owed a lot to the P2Y design, was the most produced flying boat used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. (Does this sound like what the Chinese are doing these days?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_P2Y

But the real distinction of the P2Y was that it paved the way for its successor, the Consolidated P3Y -- later the PBY Catalina -- that saw very widespread use by the Allies in World War II. I'll address that in the future.

[Llarry]

In 1932, the U.S. Navy announced a competition for a new flying boat patrol aircraft with improved characteristics. Specifically, the Navy wanted a 3,000 mile range and a higher gross weight than the P2Y.

Several companies bid designs. The Navy awarded Consolidated a contract for a single XP3Y-1 in 1934 and at the same time awarded Douglas Aircraft a contract for an XP3D-1. Both aircraft flew for the first time in 1935.

The Consolidated aircraft was judged superior and the Navy awarded the company a contract for 60 flying boats later that year. Unlike the previous P2Y, the P3Y was powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 14-cylinder twin-row radials. Shortly thereafter, and in recognition of the type's significant bombing capability, the aircraft was designated PBY (PB = patrol bomber, Y = Consolidated). Other improvements over previous P-boats included retractable wingtip floats and a tunnel gun position for a .30 machine gun that could fire downward to fend off attacks from below. The waist positions could be armed with either .30 or .50 guns and the bow position with a .30. Underwing armament options included two torpedoes or four bombs (500- or 1,000-pounders) or four depth charges.

In an excellent demonstration of the new aircraft's capabilities, patrol squadrons flew en masse from San Diego to Hawaii and Panama with their new PBY-1s. The 60 PBY-1s were followed by 50 PBY-2s in 1937 and Consolidated was off to the races.

The following PBY-3 Catalina was present at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 when the Japanese attacked and several were destroyed in the attack. As World War II progressed, the early PBYs were relegated to training duties at Pensacola and served throughout the war in that role.

A small number of PBY-4s with only minor changes were delivered in 1938; the last three -4s were used as prototypes for the PBY-5, which was the main wartime variant.

For a while, it looked like that was the end of the line for the Catalina, but the onset of WWII in 1939 brought large orders from the UK's Royal Air Force and the U.S. Navy. The PBY-5 featured 1200 hp engines, a revised rudder and new waist gunner's blisters, now with .50s on each side.

During 1940-41, Consolidated got orders from Australia and Canada (as the Canso rather than Catalina), as well as ever more U.S. Navy orders.

To rewind a bit, in 1939 one of the PBY-4s was converted to an amphibian to enable it to operate from runways as well as water. This became the XPBY-5A and many orders were forthcoming. Empty weight increased by 2,300 lbs but the increased utility was considered worth the trade-off.

In 1940, the Boeing-Canada factory in Vancouver was licensed to built the aircraft in Canada, with the first 55 assembled from U.S.-manufactured components.

The Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia also got in on the action with a redesign to improve performance and handling. The resulting PBN-1 Nomad was not delivered until 1943-45 and almost all of the 156 built went to the Soviet Union. The larger tail of the PBN and other features were incorporated into the Boeing-Canada line as the Catalina VI or PB2B-2.

The final production variant was the PBY-6A, which also incorporated the larger tail surfaces and other improvements. 75 of these went to the Army Air Forces as OA-10B rescue amphibians.

Although I haven't addressed the operational service, there are two aspects I'd like to mention: First, in June of 1942 it was a PBY-5A that spotted the Japanese fleet headed for Midway, enabling U.S. forces to optimally deploy for the coming battle. Catalinas also found fame as the "Black Cats" in the Southwest Pacific mid-war, with black-painted PBYs making night torpedo attacks on Japanese ships.

The final production total was 4,051 Catalinas of all types; 700+ were Canadian-built.

The post-WWI service of the PBY was brief; there were other, more modern flying boat designs that had been developed during the war; a few PBYs survived into the 1950s in the Naval Reserve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PBY_Catalina

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Thank goodness you son was properly trained. My point was that not all pilots can be fighter pilots. Many apply but few are chosen. Centrifuge training is great at selecting applicants. Especially those who pass out at 3 or 4 Gs.

I am very happy to say that my son married the captain of that flight 2 years later. I couldn't ask for a nicer daughter-in-law.

Since then, both moved up from the regionals and are currently FO's on A320's with a major airline. Both are now eligible to upgrade to captain on the A320 or upgrade to the B777 or B787 as FO's. But considering the current state of affairs in the industry, both are staying put to avoid the possibility of getting assigned to a real crappy domicile and/or getting put on reserve.

[asianF22]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Sure it's not a Piper?

I was gonna guess Gulfstream G450 since it wasn't mentioned...

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I am very happy to say that my son married the captain of that flight 2 years later. I couldn't ask for a nicer daughter-in-law.

Since then, both moved up from the regionals and are currently FO's on A320's with a major airline. Both are now eligible to upgrade to captain on the A320 or upgrade to the B777 or B787 as FO's. But considering the current state of affairs in the industry, both are staying put to avoid the possibility of getting assigned to a real crappy domicile and/or getting put on reserve.

Have a friend that just (well a year or 3 ago) retired from Northwest, er, I mean Delta. He chose reserve for a couple of years, then got bored and went back to flying.

He used to tell me that "it" wasn't fair. He would tell me pilot screws-up, pilot dies; controller screws-up, pilot dies. I said yeah, I just have paperwork to do before I go home.

[Llarry]

While the Consolidated PBY Catalina was the most numerous U.S. Navy flying boat (and amphibian) of World War II, Martin also produced a larger, more powerful flying boat during the war: The Martin PBM Mariner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_PBM_Mariner

The Mariner first flew in 1939 and entered service in 1940. Like the PBY, it saw service world-wide in WWII. It was considerably larger and powered initially by a pair of Wright R-2600 14-cylnder radial engines of 1,600 hp; later R-2600-powered versions had higher-rated engines of 1,700 and then 1,900 hp. It was also more heavily armed than the PBY with three twin .50 turrets in the nose, tail and dorsal areas, plus a pair of .50s in the waist for a total of eight .50s. The bomb load was similar to the PBY but was carried in twin bomb bays that were part of the engine nacelles.

A few initial PBM-1s were followed by an improved PBM-3 and then by a PBM-5 model powered by 2,100 hp R-2800 18-cylinder engines. Quite a few PBMs were used for transport and designated PBM-3R; some were also used for medical evacuation of casualties in the Pacific.

The PBM survived the war and deliveries lasted until 1949 -- and was modified for postwar antisubmarine patrol duties during the first years of the Cold War. The final PBMs were retired by the Navy in 1956.

Although there was an amphibian version, the PBM-5A, the vast majority of PBMs were straight flying boats.

Unlike the PBY, the PBM was not widely used by Allied forces, although the RAF and RAAF used a few.

The PBM was used as the basis for the last U.S. Navy flying boat, the Martin P5M (later P-5) Marlin that saw service until 1967 or so. The P5M had more power (always more power, huh?) with Wright R-3350 with over 3,000 hp each and spent time patrolling off the coast of South Vietnam during that war.

[Llarry]

Well done to these men for their authentic-looking WW2 Navy flight gear.

But...World War II was fought by young men, not senior citizens.

[Llarry]

Here's a guy with impressive credentials: A Navy pilot who flew ALL the Grumman 'cats: The F4F/FM Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, the F7F Tigercat, the F8F Bearcat, the F9F Panther/Cougar, the F11F Tiger and, just before his retirement from the Navy in 1971, the F-14 Tomcat.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

But...World War II was fought by young men, not senior citizens.

The bravery and sacrifice of those young men allowed an entire generation to become senior citizens today.