On the Ramp Right Now!

Hey Ron,

Thanks!   The Staggerwing is based here, and I can provide detail photos of it's exterior if anyone might need them.

Crunched down some video of "Maid in the Shade"starting up yesterday afternoon.

Hardly any flying, but a good dose of ear candy as the bomber's two Wright Cyclone engines crank to life on an otherwise quiet ramp.

Kim wrote:... but a good dose of ear candy as the bomber's two Wright Cyclone engines crank to life on an otherwise quiet ramp.

Couple of years ago my daughters bought me a ride on a B25H for my birthday.  Deafening in the jump seats behind pilot/copilot (or would've been, without ear protection). Guess it was the least of their worries, but wonder how any crews made it back with any hearing left, just WWII vintage headphones over their ears.

Oh, and the H variant carried a 75mm cannon in its nose, basically same as a Sherman tank main gun.

"Crunched down some video of "Maid in the Shade"starting up yesterday afternoon."

Thanks for that Kim. Great video work.
Headphones a must.
Bob

Yeah, I've often wondered about that....along with mechanics who were in close proximity all the time...and then of course, the gunnery crews !! An AR-15 sets my ears to ringing on the first round when I forget my ear plugs!

Great camera work, and video editing. Thanks.

Not too exciting, I agree, and some of the big airplane guys on here may shrug and say, "So What?", but I have always been impressed by the power-vrs-size of turbine engines.

The Pilatus PC-12 (a HORSE of an airplane) based here is having it's engine sent away for overhaul, and I caught some shots of the Pratt being pulled from it's mounts.  I tried to get the photos to show the relative size of this engine and it's aircraft.










The engine core, sealed and ready for transport, on it's special pallet.  It may just be me, but it's tiny size is fascinating when put against the horsepower it cranks out.

Imagine what a piston engine would look like in order to get close to the same performance.

Anyway, this concludes my Tech/Poet Post for today !!!

I think that is quiet exciting. It is a tiny engine indeed, compared to the Pratt & Whitneys pictured in my books. Do you know the power of the turbine?

Lieven

Hi Lieven,

Just talked to the main guy who does maintenance on the Pilatus, and he says this model PT-6 cranks out 1500hp...down-rated to 1200hp. This is a pilot restriction for this airplane & engine, not a physical governing of the engine, and under certain circumstances, the pilot can circumvent the rules and use the entire 1500hp.

Lots of ponies for such a small powerplant !

Kim

I went to turbine school for Army helicopters and wish I had re-located (to my shop) a "lost" OH58 engine that kicked around all the back shops evading the inspector general for a few years before some ninny turned it in as "found on post"....twas not on any of our property books and the SN look up indicated "destroyed"
IIRC it was only 67 Lbs for the raw engine...shaft coupling and drive assy brought it up near 85Lbs
I think 620 shaft HP
It would have made for one wicked arsed go cart engine

Turbines are great from a HP to weight ratio point of view... but HP to fuel consumption is a totally different curve!

Kim wrote:Hi Lieven,

Just talked to the main guy who does maintenance on the Pilatus, and he says this model PT-6 cranks out 1500hp...down-rated to 1200hp.  This is a pilot restriction for this airplane & engine, not a physical governing of the engine, and under certain circumstances, the pilot can circumvent the rules and use the entire 1500hp.

Lots of ponies for such a small powerplant !

Kim

That is a lot of power. A supercharged P&W Twin Wasp had 1100 HP only with its 14 cylinders. And the engine had a diameter of 1.2 metres by 1.5 metres long.

Lieven

Got a call from one of my airport buds this morning, and nearly spilled coffee all over the place gathering my camera gear and trying to put on some clothes!!!

It seems that a Hawker Sea Fury had plopped into our airport with some minor engine problems!  Got there with plenty of time to talk to the pilot, and somehow never got around to asking what the problem was that brought him there.  I'll try to get some detail from the mechanic that worked on the plane.

Here are some of the photos.  I got some video to crunch of the engine-start and taxi, but think I botched the fly-by footage.  GOT to get myself a better video camera with a view-finder...LCD screen are lousy in bright sunlight!

Check out this English Bulldog of an airplane !!!!!



Got Spinner ???!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AWESOME!  

Very cool! Love the last shot.

Ron

Man O Man!!! What I'd give to work on your ramp. Those Sea Furies are absolute stunners! Our navy (RAN) used to fly those things in pretty much the same colour scheme.

Yeah, I do love my job!  It's also have REALLY cool to have such a great friend-base of like-minded types who are constantly on the lookout for stuff like this!  With it located about half-way between St. Louis and Memphis, our airport and it's facilities make it attractive to pilots who want to easily duck in and out for fuel and great service without the hassles and fees of the larger outfits.

Visits like this are, in my opinion, even better than airshows because the plane is alone on the ramp, and more photographically accessible without the crowds.







The thin, horizontal line running across the scoop in the left wing's leading edge is a spray bar that puts out a mist of alcohol/water on the oil cooler's radiator.  On approach, the lower speeds and high angle of attack can make it difficult to manage the oil temps, so the alcohol spray helps.   Other warbirds, like Mustangs, also use this method on their oil and glycol radiators.

As usual, super pics and great info. Any word yet on why he had to put down?

Looks like he needed a gallon of oil, that photo of him in the air, nice steep bank for 100' alt.
Nice photos of a beautiful air machine, thanks.

Very nice pictures, kim. The Hawker is powered by a double row 18 cyl sleeve valve radial engine: the Bristol Centaurus. It could easily be the last commercial sleeve valve engine built in history. Sleeve valves were 20's technology and used in cars because of silence. They were used in Minerva's, Daimlers, Voisins and Panhard & Levassors. I think Bristol was the only aero engine manufacturer to build sleeve valve engines.
The rectangular hole in the leading edge is indeed the oïl cooler and the 2 square holes on both sides of the fuselage are air intakes.

Below an exploded view of the Centaurus' predecessor, the 14 cyl Hercules. I'd say it makes jet propulsion ever so simple.



Lieven

Here's the video of this super plane.  First time I've used my new camera, and am a bit ticked off at it.  I can't find a way to adjust the shutter speed, so the propeller seems to come to a standstill as it's speed "strobes" with the shutter.  Also botched the fly-by trying to see the LCD screen in the bright sunlight.

Guess it's time for me to crank up the Visa Card and get myself some more serious equipment!

As he taxies out, the pilot tells Tim our Tower Guy that he had a chip-detector light come on, and stopped at Cape to check it out.  One of our mechanics helped him pour an oil sample through a paint filter, and apparently found no metal.

Kim wrote:Here's the video of this super plane.  

It ain't fair, I tell ya, it just ain't fair. Man, am I jealous --- it's like living at an airshow. The thing had more pipes than a pipe organ coming out of the cowl.

As far as the strobing, just tell folks it was a COX engine and started backwards.

That is so cool, thanks for sharing it with us.
I've considered myself a pretty good amateur mechanic, but looking at that engine really cuts me down to size. What a machine!
Rusty