WWII Aviation Thread

[BlackbirdM3]

Another cool bird. One of two Martin Mars flying boats. They were converted to air tankers and to this day there isn't another plane that can match them in gallons dropped on a fire under ideal conditions. (Hawaii Mars was dropping 7200 gallons on a fire every 8 min back in August.)

This is Philippine Mars, repainted as it was when in the Navy. Its slated to be flown from Sproat Lake BC to Pensacola Fl some time this spring.



Will

[marshallnoise]

Another cool bird. One of two Martin Mars flying boats. They were converted to air tankers and to this day there isn't another plane that can match them in gallons dropped on a fire under ideal conditions. (Hawaii Mars was dropping 7200 gallons on a fire every 8 min back in August.)

This is Philippine Mars, repainted as it was when in the Navy. Its slated to be flown from Sproat Lake BC to Pensacola Fl some time this spring.



Will

Its so remarkable that something like that can fly. The Spruce Goose makes me think the same thing.

[marshallnoise]

Not $10K per person, I think the seat I had was $400 or something.

Daryl Greenamyer has indeed had some bad luck. The F-104 was possibly illegally obtained and there is speculation that the plane was going to be seized anyway. As for Kee Bird, the story from an insider was that National Geographic was having him do extra high speed taxi testing so they could get more film footage. He didn't want to and was ready to pick up and fly out. Yes, the jury rigged fuel can for the APU was a bad idea, as was the lack of a fire extinguisher in that area. There is also evidence that even if they had gotten Kee Bird to Thule, it never would have left there due to political reasons. Even after Kee Bird burned, there are still salvageable parts there. An expedition landed and took a look last year.
Kee Bird as it was about a year ago.

Will

Its depressing to see those pictures. But, great pictures no-less!

[FLYNAVY]

Interesting……I never knew that there were piston engined aircraft with an APU. How does that even work, or is it not for engine starting purposes?

[BlackbirdM3]

Interesting……I never knew that there were piston engined aircraft with an APU. How does that even work, or is it not for engine starting purposes?

In the case of the B29 and likely the Martin Mars, the APU would power all the electrical stuff. They would fire it up, then pull the power from that to start the engines. Let me tell you, a cold R3350 is going to need to crank for a while before it lights off. Multiply that by four and you are going to need a good bit of juice to make it happen. Now batteries usually do the job, but in the '40s not so much. Even so when I flew aboard Fifi I asked if they still used the APU and the reply was sometimes but not that often. If it were really cold or the batteries didn't have enough charge they would use it.

On the B29 the landing gear and the flaps are electrically powered so the APU would have to run from before startup till the gear and flaps were up. It would be restarted for landing as well. Since Kee Bird was original from 1945 it needed the APU for everything.

Here are a few pics of both Hawaii and Philippine Mars

Philippine making a drop a few years ago.

From last fall.

Hawaii Mars with the bird dog


Philippine lifting off from SF bay in the 40s, with JATO

Hawaii Mar's digital nav system. She might be over 70 years old, but she is the ONLY air tanker with this sort of nav system.

The real view of what is seen on the screen above.


Will

[Garage30]

Sweet thread. I have heard a couple fighters and the sound of them give me chills. A Halifax bomber was dug up near my house a couple years ago, it got shot down on the way back from bombing germany. I saw the remains, engine blocks were split in half by the impact. The tech really surprised me by the way, 4 valve heads and all.

[M-technik-3]

So my sisters got to take a ride in the Collins foundation B17 recently and hey had cart blanche as to where they could sit so they sat everywhere, that gome thinking of an Fly In I did somewhere in France in 1999 or 2000.

Pink Lady was there and it was the eons ago so I went digging and the I had some prints but no photos of the flight I did. We flew maybe a half hour and was pricey.



I had a great time from what I can remember. I do remember breaking my collar bone doing carrier landings on a conference table. Needless to say the booze kept the pain down till I had to fly home.

[mrsleeve]

Just spent the afternoon at the Pima Country Air museum... The afternoon IS NOT ENOUGH.

Will I got some shots one one of the very few SR71's that can be returned to service (has not had it wing spars clipped) was one of the NASA rigs. One of the good things about being down here I drive by a lot of the Bone Yard almost every day, there are Acres of C130's and P3's that can be recalled and made serviceable with in hours

[BlackbirdM3]

Just spent the afternoon at the Pima Country Air museum... The afternoon IS NOT ENOUGH.

Will I got some shots one one of the very few SR71's that can be returned to service (has not had it wing spars clipped) was one of the NASA rigs. One of the good things about being down here I drive by a lot of the Bone Yard almost every day, there are Acres of C130's and P3's that can be recalled and made serviceable with in hours

Nice. Is it 980/NASA 844? I saw the last flight of 980 at Edwards. There are a handful that could be returned to flight. 960, 963, 971, 972, 975, 976, and 980 are the ones I think that haven't been damaged. There might be a couple others as well.

Back to WW2 planes...
CAF's Tora Tora Tora planes.







Vultee Vibrator (I think)

TBF/TBM Avenger

P51B (might be a C) Very impresive restoration.













Will