Official Aviation Thread...

[varg]

No way in hell will a T6 or a T28 go 343, let alone 440 mph.

Like I said, numbers from the wiki, top speed of a T28 vs a P51. I don't know where you got anything about the T6 from that given the context of my reply. 343mph is probably T28 VNE or something, hell if I know.

[BlackbirdM3]

There was a great article in july’s aopa(?) magazine about those 2 flying Howard’s. Apparently, the guy that owns both of them has a third he is restoring now. The article also mentions that for every hour of flight time, the airplane gets 10 to 15 hrs of maintenance. That is truly an insane number. It also states the engines are about 2500hp each and burn 100gal of fuel per side an hour! I think they are 18 cylinder Wright 3250’s. The same engine on a dc6.

That is an airplane for a guy with very deep pockets.

He also owns a pretty impressive Grumman Albatross that is set up like a flying yacht. He had both the Howard and the Albatross there. The Howard uses a pair of Pratt and Whitney R2800s, the same engine as the Hellcat, Tigercat(x2), Bearcat, Corsair, B26 Invader (x2) and the Lockheed PV2 Harpoon (from which the Howard was loosely based on. The Lockheed Loadstar became the Ventura, and the Ventura was reworked into the Harpoon. Lockheed built a few Super Venturas, which is really what the Howard was based on.)

Yes the fuel burn is high, but if you look at early jets, they weren't any better, heck, even now I'd bet they burn about that per engine (Not sure) All the big radials are thirsty. As for the maintenance time, I kinda feel that is exaggerated. I didn't see so much as an access panel open at any time. I saw the other 500 at Reno a few years back and again, not so much as a access panel open. In both cases, they simply fired it up and left.

Will

[flyboyx]

a lear 25 has cj610's hanging off the back end. they are a very archaic straight jet engine that produces around 3000lbs of thrust per side. that engine burns about 600lbs an hour of jet A taxiing around the airport and 600lbs an hour at 41,000 feet. i would say that converts to roughly 80+ gallons an hr per engine. i don't remember the burn in climb, but it seems like it was around 2200lbs an hour. this airplane also holds about 6 to 8 people, so i guess it equates fairly well to the howard.

as a contrast, today we jam up to 186 people in an Airbus 320. the NEO version that i flew yesterday burns 700lbs of fuel on taxi per side, about 4800lbs of fuel in low altitude climb, and about 2100lbs of fuel per side in cruise. (almost the exact same numbers as an Embraer 175) A classic engine option airplane will burn about 2800lbs of fuel per side at cruse.

so....the new airplanes will save around 1400lbs (over 200 gallons)of fuel per hour under the same circumstances. when fuel prices go back up and the economy goes to shit, this will be a game changer.

[flyboyx]

Oh, forgot to mention: both the classic CFM and the leap 1a produce 26,000lbs of thrust per engine on the a320.

I need to take a ride in the cockpit of a maddog to get an idea of fuel flow in a horribly inefficient airliner to see how it compares.

[BlackbirdM3]

How about some monochrome shots?






Will

[mrsleeve]

Will. You know I am sucker for your B&W work and those do not disappoint in anyway

[BlackbirdM3]

Will. You know I am sucker for your B&W work and those do not disappoint in anyway

I'll indulge you further then...





Will

[BlackbirdM3]

So I found a nest of Swifts this morning This afternoon I got to do two things I've been itching to do for a very long time. An Air to Air shoot, and to go flying in a small plane for the first time since 1998. The owner of a beautiful '46 Swift with a 210hp engine told me to jump in, and I wasn't about to say no to the opportunity.

Swifts are wonderful flying airplanes. Very precise, clearly designed for fighter pilots who were used to flying P51s and that sort of thing. With 210 hp the plane was a rocket.
A nice head on shot of the one I got to go up in.

The air to air... shot through the windscreen... Not ideal, nor was my lens choice (24-85mm and I managed to turn the stabilization off accidently...)

The 3rd Swift I found was also mean. I dig the 3 blade prop on it.

Today was a good day.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

What is this crap about only being able to post 5 pics at a time? What a waste of time. Not cool.

Will

[flyboyx]

well, they are five good ones though.....

[BlackbirdM3]

For only 5 pics, its not worth my effort to post anything more. This new setup is a PITA, and for only 5, screw that. No more pic posting till they fix this.

Will

[JasonC]

These pictures was on a roll of film in a canister marked 1942 parade. Not sure what city it was held in.

[roguetoaster]

^
My assumption is Fifth Ave, NYC, based on the only store name that's clearly visible.

[BlackbirdM3]

These pictures was on a roll of film in a canister marked 1942 parade. Not sure what city it was held in.

That would be a Grumman F4F Wildcat.

Will

[LateFan]

My buddy in Helena MT has been seeing this flying around the valley and parked at the airport.