Classic Airplanes

[Sika98k]

Should be can't beat the sound...bloody clever phones....

And I thought you were getting all emotional !

 

[BFaucett]

Albatross Wings ~ Group Splash of 3 Grumman Flying Boats.
video posted to YouTube on Jan 26, 2014
YouTube channel: Flight Flix

*******************************************


[See my previous post above, in this thread, about the Howard 500 airplanes.] Tony Phillippe, the owner of the two Howard 500 airplanes at the time, also owned a beautiful Grumman HU-16 Albatross. So, let's ride along with Cayla in that very same Grumman Albatross for her to attend EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. In the video, you'll also see the two Howard 500 planes in the hanger.

Cheers! Bob

Flew to KOSH on an ALBATROSS!
video posted to YouTube on Aug 4, 2021

"I was expecting to fly into EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in a B-25 this year, but instead, I found myself flying in an ALBATROSS! Never did I think this would have happened, nor did I think I would get to experience my first water landing in an Albatross! What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Thanks to the owner of the Albatross, Mr. Tony Phillippe, for making this dream a reality!"

YouTube channel: caylamcleod
X: https://x.com/pilotcayla

Grumman HU-16 Albatross
The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin–radial engined amphibious seaplane that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Royal Canadian Air Force primarily as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Originally designated as the SA-16 for the USAF and the JR2F-1 and UF-1 for the USN and USCG, it was redesignated as the HU-16 in 1962.

First flight: October 24, 1947
Introduction: 1949
Produced: 1949–1961
Crew: 4-6
Capacity: 10 passengers

Maximum speed: 236 mph
Cruise speed: 124 mph
Range: 2,850 mi
Service ceiling: 21,500 ft
Rate of climb: 1,450 ft/min
Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1820-76A Cyclone 9 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,425 hp each for take-off; 1,275 hp normal rating from sea level to 3,000 ft

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_HU-16_Albatross

 

[baxterb]

@baxterb here are some pictures of a P-51A which is a derivative of the A36.

Awesome - have never seen that!

I have seen Mrs Virginia fly several times - lovely plane!

 

[Franco]

@Franco Are there any independent versions of this chain left ? Same theme possibly with a different name.

Yes, look up Specialty Restaurants Corp, they are listed there. Dave was one of the founders, he also formed MARC - Military Aircraft Restoration Corp to manage his aircraft collection. His collection included flyers and recovered wrecks. Dave passed in 2007.

 

[fourfive8]

Here’s a pic of my Dad’s fight crew with their B29 most likely ca March/April ‘45 because of the night raid paint. He was the pilot and commander of this plane. He said he preferred the B17, saying it was a “tougher” more proven aircraft but was assigned the B29… no choice This plane suffered a major systems failure (control surface actuator failure) during a training flight but he and the crew were able to land it safely w/o damage. As best I can determine, this B29 and most in the group were decommissioned at Clark Philippines after the war.

 

[spike.t]

And don't forget Faith...Hope and Charity......

Forgotten Fights: Malta's Faith, Hope, and Charity, 1940

The courageous volunteer pilots of three obsolete British biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope, and Charity engaged enemy raiders in combat over Malta in June 1940.

www.nationalww2museum.org

 

[CJW]

 

[BFaucett]

Speaking of B-29s . . . Way back in the early 1990s, I once met a man by the name of Tom Ferebee that was a member of a B-29 crew. I shook his hand, we briefly chatted, and he signed this photo for me. I also met his wife, Mary Ann, and she was absolutely charming.

Thomas Ferebee
"Thomas Wilson Ferebee (November 9, 1918 – March 16, 2000) was the bombardier aboard the B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima in 1945."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ferebee


My father served in the US Army during WWII. In Europe, he was a sergeant in General Patton's Third Army. Towards the end of the war in Europe, he was transferred to the Philippines. My dad once told me that he learned after the war that he probably would have been part of the invasion force of Japan. He was part of the U.S. occupation forces of Japan after the end of the war.

And so it goes... Bob F.

 

[Daniel Cary]

B29 .. Has anyone seen Nova's "Frozen in Time?"
They found one in the artic circle abandoned for 50 years. Years spent to restore on spot, dialed in to fly it home .. The ending!

 

[Daniel Cary]

B29 .. Has anyone seen Nova's "Frozen in Time?"
They found one in the artic circle abandoned for 50 years. Years spent to restore on spot, dialed in to fly it home .. The ending!

.. the finesse taken, every time a motor was restarted. Oil psi gauges coming to life for the time,

The Ending .. my God.
Enjoy.

 

[Red Leg]

I've never flown a plane, but my dad flew an Ercoupe back in the late 50's and early 60's.

It's almost amazing that we had the technology back in the 1940's to develop some of the fighters planes that we used in WWII.

P-51 - 440 MPH, 42,000 ft. ceiling, 1,500 HP, 6-.50 BMG's
F6F Hellcat - 380 MPH, 37,000 ft. ceiling, 2,200 HP, 6 - .50 BMG's
F4U Corsair - 450 MPH, 42,00 ft. ceiling (air-cooled), 2,400 HP, 6 - .50 BMG's - but couldn't land on an aircraft carrier...

Does any company make a 2,400 hp gasoline engine anymore?

If so, I need one for my Land Cruiser...




A Corsair pilot shot down a Mig-15 during the Korean war.




Look into the technology back then.

We've definitely regressed...

Many corsairs did operate off airfields, to include for a time the famous "Black Sheep Squadron." But by late1943, Corsair squadrons were successfully operating off carriers. Marine squadrons VMF 124 and 213 operated off carriers during the Philippines campaign. The first carrier-based operational squadron was the famous VF-17 "Joly Rogers" whose pilots developed the USN TTPs that made carrier ops possible. By the second half of 44 until the end of the war, many even flew from the small decks of escort carriers in supporting landing operations. The Royal Navy also successfully operated the big bird from carriers.

One of the more famous Marine carrier based Corsair pilots, Donald Conroy (made famous, or perhaps infamous, by his son as "The Great Santini") flew 100 combat missions over Korea, most from the deck of the USS Sicily.

If you haven't read it, Pat Conroy's autobiographical novel, The Great Santini" is a wonderful read. The 1979 movie starring Robert Duval is also worth watching.

F4U carrier landing. Airframe and landing gear had to be built very different than an air force fighter - the pilots as well!

 

[BFaucett]

Fatal Torque Roll Crash of FG-1D (F4U) Corsair DD58 on USS Vella Gulf (CVE-111) during WW2 in HD
video posted to YouTube on Jul 18, 2024

NO AUDIO

description from the YouTube channel:

This sad event happened on May 12, 1945 as the pilots of VMF-513 were practicing for carrier qualifications off the coast of California near North Island Naval Station (San Diego, CA area). I edited out these sequences from other videos capturing all flight ops that day - those will be shown in another video.

This video starts with the proper trim and control positions for take off being instructed to the pilots. The early F4U and FG-1D variants of the Corsair had a tendency to torque roll, due to the massive engine and prop, if it wasn't countered properly as shown by the instructor.

There were two cameramen on duty that day as it was the first day of carrier qual practice. One is on deck and the other is in the superstructure. Both men caught the incident although the cameraman up high stopped filming briefly during the plane's initial launch.

At the end of the video I show the squadron war diary from that day describing the event.

These were among the first Marine Squadrons to operate from Escort Carriers in the Pacific theater during WW2. There were four Escort Carriers that started this new program:

CVE-106 USS Block Island with squadrons VMTB-233 and VMF-511
CVE-107 USS Gilbert Islands with squadrons VMTB-143 and VMF-512
CVE-109 USS Cape Gloucester with squadrons VMTB-132 and VMF-351
CVE-111 USS Vella Gulf with squadrons VMTB-234 and VMF-513

YouTube channel: WW2 Marine Carrier Aviation

Bob F.

 

[CJW]

The Corsair was designed for carrier operations. The gull wings were designed to keep the massive 13' prop off the deck and the landing gear short and robust. They folded to optimize carrier deck storage space. They initially had trouble with deck landings due to the nature of the plane and poor visibility.

 

[Red Leg]

Fatal Torque Roll Crash of FG-1D (F4U) Corsair DD58 on USS Vella Gulf (CVE-111) during WW2 in HD
video posted to YouTube on Jul 18, 2024

NO AUDIO

description from the YouTube channel:

This sad event happened on May 12, 1945 as the pilots of VMF-513 were practicing for carrier qualifications off the coast of California near North Island Naval Station (San Diego, CA area). I edited out these sequences from other videos capturing all flight ops that day - those will be shown in another video.

This video starts with the proper trim and control positions for take off being instructed to the pilots. The early F4U and FG-1D variants of the Corsair had a tendency to torque roll, due to the massive engine and prop, if it wasn't countered properly as shown by the instructor.

There were two cameramen on duty that day as it was the first day of carrier qual practice. One is on deck and the other is in the superstructure. Both men caught the incident although the cameraman up high stopped filming briefly during the plane's initial launch.

At the end of the video I show the squadron war diary from that day describing the event.

These were among the first Marine Squadrons to operate from Escort Carriers in the Pacific theater during WW2. There were four Escort Carriers that started this new program:

CVE-106 USS Block Island with squadrons VMTB-233 and VMF-511
CVE-107 USS Gilbert Islands with squadrons VMTB-143 and VMF-512
CVE-109 USS Cape Gloucester with squadrons VMTB-132 and VMF-351
CVE-111 USS Vella Gulf with squadrons VMTB-234 and VMF-513

YouTube channel: WW2 Marine Carrier Aviation

Bob F.

And the Vella Gulf was an escort rather than fleet carrier. It had a flight deck length of only around 500 feet, while an Essex class fleet carrier of the time had a deck of nearly 900 feet.

Those were incredible young men.

 

[Sourdough]

Let's go back to WWI. Here is a video of a Fokker Triplane. These planes had no brakes so they had to takeoff and land directly into the wind. That's why WWI Aerodromes were circular in shape.

 

[CJW]

Let's go back to WWI. Here is a video of a Fokker Triplane. These planes had no brakes so they had to takeoff and land directly into the wind. That's why WWI Aerodromes were circular in shape.

The era where many of the planes tried to kill the pilot from startup to shutdown. You flew them every inch of the flight. The DR1 and other tri-planes in particular. A tri-winged airplane with an engine that rotated around the crankshaft. A fever dream nowadays to imagine designing such a thing.

 

[Altitude sickness]

The DR1was considered difficult to get the most out of. Anthony Fokker was a very interesting man. And a VERY skilled pilot himself.

 

[Daniel Cary]

I'm reading all, "not waiting for my time to talk" remarkable, thank you all!

We watched Nova's B29 "Frozen in Time" @BFaucett, etc. The guy who discovered the B29 after being buried in snow took on the mission to restore the plane. He used a 1962 Caribou to fly in & out to the site, parts, maintenance crews.



The "Kee Bird" crash landed. Interviewing the original crew, they all survived & eventually rescued from freezing to death. One stated, "It should've been left alone, it was sacred, like an Indian Burial ground, almost cursed. Their Belongings scattered"

After painstaking restoration, limited budget & time. Finally ready to take off on the frozen lake makeshift runway.

Devastatingly, fuel poured on the APU & a fire started ..

And sadly, the man responsible for his mission died before the plane was finished & ready for takeoff. Fascinating documentary, if you have the time.

 

[Daniel Cary]

Lockheed C-69 Constellation - "California to Washington D.C." - 1944


Lockheed C-69 Constellation

Lockheed C-69 Constellation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Lockheed C-121 Constellation

Lockheed C-121 Constellation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Lockheed Constellation

Lockheed Constellation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 714965
A Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation ("Super G") from the 1950s

TWA Lockheed L-1049 Constellation - "Sally Flies to New York!" - 1956


View attachment 714966


Cheers! Bob F.

@BFaucett & everyone.

 

[BFaucett]

@BFaucett & everyone.

View attachment 715482

Yeah, Howard Hughes was quite a character. A real shame about his affliction / condition later in life.

Back in the late 1980s, I visited Mr. Hughes' grave and paid my respects. He's buried here in Houston.

Cheers, Bob F.


Name: Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.
Birth: 24 Dec 1905 | Humble, Harris County, Texas, USA
Death: 5 Apr 1976 | Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
Burial: Glenwood Cemetery | Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA

photo source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/521/howard-hughes