DogOnPorch Posted September 29, 2020 Report Share Posted September 29, 2020 (edited) The B-47 Stratojet. All modern airlines save a few oddballs owe their existence to this aircraft. Over 1000 made, it along with the B-36 Peacemaker held the line during the height of the Cold War. The B-47 never fired a shot in anger...successful in other words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-47_Stratojet Edited September 29, 2020 by DogOnPorch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 The B-52...58 years on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 Recent SAC-like scramble just to keep in shape. These types of take-offs for B-52s are now extremely rare...but not for the reasons one might think. IRS Alignment takes about ten minutes at our latitudes (no moving allowed)...so any light-the-fires-and-go type take-offs would need to navigate the old fashioned way...maps n' compass...radio stations...etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannuck Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 DOP: Thanks for the B-47 inspiration. I have largely forgotten this airplane, as I usually fixate on the B-36 (huge R-4360 fan since I used to own & fly a pair of R-985s). The amount of maintenance required for these airplanes (and generally ALL designs from the mid-30s into the late '60s) is phenomenal. Also, to be able to operate these things pilots had to be intimately familiar with the mechanical systems and fully in tune or they couldn't get anything near the performance, utility and safety out of them that was possible. That is why older pilots scoff at the 737 Max crashes where the total lack of airmanship displayed heavily contributed to the outcome in both Ethiopia and Indonesia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 1 hour ago, cannuck said: DOP: Thanks for the B-47 inspiration. I have largely forgotten this airplane, as I usually fixate on the B-36 (huge R-4360 fan since I used to own & fly a pair of R-985s). The amount of maintenance required for these airplanes (and generally ALL designs from the mid-30s into the late '60s) is phenomenal. Also, to be able to operate these things pilots had to be intimately familiar with the mechanical systems and fully in tune or they couldn't get anything near the performance, utility and safety out of them that was possible. That is why older pilots scoff at the 737 Max crashes where the total lack of airmanship displayed heavily contributed to the outcome in both Ethiopia and Indonesia. Two R-985s?? Sweet. Did you own a Goose or something similar? Yes...the 47 was pretty cool. Flew like a fighter by accounts. But it was underpowered none-the less...JATO was standard for loaded take-offs....which was most of them. That would have been a rush... The B-58 was the other SAC machine. All for delivery of the B53 hydrogen bomb at high speed....9 megaton free fall device. A nightmare to fly, apparently....high landing speeds and narrow flight envelopes. You sat inside the open automated Stanley ejection pod...poor visibility when open...poorer when closed. Most losses were landings... Jimmy Stewart is one of the few people to have flown in ALL the SAC machines. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 The Stanley Ejection Pod...yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 B-47 Stratojet Pilot's Familiarization. The nose position, found in the earlier models, had a none too popular downward firing ejection seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannuck Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 10 hours ago, DogOnPorch said: Two R-985s?? Sweet. Did you own a Goose or something similar? Jimmy Stewart is one of the few people to have flown in ALL the SAC machines. Mine was a 3NM. Funny, but when I was a wee kid, I was introduced to general aviation by the pilot and engineer that kept a D18S for local construction magnate. They would show a couple of 12 year old kids all over a huge hangar strewn with airplane bits (DHC-1s and 4 x P51Ds being assembled by a few yanks) and answer any question with patience and in great detail. Got me into the front seat of a J3 every weekend for the princely sum of 100 small coke bottles (which I cashed in at 2 cents each). Many years later when I was an actual student pilot, I was helping a C-130 crew chief build up a battery pack to boost their bird at yet another BCATP field - only to discover that he was one of the pilots of the P51s flown out that next spring ('62 IIRC). Didn't even think about that bright red D18 when I bought my 3NM, but the first time I walked up the the chromed pushrod tubes and polished prop dome it all came rushing back. About that time, I was swimming in Lake Ontario near The Outlet (Prince Edward County) and a USAF Albatross got stranded on a sand bar. The loaded the RATO bottles and blew it off the bar with sheer brute force. The sound, the sites, the experience will stay with me until my last breath. BTW as a result, my other boyhood R985 dream (that will probably go unrealized) is having a Goose of my own - dead stock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, cannuck said: Mine was a 3NM. My goodness! I hope you kept it in the wartime regalia. That's gotta be a rare bird. I also recall you mentioned Chipmunks before. Art Scholl was the great Chipmunk pilot I recall from Abbotsford/Arlington back in the day. The only thing we remotely had like any of that was an Ercoupe. That was fun to fly. No rudder pedals.... Loudest aircraft I've ever heard is the SR-71. A real banshee. The Concorde and Vulcan aren't too far behind. Back then, the crowds could walk right-up to those machines...red velvet rope stopping them....lol. Now....airshows are more a sea of people I'd rather not tailgate-party with...if you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannuck Posted October 8, 2020 Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 Scholl's airplanes were so heavily modified, they were referred to as "Super Chipmunks" (IIRC by Art himself). I think he personally held a bunch of STCs for those mods. I was inspired by a few aerobatic pilots, including one who revived the inverted ribbon cut (about 45 years ago) who was an aquaintance and work mate (actually, my boss's boss). Thus, my first airplane was an AA-1 that...well, I can't write any of that stuff in a public forum, but it was one strong and capable little airplane. 3NMs (Expediters) were actually fairly common in RCAF days, but sadly did not have the C45 cargo door. It was a very interesting airplane to own and fly, lived up to all of what it looked to be when I was 12. Have spent a lot of museum time with SR71, but sadly have never had the pleasure of seeing one fly. One co-worker was the RCAF acceptance test pilot for the F104 programme, and actually taught the X15 guys "how to fly" as he was the only person in history to successfully dead stick a 104...not once, but TWICE!!!!! As a result, he was asked to do that instructing in a tandem 104. Still fly with one of his squadron mates, who is now the highest time pilot in Canada (well over 47,000 hours and counting). I have heard an awful lot about 104s from these two guys, and only read about the 71 - but if there was ever a "normal" airplane that even begins to approach the magic of the Blackbird, it is the 104. BTW: if you ever doubt the sheer genius of Kelly Johnson and his band of skunks, take a look at the shape of the wing leading edge on a 71 and then Concorde (there are one of each on the carrier on the East River in NYC). You know which one came first by at lest a decade! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 (edited) The NF-104 still holds the record for climbing to 100,000 feet...amazing aircraft. The MiG-25/31 close behind. That Canada envisioned the 104 as a high speed strike aircraft was interesting. No accounting for politicians, perhaps. We never played the bomber game seriously post WW2. Not that there were a lot of NATO bombers for sale or lease during the Cold War. Even though a good tactical strike aircraft is what Canada needed. Warsaw Pact air forces could always get ahold of the Tu-16 Badger or any number of Sukhois if the USSR thought it expedient. For some reason I can not fathom, we didn't want the F-4 Phantom II...only the best aircraft ever...lol...okay...subjective. These days for organic support for Canadian infantry, I'd go with a combination of helicopter, light strike and orbiting gunship. The Embraer EMB 312 Tucano would be a good example of a light strike aircraft that can operate from forward bases. Sort of the T-28 of the day. The C-130...well we all know its reputation as a gunslinger. But, I can't see anything like that happening short of Canada getting a Trump. Speaking of the Tu-16...long retired by the Russians...it is still flown by several nations...including Red China with the H6K licensed version...seen here fairly recently. Several rare-ish birds in that video...including one of the M-4 Bisons used to carry the Soviet Space Shuttle. All over the place tonight... Edited October 8, 2020 by DogOnPorch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 (edited) Major Brian Shul (ret) on flying the SR-71 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Shul Edited October 9, 2020 by DogOnPorch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OftenWrong Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 Guy's a riot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2020 The Tu-144...not a Concorde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2020 Another Cold War-ish relic drill by the 2nd Bomb Wing, Oct 16th, 2020. The Elephant Walk readiness exercise. Generally, B-52s operate in small cells, so squadron level drills are not the common sight they would have been 'back in the day'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) The Convair 880/990 was one of those jets...really nice on many levels, but missing the market-share race to the 707 and the DC-8. It used the same basic engines as the B-58 minus the afterburners making it faster than the rest. It more or less needed noise suppressors to operate at most airports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_880 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_990_Coronado https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_CJ805 Edited October 18, 2020 by DogOnPorch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2020 "Target Peace" from 1949...I think. A film used to not only promote the B-36 to the public, but used to frighten the Soviet Union who went-on to spend vast amounts on copying the B-29...a machine they had an example of...building the Tu-4 Bull. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-4 As a side note: the Soviets copied EVERYTHING on the B-29 they had...going so far as to include the camera left behind by one of the crew...hanging over one of the seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2020 The harrowing tale of Lt. Louis A. Strange. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Strange https://ajaxairpowertour.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/lieutenant-strange-and-the-strange-incident/ https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/info/from+dorset+yeoman+to+distinguished+airman+-+the+story+of+wing+commander+louis+strange On 10 May 1915 there occurred another of those Boys' Own feats with which Louis Strange is associated. At an altitude of 8,500 feet above Menin he was pursuing, in one of the new Martinsyde S1 single-seater scouts, an Aviatik 'belonging to von Leutzer's Squadron from Lille Aerodrome'. Trying to change a used ammunition drum for his Lewis gun, he found it was cross-threaded. Sterner measures were caller for and, standing on his seat in the cockpit, he gripped the control column with his knees and tried again. Disaster struck: the aircraft stalled, flipped into a spin and Strange found himself hanging upside down, gripping the useless drum and hoping desperately that he hadn't managed to loosen the thread. 'I kept on kicking upwards behind me until at last I got one foot and then the other hooked inside the cockpit. Somehow I got the stick between my legs again, and jammed on full aileron and elevator; I do not know exactly what happened then, but the trick was done. The machine came over the right way up, and I fell off the top plane and into my seat with a bump.' Although his frantic kicking had smashed all the instruments, he managed to return to base and 'slept for a good solid twelve hours'. The Germans reported Strange as having been shot down but were naturally disappointed not to find any confirmatory wreckage, despite half-a-day's enthusiastic searching of the wood on the north side of Menin! The Martinsyde S1 was notorious for its unreliability and, in the event, only 60 entered service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) The Airco DH.2...Great Britain's first effective frontline fighter aircraft. Britain had no interrupter gear or synchronization at the time...so the DH-2 was designed as a pusher. It ended the dreaded Fokker Scourge... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_Scourge Trouble with pushers is obvious...that big spinning engine is behind you and wants to go forward. Advantages of pushers...the castor oil used to lubricate these engines...very hot...didn't spray the pilot as with tractor biplanes. Replica...of course. Edited October 25, 2020 by DogOnPorch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2020 Gnome Monosoupape...a standard WW1 Allied engine. The whole thing spun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_Monosoupape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2020 Bloody April 1917...air war over Arras. Obsolete British aircraft vs the latest German machines...not good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 PBYs Hudson Bay Float Plane Charter Home Movie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 Albert Ball...British ace of aces. 44 victories...died age 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 And he wasn't even a Yorkshireman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted October 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 6 minutes ago, bcsapper said: And he wasn't even a Yorkshireman... Flew into a cloud after fighting with a dozen or so Germans...didn't emerge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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