Posted on 12/07/2017 11:51:02 AM PST by Beowulf9
Wow! Great story!
The Douglas DC-3 (civilian) C-47 (military) aircraft may be the closest thing to an indestructible, ubiquitous, immortal aircraft ever built.
The engines are Curtiss-Wright R-1820 cyclones: R for radial, 1820 for its cubic inch displacement. It is a single-row, nine cylinder engine.
The distinctive sound is because it is air-cooled, and hence not muffled by glycol liquid cylinder sleeves, and because it has fewer cylinders than a typical liquid-cooled engine (V-12): loud and rough.
The Cyclone was primarily a cargo/bomber engine. The B-17 used turbo-supercharged versions of this engine rated at 1,200 HP at altitude, enabling high-altitude precision daylight bombing (via the top-secret Norden bombsight).
Some fighters used it, mostly export versions of planes like the Curtiss P-36 (Mohawk) and Grumman F4F (Martlet, Wildcat). The main US fighter to use it was the Goodyear FM-2 (license-built Grumman F4F) with a turbo-supercharged Cyclone.
The first Navy monoplane fighter, the Brewster F2A (Buffalo), used it exclusively. The Buffalo was much maligned in America, but was actually an advanced design, aerodynamically superior to the Wildcat, much more maneuverable, and with a better climb rate in its first and second versions.
The Wildcat was a better carrier landing aircraft, an important factor, but its main advantage over the Brewster was that the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp used in many (not all) of the US Wildcats had a 2-Stage mechanical supercharger versus a 1-Stage in the Cyclone. This gave it more speed at 20,000 feet, where the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen, which also had a 2-Stage, was often encountered.
A side-by-side comparison of the Brewster and Wildcat powered by the same version of the same engine, the 1-Stage R-1820-40, showed the Buffalo to be about 14 MPH faster.
Supercharging was a critical factor in aircraft performance, often overlooked. The P-51 Mustang would never have succeeded as well as it did without the Rolls Royce Merlin with its spectacular 2-Stage mechanical supercharger.
Had a 2-Stage unit been developed for the Cyclone engine early enough, the F2A would probably have had a much different history with the US. (Turbos were not generally available for fighters in early WWII, so mechanical superchargers were used, except for large, heavy fighters like the P-38 and P-47.)
One Navy pilot who flew every major US fighter type in WWII against the Japanese fighters asserted that the F2A-2 (second version) was the only one that could have engaged well in a dogfight with the Zero; by the time the Navy encountered them in combat, the Dash-2 had been withdrawn from front line service, in favor of the Dash-3, which was inferior in performance and maneuverability.
The modified F2A-1s flown by the Finnish air force achieved a kill-to-loss ratio of close to 26-to-1 - up there with the Flying Tigers - while flying the Buffalo. They nick-named it the Sky Pearl. Finnish aces shot down many Russian and Allied (Lend-Lease) aircraft, including MiGGs, Lavochkins, Spitfires, Airacobras, and others.
The Cyclone functioned better in the colder, denser air of the north, and the Finnish pilots were very well trained. The Buffalo with its Cyclone engine, the front line fighter until 1944, massively outnumbered by the Russian air force, literally helped save Finland from Russia in the Continuation War.
Eino Luukanen, Finnish ace, wrote about his experiences flying the Brewster Buffalo in Fighter over Finland.
Here’s a few more of them...
https://www.commemorativeairforce.org/airplanes/91-caf-aircraft/128-caf-cargo-utility
Good thing they never merged with the Cunard Line.
My first time on any plane was the DC-3 in 1956-——Boston to OKC————I thought I was really something.
Your trip was much more exciting. :-)
.
.
My favorite war story...I flew home between Basic and AIT from Columbia, SC, we changed planes in Atlanta. I and another soldier were flying Military Stand-By. Our flight to O’Hare had only one opening for stand-by, and he and I were on the list. An Infantry LTC walked up to the counter to register for stand-by. When he was told there was only one opening, he demanded to have it. He was told he was third on the list, behind us.
He looked at us, sneered and demanded to be moved to the front due to his exaulted rank. He was politely told that rank did not apply. He then pulled out his wallet and bought a full-fare ticket, sneered at us and proudly stalked to a seat.
We must have looked disappointed, as the gate agent grabbed our hands, and asked us to stand-by. We sat there, while the flight was called. First class was filled and then coach. Our Grunt Buddy walked past, sneering at us, again. Then, after all were called, my buddy and I were called up to the gate agent, and she handed us each a pass...in First Class! She smiled and winked at us and told us to have a nice flight.
When we were seated in the first class cabin, the Infantry LTC came storming up and ordered me out of my seat! The flight attendant told him to return to his seat. He demanded my seat! She told him that if he didn’t return to his seat, she would have him forcibly removed from the flight. She told him that he had a full-fare ticket...in coach.
It was a really nice flight.
Does yours still have the piston engine or has it swapped to turbo prop?
what a great story. And it didn’t even
start with, ‘now, this ain’t no shit.”
;)
The Japanese Zero had 14 cylinders and put out 1020 horsepower. It weighed the same as an SUV. If you can imagine your SUV with 1020 horsepower, you can imagine why the Zero was the premier fighter plane the first two years of WII.
My dad parachuted out of that plane many times with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The oldest plane I ever jumped out of was a C-119 Flying Boxcar.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned that they were also used as the first “puff the magic dragon” planes in Viet Nam.
The Air Lingus pic could be very confusing. It took me some time examining it to figure out what appeared to be an optical illusion.
We are looking at the left side of the aircraft and the landing gear must be exactly superimposed on one another because there is no visible right gear.
It appears the left gear in on the right side of the runway, but that is the optical illusion as the runway slopes off to the right and is not visible nor is the right landing gear.
There is smoke coming off the visible gear and probably the invisible right gear, indicating the aircraft has just touched down, and the elevator is slightly up possibly lending credence to the landing attitude.
Thanks for the puzzle.
lel
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.