The Randy Sohn memorial airplane thread

[New Englander]

I wish I could find some information on the air-start cart the company I worked for in the early '70s bought. It was an Air Research model supposedly made to be able to start multiple engines simultaneously on the B58. We had started supporting jets with air starters and the Air Force was tired of lending us a cart.

Unlike the smaller Air Research units that had a centrifugal compressor and an annular combustion chamber, the type still common today and used both as an airborne APU and ground start cart, this one had a huge centrifugal compressor and six can combustion chambers. The parts guy found a good deal on it and the day it arrived I was assigned to get it running. It was about 4 times the size of the units we'd been borrowing from the Air Force.

I installed the batteries, and a line guy fueled it up. I pushed the start button and all he!! broke loose! It lit off with a lot of noise and a compressor stall or two and emitted a cloud of black smoke like an early B52. Once running it smoothed out but was very loud. In 20 minutes it half emptied the fuel tank.

Later that afternoon we used it on an Electra. When the start was initiated there was no pressure drop and the Electra's props spun like they were already running.

There was a box of combustion chamber end gaskets included with it and I soon discovered why. About every 10-20 starts it would blow one of the solid copper rings right out of one of the cans. The cans were arranged like the early jet engines with interconnecting tubes and a spark igniter in two of them. The tail pipe had a big box that turned the exhaust straight up to keep the cart from launch.

I've not been able to find a video of a B58 startup.

[Steve C.]

14 minutes ago, mader656 said:

Seemed like a good place to re add my kids first flights.

Great experience for them.

[jeeper61]

Tiger Cat being towed by a KB

[twostepn2001]

Saw these pics on a FB page. l've seen both a B-17 and a B-24 in person but never realized the difference in size of the fuselages, how narrow the B-17 is or how tall the B-24.

[TomH]

I have been on both. Yes, I was surprised at how much roomier the B24 was compared to the B17. Crouching through the 24's bomb bay is a squeeze though.

[Ian Beale]

"One of the last Flying Tigers takes his final departure"

https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/01/one-of-last-flying-tigers-takes-his.html

[sandhiller]

 

 

[hardtail]

The damage those planes took and continued to fly or land is astounding, I will never be able to convey my gratitude to all those brave souls

[twostepn2001]

Never thought about or heard of a twin engine spray plane. But in the late 60's and early 70's Ag Cat a 600 horse Pratt & Whitney radial with 2 Lycoming 310 horse flat 6's. Here's a story about plus a pic.

https://www.flyingmag.com/the-one-brief-life-of-the-twin-cat/?fbclid=IwAR3sZuVd6VO_vOIsmkvQDyf4szZqTzqjIwb8EUlBkSrMqpY9cS4_VEyqeHM_aem_ATb5zFP-M6l-tmrs0HlVpZEEskeUvhkk0JVo0pED7lz4HV3fdNTDbrkLMKJxX9SdtEXS4okoNQX4wSM97ZdK4pKj

[New Englander]

27 minutes ago, twostepn2001 said:

Never thought about or heard of a twin engine spray plane. But in the late 60's and early 70's Ag Cat a 600 horse Pratt & Whitney radial with 2 Lycoming 310 horse flat 6's. Here's a story about plus a pic.

https://www.flyingmag.com/the-one-brief-life-of-the-twin-cat/?fbclid=IwAR3sZuVd6VO_vOIsmkvQDyf4szZqTzqjIwb8EUlBkSrMqpY9cS4_VEyqeHM_aem_ATb5zFP-M6l-tmrs0HlVpZEEskeUvhkk0JVo0pED7lz4HV3fdNTDbrkLMKJxX9SdtEXS4okoNQX4wSM97ZdK4pKj

I've never flown AG but it looks kinda blind. No radial in the nose but two 6 cylinder engines on either side exactly where I'd be looking doesn't seem the best.

PT6 or TPE 331 was the real answer. Turbines have way better power to weight and the increased fuel consumption doesn't really matter for the mission.

I guess that's why it didn't make it.

[mike newman]

...ZK-BBJ was one of the first of the venerable  DC 3  Aircraft to enter service into the fledging National Airways Corporation...New Zealand's  first airline after WW2. This aircraft had seen  service in the Military, and after all that was done and dusted, it was fitted out for the Domestic   Airline Service in 1954...

After many faithful years of that it was  decommissioned and   morphed into a crop duster for many years. After that it was a static exhibit in a small North Island town, and settled into a state of decay...but again it was rescued and ended up in Africa....where it's useful life was finally terminated by an electrical fire...as per pictures.....A sad ending to  a iconic Aircraft..

...and a bit of further useless information, I would have flown , in this aircraft in 1954, prior to Xmas School Holiday's, from Nelson to Kiakohe, in the upper North Island.....I well remember this trip because I had to suffer the acute embarrassment  of having a 'tag'  hanging around the neck area , with my full name on it...sigh....I was twelve years old  !!!

Guess If I had fallen out of the old Dakota, someone would have been able to ID me...

Mike

[hardtail]

Sad final ending for the DC3 🥺

I find it an ironic first picture of the tail and markings, I can only hope that is a sign of things to come?

[twostepn2001]

Aerial applicator i.e. crop duster spraying cotton in south Texas in 1983. Love the sound of those 'ol "round motors." Notice his "safety equipment", motorcycle helmet and a T-shirt.

[jeeper61]

Never seen a DC-3 on floats before, this one is up in Maine 

[jeeper61]

I think this is the same plane 

 

[twostepn2001]

l wonder if this guy was any relation to Randy Sohn? No joke or disrespect intended. A week or so ago, l saw a short video about him on TV and just curious. Sohn is a name you don't see very often.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clem_Sohn

[jeeper61]

20 hours ago, jeeper61 said:

I think this is the same plane 

 

Here is a description of the history of the the C-47 on floats 

 

[Ian Beale]

12 hours ago, jeeper61 said:

Here is a description of the history of the the C-47 on floats 

 

A bit more

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10306240

[sandhiller]

[TomH]

 RAF B26 Marauders preparing for a mission. Looks like a Farmall H being used for a tug or moving the bomb carts.

 

[New Englander]

16 hours ago, TomH said:

 RAF B26 Marauders preparing for a mission. Looks like a Farmall H being used for a tug or moving the bomb carts.

 

Acres of PSP making the ramps and runways. I remember piles of it around when I was a kid. That and the harbor submarine nets and floats, all long ago recycled.

[Diesel Doctor]

On 9/19/2024 at 10:31 AM, sandhiller said:

MikeM told a barmaid in Dallas, Texas he was the Crew Chief on that 747.

She believed it.

Always make it believable. They would never fact check who the Crew Chief is?

[Dave Downs]

Most of us like airplanes and flying. While wasting time on the internet I found this youtube video of  aviation’s biggest event, the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) annual fly-in at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I’ve known about this event for years but I’ve never been there. What you will see are arrivals and departures on 2 parallel runways designated as ‘36 Left’, and ’36 Right’. The action is continuous. The audio you hear is the controllers giving landing instructions, very little is heard from the aircraft. The controllers will mention landing on colored circles or squares that are marked on the runways. This requires the pilots to fly down the runway but not land until they are at the appropriate mark. This is done to ensure proper spacing as multiple aircraft will be on the runways at the same time.

The video quality is excellent and you will see some fantastic aircraft and it is 7.5 hours long. It is best viewed on a computer, your phone will not do it justice.

EDIT - I'm still watching this, if you want to see some warbird action go to 1:37

          Also, they do switch runways.I think I'm going have this playing the rest of the day........ 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

22 minutes ago, Dave Downs said:

Most of us like airplanes and flying. While wasting time on the internet I found this youtube video of  aviation’s biggest event, the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) annual fly-in at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I’ve known about this event for years but I’ve never been there. What you will see are arrivals and departures on 2 parallel runways designated as ‘36 Left’, and ’36 Right’. The action is continuous. The audio you hear is the controllers giving landing instructions, very little is heard from the aircraft. The controllers will mention landing on colored circles or squares that are marked on the runways. This requires the pilots to fly down the runway but not land until they are at the appropriate mark. This is done to ensure proper spacing as multiple aircraft will be on the runways at the same time.

The video quality is excellent and you will see some fantastic aircraft and it is 7.5 hours long. It is best viewed on a computer, your phone will not do it justice.

Haven't been there in years, but it is a great show. There's usually enough air traffic around here, for the show, that I don't really get a big enough hankerin' to attend. There's also 7 or 8 live cameras going on You Tube during the show & they do a decent job of covering the night shows too.

Mike

[Ian Beale]

On 4/19/2024 at 4:16 PM, mike newman said:

...ZK-BBJ was one of the first of the venerable  DC 3  Aircraft to enter service into the fledging National Airways Corporation...New Zealand's  first airline after WW2. This aircraft had seen  service in the Military, and after all that was done and dusted, it was fitted out for the Domestic   Airline Service in 1954...

After many faithful years of that it was  decommissioned and   morphed into a crop duster for many years. After that it was a static exhibit in a small North Island town, and settled into a state of decay...but again it was rescued and ended up in Africa....where it's useful life was finally terminated by an electrical fire...as per pictures.....A sad ending to  a iconic Aircraft..

...and a bit of further useless information, I would have flown , in this aircraft in 1954, prior to Xmas School Holiday's, from Nelson to Kiakohe, in the upper North Island.....I well remember this trip because I had to suffer the acute embarrassment  of having a 'tag'  hanging around the neck area , with my full name on it...sigh....I was twelve years old  !!!

Guess If I had fallen out of the old Dakota, someone would have been able to ID me...

Mike

Mike

One of the Oz GFA (Gliding Federation of Australia" air worthiness blokes was an aeronautical engineer.  He spent time in NZ working on fertiliser drop equipment and flew in that plane.

One comment was "just as well that the valley was open both ends" - otherwise there would have been a problem with "rate of climb"