I’m 69 years old. In the 1960’s I frequently flew on DC-6B’s between Edmonton and Calgary, operated by Pacific Western Airlines. A beautiful aircraft, and those engines sounded like nothing else. Great clouds of white oil smoke as the starter struggled to turn it over. At night the wing was a sheet of flame! The 180 mile trip was over far to soon. Thanks for this excellent video, Mike.
Lived near LAX for thirty years now I live in Canada used to fly as a child all the time I'm pretty sure I remember a dc-6 still in service in the mid-seventies or so?
I am old enough that the aircraft I worked on in the NAVY were Radial powered. Sadly not 2800s but 1820-9 single row. But a night time high power check was still awesome to watch. Round motors rule!
One of the two engines that really won the war, along with the Rolls-Royce/Packard Merlin. The lineup of R-2800-engined aircraft is truly a lineup of all-stars!
Could the r2800 have been used for the Douglas sky raider? The sky raider used the wright 3350 duplex cyclone which made 2700hp. The average r2800 engine made about 2200hp, but variants made up to 2800hp. I’m no engineer so I don’t know if it was possible or not.
I loved the Pratt and Whitney R2800 radial. In the 1950's flew on American Airlines Convair 240 planes in and out of Roanoke, Va. Then in the 1960's after American moved on from the type, Piedmont replaced their DC-3s with Martin 404 Aircraft. Piedmont got theirs used from TWA in 1961 and a couple came from Eastern Airlines. The R2800s on the Martin were louder apparently because the exhaust was short pipes under the engine and on the Convair, the exhaust was in the back on the other side of the wing. I still occasionally think about a night flight in 1967 from Atlanta to Roanoke sitting next to the number 1 engine and the loud roar, some rattle in the cabin and two long streams of fire shooting out of the exhaust pipes. Wish I had a smart phone then to capture footage with sound. What a sight and sound!!
The beginning of this has the Roanoke airport in the 1960's with R2800 sound. Then it moves on the turbine engine planes which I only watched once. ruclips.net/video/D2q11jmXvgc/видео.html
If you ever want to really hear one roar up close look out for the yearly airshow in Monroe NC, the town owns and flies a C-46, “Tinker Belle” and man is she a feast for the ears.
Yep, and being a Curtiss Wright aircraft you can bet it was designed with a Curtiss Wright engine, that'd be a safe bet. One other thing he got wrong was claiming that the P47N was supposedly a high altitude variant of the P47, they were all high altitude fighter's and were designed to be exactly that from day one, the N variant was the long range variant of the P47 with it's "wet wings" that had tanks in them increasing it's range to over 1,500 miles on only internal fuel without even having drop tanks installed. I've tried to find it's actual range on internal fuel only by looking in the P47N's pilot manual, it list's if I remember correctly 1,500 miles (might have been 1,700 miles it's been some time since I read it) with the mixture control setting in auto lean but it goes on to say that if the pilot runs the mixture manually while cruising and pulls it back until the prop speed just drops and then pushes it forward just enough to return it that it'll "really give her some long legs".
The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave is definitely my favorite example for the R-2800; it's just such a unique design and those giant engines on the side are like nothing else! The Air Museum that I worked at for 6 years, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, has a few aircraft with R-2800; the usual suspects, the Hellcat, the Corsair and the P-47. If anyone is an aviation enthusiast or aviation art enthusiast (the Air Zoo has the worlds largest indoor mural!) and is in Michigan or Northern Indiana, I highly recommend the Air Zoo. It has a ton of great aircraft including some rather rare birds you only usually see in much larger "National" museums. The Air Zoo has the only on display two-cockpit SR-71. We also recently received an F-117. There are aircraft of all types from all eras, a few off th top of my head; B-25, MiG-15 & MiG-21, F-86, F-4. And a whole lot of Grumman Cats! F-14, F-4, F-6, F-11 (in Blue Angels livery)! There's even an Saturn V F-1 engine you can stand under, as well as several other aviation engines on display. It's an absolutely fantastic aviation museum, and even if I haven't worked there in 5 years, I still love to tell people about it!
Thank you! Another great reason to someday visit Kalamazoo. Next to on the way singing that 'I have a gal in Kalamazoo'.. and on the way out taking the train from 'Kalamazoo to Timbuktu' lol The name Kalamazoo always tickled my imagination as a happy place where everything is simple and nice.
When I lived in Valparaiso, IN, there was a B-17 on some world tour that had stopped not too far from where I lived. For about a week, one could hear it the skies. Boy, was it a beautiful sound. My father's Champ sounded nothing like it. Instead of a kind of buzzing sound, the B-17 had this rumble you could feel in your chest as it few overhead. I can't imagine the sound of hundreds filling the sky. While it's a sound of awe and wonder for me, I'm sure it's the last thing the average German wanted to hear during WW2. Great video.
You make me remember a lot of good times. I even remember how much fun it used to be to fly back in the 70's and 80's. Great video to wake up with and watch.
Even building kits as a kid I remember the box top/intrustion sheet histories telling of the P&W R-2800 on so many of my favorite planes, the P-47, the Corsair & Hellcat and so many others. What an engine.
This past weekend was great. Bombers, C-47's and other aircraft were flying in and out of Torrance Airport. Where we live, I could almost reach up and touch the B-25 when it was taking off going west. Nothing sounds like a Radial on takeoff.
When I was young and foolish, I thought inline engines were the bees knees....now that I am much older and still somewhat foolish, I appreciate how good radials especially the R-2800 were. Great video!
In-line was the best No P47 went to 49000ft None dived to 0.88 Mach As far as I know NO P47 went from Britain to Argentina and then aerial mapped the whole country. No back then in-lines were the KINGS
Certainly many good V12's were out there back then, but a hole in the radiator was all took to bring 'em down. Running with one or two cylinders blown off was an amazing quality for the radials. Good thing the oil tanks were so big....although with all the oil blowing around it would be tough to see!
@@garyyoung4074 And why would a competent enemy go for the engine when any cannon hits on that massive turbo supercharger and piping would be enough to cause massive problems Engine stops plane drops, no gliding in a 17000lb brick With the in-line the plane could still fly for miles before seizing and then glide further. Always a fallacy about holes in the radiator bring the plane down
Awww, you weren’t foolish when young, Joe! The V1710 is the bees knees in my book, and I wish I could have worked on just one. But yeah, there’s plenty of room in that book, and especially for the R2800. It’s an engine that could, and did it! Thank you, Mike. Always a pleasure watching your work.
In the late 1970's the U.S. Coast Guard had several Convair C-131s as medium range search aircraft as a bridge from retiring Hu-16s until they got Falcon jets from France. I had an engine run letter for these aircraft. I loved the sound of those engines and they were easy to access for maintenance. So much power. Fist full of throttles with water injection too. Woohoo!
Great video, Mike, as usual. In 1970 I got to fly on United's last DC-6 from Salt Lake City to San Francisco via Ely, Elko and Reno, one week before they phased out the type on that route. They had a balky starter on Number Two, so they kept the engine idling on the ground at the intermediate stops. The F/E had to brace the passenger door open against the propwash. I had the extreme pleasure of ambling down the airstairs and standing in the slipstream, listening to the glorious bark emanating from those exhaust stacks. My other fond memory was going back to one of the rear window seats after dark as we flew into SFO. You could actually see the red hot exhaust piping through the partially open cowl flaps. Not quite as impressive as the flames visible on the DC-7s R3350s, but awesome nonetheless!
In your photo of the American Convair I noticed the N number and had to go look back thru my log books. I found it N94203 and she was serial #6.built in 1957 , she was sold overseas. I never got to fly her but I did many of her later siblings at a small airline in Ohio. They were wonderful aircraft to fly, If it wasn't too hot or too cold out. They were happy between 55 and 75 degrees....
Great work yet again, Mr. Machat! It’s always a pleasure watching your work. Hey, I built the Corsair kit at 4:06! A 1/32 scale beut’ of a model! Man, I loved building that one…sigh, about 40 years ago. And wow, the P-61 at 7:35. So beautifully deadly looking, my personal WWII favorite. That particular photo is iconic. The Howard 500 at 11:24 is indeed striking! I worked on a PV2 resto, and always thought the Lodestar/Ventura/Harpoon models were a bit short on looks, and I first thought Kelly Johnson, at his young age, was after function over form. It was to my great relief he was assigned the project after the prototype phase of development, and subsequently created some magnificent looking frames, with a little hiccup with the profile looks of the Shooting Star. Anyway, back to the Howard…clearly the best looking of the models listed prior. Did Mr. Johnson have a hand in the Howard? Guess not, after reading the Wikipedia article. As sleek as it looks in flight, it still retains some of the dumpiness of it’s progenitors. Perhaps if it had tricycle gear. I was surprised to learn how much of a new design the Howard was.
I worked in a facility that in the 40s and 50s built R-2800s under license. In the early 90s that portion of the facility was demolished. When they crane with the wrecking ball got to the portion of the plant with the test cells the ball just bounced off of the concrete.
One advantage of being an old man, I remember the SOUND of a Constellation or a DC-6 taking off at Midway in Chicago. My father would take us out to the airport to watch the planes take off and land. There was an observation deck open to the public on the roof of the terminal.
among the many engineering marvels with a large influence on the outcome of WW2 was the power, reliability and durability of the R-2800. The P-47M, P-47N, and P-61C all used the uprated 2800hp version of the R-2800, however on 150 octane fuel the P-47D reached slightly higher than 2800hp at some altitudes when pulling 70" of manifold pressure with water injection
The Constellation. The most reliable four engine tri-motor aircraft in the world. But, one of the most beautiful aircraft designs ever. She did have all the curves in all the right places places.
One of PWA's best! My dad said they still had piston engine parts around "the shop" when he started working there in 59-60. "If it aint round...it aint sound"!!!! Another nice video Mike!
I have seen a comment somewhere that the designer of the engine used to work for Wright and when he presented the idea, management wasn't interested as they were full steam into the 3350. So he left and went to P&W and the rest is history. Great video.
Now you need to do a video on the R-1830 Twin Wasp and the PBY-5A, which my dad was very familiar with during WWII, serving as the flight engineer in the USAAF 4th ERS Flight D.
Yes, Mike. I was spoiled as a young man. I used to hang around a small ag aviation business when I was 13-14. I lived out in the sticks of New Jersey (Indian Mills was the closest PO at the time) and these folks used a small defunct farm with a grass airstrip as an auxiliary field to their Pitman home base. Sometimes they would bring in their Stearman. It had an R-2800 Double-stacked Wasp, wing tip kits, and cockpit roll cage with canopy but no doors. It was a mean looking machine, with blue fuselage, yellow wings, and high gear to accommodate the huge prop. To be yards away from that aircraft as it started was an absolute thrill to this young guy. And such an inspiration! Take-offs... WOW! What a sound. The return fly-by at a high rate of speed to get upwind for landing is a sound for the ages. I perk up instantly when I hear even the faintest note of an R-2800. Last time it was a Bearcat stopping for fuel at our town airport. But they are getting few and far between. Maybe I'll hear more with Oshkosh approaching. You going, Mike? Stearman Pic: www.airfields-freeman.com/nj/Pitman_NJ_78_Stearman_AgWagon.jpg C47 /out
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Glad you liked it. I really had a great youth around airplanes with good people who were willing to take time out to show and explain finer points to me, and let me learn, not shoo me away. This was back around 1978-79. I'm almost 58 now and would give anything to go back to that time. My first ride with those guys was in their Super Cub from that very strip. Gun then run from the end of the runway, got off the ground about 5-10 feet, then just before the tree line 'Reds' (the company owner) yanked the stick back and up we went until the speed bled off and we dropped a touch until normal flight resumed. I was laughing like a crazy kid. That's all I ever wanted was to feel what I'd seen hundreds of times. It was amazing. Cheers, Mike! I understand about Oshkosh. I've lived here in WI for 14 years now and have only been once. Shameful to me. But I better get my backside in gear before I'm too creaky to go anymore.
My Dad was an aerial gunner in WWll, flying 53 missions in B-26 Martin Marauders over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, etc. The R2800 in B-26s was 1800HP increasing to 2000HP in later production, the B-26 went from design direct to production, it was the first bomber to fly over 300MPH and had to be flown like a fighter due to it's high landing speed. The addition of 6ft of wing span in later models allowed a slower landing speed. The 320th BG flew from Mc Dill in FL to Belem Brazil then to Ascension Island in the Atlantic and on to Algiers North Africa. Flying across the ocean with dead reckoning to hit a small island in the middle of the Atlantic!
Thanks Mike for another excellent video. Back in 1984 when I got out after six years in the USAF( F-4D & F-16A crew chief) I got a job at a shop at Long Beach airport that overhauled large radial engines Stewart Davis INC and I loved it but the writing was on the wall for the shop so in 1985 I went to work for Mcdonnell Douglas and I ended up working as a flight ramp mechanic on MD 80s MD, 90s and MD 11s before finishing my career on C 17
I was enlisted Navy and in an aviation squadron based at Norfolk, Va., 71-75. A detachment of us were always going out to Miramar for exercises. For the first couple of years, we would get on a C-118 and fly cross country, stopping in Oklahoma for fuel & food stop. I loved it because the C-188 flew low and I got to see a l lot of country in good detail that way. And with the C-118, we could sit and spread out anywhere we wanted with lots of Spades, Poker, Hearts, Acey-Deucy being played. The Navy then switched to their version of the 727 and we had to just sit in our seats and couldn't move around. No one liked it...!!! Sure, we got to Miramar faster, but that spoiled all the fun for us, and for me, the scenery from below. One time, in a C-118, we landed at Miramar and were finishing our taxi to the ramp when the cargo door fell off....!! Of course my first thought was what if that cargo door had fallen off during the flight somewhere...?? That would have been interesting..!! I love your work....thanks a million..!!
An excellent trip through the history of a truly classic aircraft engine. I love to hear a multiengine aircraft flying overhead with these babies roaring! 👍
For all of the years that I flew 1950's and early 60's airliners, I never realized that they had radial engines. I would look out of the windows a see sleek cowlings with movable air cooling vents and massive props. Once or twice a year, I fly to Europe on Airbus and Boing jets. The difference in speed, vibration and cabin noise is something people younger than me will never get to appreciate
Have to agree on this engine. I have the White book on the 2800 and read it for enjoyment. My father was a flight engineer on B24s with their 1830 engines so I believe I inherited a feeling for these engines from him. Give me a good old piston engine and I'm a happy camper.
@ 17:05 on the left of the picture there seams to be an Arado 243 Blitz if not two of them, also curious of the plane with counter rotating props behind one of the German jet! Great content Mike and excellent execution....
During the Vietnam war I spent four years in the Calif. Air National Guard with the 146th Air Transport squadron,which was flying C- 97 four engine cargo planes powered by four massive P&W R- 4360, 28cyl. turbo charged radial engines. I worked four years as a line mechanic. The four engines were deafening when run up for maintenance checks. They could develop up to 4000 HP (for a brief time on take off or for an extended time in an emergency while in flight). I flew numerous times as an on board technician with a hundred pounds of my hand tools. My ears would buzz and ring after take off and for a time after we landed. The engines thunder could be felt in your entire body. They were about as big as a VW bug of the 1950s. I was an experience I have never forgotten.
I wouldn't have beleived you about the Noratlas but yes it checks out that one Algerian AF example with wing-tip JATO was converted to R-2800's. I see another commenter has pointed out the Howard 500/ Howard 250 photo indescretion. They kept both engine teams alive with these souped up Lockheed birds. Alot could be said for the R-1820's being good reliable engines too.
The 3 aircraft montage at 0:15, lower left, depicts a Grumman S2F equipped with Wright R-1820 engines. And I believe the Grumman Guardian was the last single piston engine aircraft produced by Grumman, rather than the Bearcat.
Did you mention the DC 3 or was that a different model number? Great video. I wonder if they were easier to work on than the Merlins of the day? Perhaps so since they were air cooled.
The A-3J Savage was a three-engined plane. There's a J-46 Jet in the Tail,the Air inlet had a 'door' in front of the vertical stabilizer, and the exhaust was aimed just a few degrees down, out & under the tail surfaces. This jet engine used the same Gasoline the R-2800's did, and was there to give a 'Boost-Speed', or, power should one of the Radials fail )not Likely, btw!), and it had a negative effect on Range. However, the AJ was the Navy's first Carrier-based Nuke Bomber, so, having a 'fast get-away' of 448 mph made sense during the MAD era.
Very engaging presentation. Did I also say interesting? I like the sound of large aero engines on the boil, and the radials win by a nose. Very well done, sir!
Hello Mike. You have an excellent eye for lines, and an excellent engineering mind also. I love the Connie and I hope the R-2800 book is on it's way it's way to me now. Best regards.
“Would probably” cost between 2-3 ‘B’illion to develop. Where I get this number: GM says it takes about 2 billion (2021) to develop a new ICE (internal combustion engine) and that is for a passenger car and you know how marine and aviation adds to costs. And personally I wouldn’t want to fly or ride in such a powered aircraft till the 2nd-3rd generation.
@@andgate2000 Exactly - I totally get it, although I am struck by the inefficiency of some of the radial monsters of yesteryear. I know they're built to tolerate sustained use for 6, 8, or 12 hours, etc; at a time. But still, the RPMs are also super low on this one.
Somehow, you seem to have missed my personal favorite user of the Marvelous PW R-2800 series engine, the Douglas A-26 Invader, available with either a plexiglass Bomber Nose or solid Gun Nose. My first acquaintance with this wonderful bird was as a Water Bomber in the movie "Always"
Great piece Mike! I was lucky enough to experience 'the noise' as late as the mid-1990's. I did my training at an airfield that was a tanker maintenance base for A-26 Invaders and CL-215's. When I flew in northern Canada, C-46 Commandos often frequented the airfield at which I was based. Unforgettable - glad I cought the tail end of that era.
Mike, another wonderfully informative video production - thank you. If I may point out, however, (if someone hasn't previously) that the "pressurized version" shown at timestamp 16:15 would appear to be a pressurized A-26 (single vertical stab) rather than a pressurized B-25 (twin tail). Or am I mistaken?
Good point, but the B-25 reference was because North American was proposing the single-tail fin, pressurized design as a successor to their Mitchell bomber. The A-26 was a Douglas airplane. Thanks for watching!
Very nice video once again Mike, the clam shell doors for engine maintenance is amazing. Warwick here in England is pronounced with a silent middle ‘w’, so it’s Wa Rick, sorry if I come over as being picky, say it how you wish Mike, take care
Thanks Sarah-Jane, and my apologies. 'Should've know that since my Brother-in-law is from England and was born and raised in Gloucester. He corrected me when I said "Glow-ces-ter," and pronounced it "Gloster." Lesson learned, and thanks for watching!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 No need to apologise Mike, I know in the U.S. you pronounce the same words differently. The silent 'W' is common in words here, same as Norwich is pronounced NoRich, and others. As a quick Max tangent, words like Gloucester and Mainwaring ( as in Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army ) were used to catch out people in WW2, namely to search out German spies as they'd say them wrong. Take care
The Douglas Invader is such a wonderful aircraft, it sits alongside the mosquito in my book as one of the classic piston powered multiengine warbirds that I'd love to fly on, with the addition that it's rugged metal construction means it obviously long outlived the brilliant but lithe wood construction of the mossie. I'm sure a few Invaders are out there bombing fires somewhere. Until your videos I had no idea the Convair 240 series was intended to be the replacement of the DC-3. Up until a few years ago regularly saw a cargo one with the venerable RR Dart turboprops, last I heard a mishap on the ground has kept that bird from flying again, I just see a generic CRJ cover that flight now (the cargo carrier is Aeronaves TSM, which as a Douglas friendly channel this is, you'll get a kick out of their fleet I'm sure). As always,
P & W's R2800 is Quite Possibly the Bitchinest Engine Ever Made. It's entirely appropriate that a brace of them power Quite Possibly The Most Beautiful Aircraft Ever Produced, also known as the F7F Tigercat, from the legendary Grumman Ironworks, which was Quite Poss... Ok, Ok, you get the idea. Loved this video. My dad (R.I.P., Captain) took to the skies above Korea in an A26 Invader, and it's 2 R2800s always got him safely back to Earth. Or I wouldn't be typing this, of course. Long live the Double Wasp!
I have heard the claim before about the Corsair being the first US fighter to exceed 400mph in level flight. But I believe that the Lockheed P-38 did so before the Corsair was built.
As always a fantastic and well done video Mr. Machat! Never knew so many aircraft used the R2800 engine. Also had no idea of the original Connie being equipped with them. Fascinating!! As always an enjoyable and informative presentation as only you can do. Really enjoy and learn fro each and every one. You and Max have the best channels going. As always God Bless you and your family. Thanks for everything you do! Take Care Always Sir!
I do need to let you know the Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation was powered by Wright R-3350-DA3 Duplex-Cyclone 3400 hp engine. In fact, all models of the Lockheed Constellation and Lockheed Super Constellation were powered by various models of the Wright R-3350 engine.
8:40 ok that is awesome .. and also absolutly terrifying lol i would be having nightmars about that opening up in flight for ... what ever reason and loseing the plane lol
Minor error. You said the aircraft being towed into the hangar in 1948 at 6:11 was a United DC-6B. It's a standard DC-6. The DC-6B didn't exist then. First flight and entry into service 3 years later in 1951. Don't think any DC-6B's had props with the rounded tips like that early standard DC-6. I was lucky to have flown on at least a dozen DC-6B flights around 1966-68 shortly before they were retired - Canadian Pacific, Pacific Western and United. Very versatile and reliable aircraft, partly due to the R-2800's. Over the years Canadian Pacific used them on both longhaul international routes to 5 continents and on much shorter domestic flights, mainly between Vancouver and many small towns, mostly in British Columbia. The last few DC-6B's were replaced by 737-200's in late 1968. Clearly remember my single UA DC-6B flight, a one-stop Vancouver-Seattle-Portland in 1966 or 1967. Pacific Western used them between Edmonton, Alberta and remote gravel strips in the Arctic and on their shuttle service between Edmonton and Calgary until they were also replaced with 737-200's starting in late 1968.
The Canadair C-5 is only a one-of-a-kind in that it was equipped with R2800s. The Canadair North Star, to give its full name, was a series produced airliner based on the DC-4, but with various changes, the most important being that it was equipped with Merlin V12s. This aircraft was used extensively by both Canadian and British airlines and military. Thanks to its Merlins it was *a lot* faster than the DC-4, however it was also impossibly loud for the passengers and various attempts at rerouting the exhausts did not eliminate the problem. I suspect that this is why the single VIP version, the C-5, which was used to transport Canadian government VIPs and foreign dignitaries, was equipped with R2800s; after all the Prime Minister and the visiting Queen should be able to have a normal conversation without having to yell over the roar of the engines.
I worked on them in Iceland and Bermuda. Not much fun to work on. The Old guys said the designer must have had a Mech dating his daughter. Fortunately there was only one plane and 4 engines plus spares, and it was the CO's bird. I preferred my T-56s. Those are sweet engines. Even found their way onboard Naval ships as Ship's turbogenerators. Over 4000hp each.
I keep returning to this wonderful video. It seems I notice something new every time. This time, my eyes stuck on the Vought XF-4U. Now, I may be a bit of a weirdo, but I find the early prototype with the forward cockpit much more beautiful than the eventual production versions. I imagine visibility was better, too. Of course, both are gorgeous- it's like asking who do you prefer: Sophia Loren or Raquel Welch..?
I’m 69 years old. In the 1960’s I frequently flew on DC-6B’s between Edmonton and Calgary, operated by Pacific Western Airlines. A beautiful aircraft, and those engines sounded like nothing else. Great clouds of white oil smoke as the starter struggled to turn it over. At night the wing was a sheet of flame! The 180 mile trip was over far to soon. Thanks for this excellent video, Mike.
Great comment, thanks!
Lived near LAX for thirty years now I live in Canada used to fly as a child all the time I'm pretty sure I remember a dc-6 still in service in the mid-seventies or so?
I am old enough that the aircraft I worked on in the NAVY were Radial powered. Sadly not 2800s but 1820-9 single row. But a night time high power check was still awesome to watch. Round motors rule!
One of the two engines that really won the war, along with the Rolls-Royce/Packard Merlin. The lineup of R-2800-engined aircraft is truly a lineup of all-stars!
Agreed!
Could the r2800 have been used for the Douglas sky raider? The sky raider used the wright 3350 duplex cyclone which made 2700hp. The average r2800 engine made about 2200hp, but variants made up to 2800hp. I’m no engineer so I don’t know if it was possible or not.
I loved the Pratt and Whitney R2800 radial. In the 1950's flew on American Airlines Convair 240 planes in and out of Roanoke, Va. Then in the 1960's after American moved on from the type, Piedmont replaced their DC-3s with Martin 404 Aircraft. Piedmont got theirs used from TWA in 1961 and a couple came from Eastern Airlines. The R2800s on the Martin were louder apparently because the exhaust was short pipes under the engine and on the Convair, the exhaust was in the back on the other side of the wing.
I still occasionally think about a night flight in 1967 from Atlanta to Roanoke sitting next to the number 1 engine and the loud roar, some rattle in the cabin and two long streams of fire shooting out of the exhaust pipes. Wish I had a smart phone then to capture footage with sound. What a sight and sound!!
The beginning of this has the Roanoke airport in the 1960's with R2800 sound. Then it moves on the turbine engine planes which I only watched once.
ruclips.net/video/D2q11jmXvgc/видео.html
If you ever want to really hear one roar up close look out for the yearly airshow in Monroe NC, the town owns and flies a C-46, “Tinker Belle” and man is she a feast for the ears.
Great photos of legendary engine and of the great planes it powered.
That was a great tribute to the R-2800 Mike. I believe the SB2C Helldiver was powered by a Wright R-2600.
Yep, and being a Curtiss Wright aircraft you can bet it was designed with a Curtiss Wright engine, that'd be a safe bet.
One other thing he got wrong was claiming that the P47N was supposedly a high altitude variant of the P47, they were all high altitude fighter's and were designed to be exactly that from day one, the N variant was the long range variant of the P47 with it's "wet wings" that had tanks in them increasing it's range to over 1,500 miles on only internal fuel without even having drop tanks installed.
I've tried to find it's actual range on internal fuel only by looking in the P47N's pilot manual, it list's if I remember correctly 1,500 miles (might have been 1,700 miles it's been some time since I read it) with the mixture control setting in auto lean but it goes on to say that if the pilot runs the mixture manually while cruising and pulls it back until the prop speed just drops and then pushes it forward just enough to return it that it'll "really give her some long legs".
Yes, that is correct, and the Helldiver has been edited-out. Thanks for watching!
The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave is definitely my favorite example for the R-2800; it's just such a unique design and those giant engines on the side are like nothing else!
The Air Museum that I worked at for 6 years, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, has a few aircraft with R-2800; the usual suspects, the Hellcat, the Corsair and the P-47.
If anyone is an aviation enthusiast or aviation art enthusiast (the Air Zoo has the worlds largest indoor mural!) and is in Michigan or Northern Indiana, I highly recommend the Air Zoo. It has a ton of great aircraft including some rather rare birds you only usually see in much larger "National" museums. The Air Zoo has the only on display two-cockpit SR-71. We also recently received an F-117.
There are aircraft of all types from all eras, a few off th top of my head; B-25, MiG-15 & MiG-21, F-86, F-4. And a whole lot of Grumman Cats! F-14, F-4, F-6, F-11 (in Blue Angels livery)! There's even an Saturn V F-1 engine you can stand under, as well as several other aviation engines on display.
It's an absolutely fantastic aviation museum, and even if I haven't worked there in 5 years, I still love to tell people about it!
Thank you! Another great reason to someday visit Kalamazoo. Next to on the way singing that 'I have a gal in Kalamazoo'.. and on the way out taking the train from 'Kalamazoo to Timbuktu' lol
The name Kalamazoo always tickled my imagination as a happy place where everything is simple and nice.
@@RichNotWealthy I walked past the XP-55 every day on my way to my office. Never got old walking past all those planes!
I was a mechanic in the coast guard, and worked on R2800-92W. Very powerful engine.
When I lived in Valparaiso, IN, there was a B-17 on some world tour that had stopped not too far from where I lived. For about a week, one could hear it the skies. Boy, was it a beautiful sound. My father's Champ sounded nothing like it. Instead of a kind of buzzing sound, the B-17 had this rumble you could feel in your chest as it few overhead. I can't imagine the sound of hundreds filling the sky. While it's a sound of awe and wonder for me, I'm sure it's the last thing the average German wanted to hear during WW2. Great video.
F-7F has to be the best sounding war bird of all time. Twin R2800's . Well my favorite anyway.
It’s a good pick for a fav.
Mike--I appreciate the photos you share, many of which I have never seen before.
Many thanks!
I would never have guessed that.
Awesome model cover!! That is cool!
My Dad started work on these engines at P&WA in 1940. We see a DC-6 fly over our house about every week.
You make me remember a lot of good times. I even remember how much fun it used to be to fly back in the 70's and 80's. Great video to wake up with and watch.
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Even building kits as a kid I remember the box top/intrustion sheet histories telling of the P&W R-2800 on so many of my favorite planes, the P-47, the Corsair & Hellcat and so many others. What an engine.
This past weekend was great. Bombers, C-47's and other aircraft were flying in and out of Torrance Airport. Where we live, I could almost reach up and touch the B-25 when it was taking off going west. Nothing sounds like a Radial on takeoff.
Spent two fire seasons as a Copilot on a DC-6B Air tanker. The 2800 is an amazing engine.
You showed some of my favorite aircraft ever!!
F7F, F8F, P-61, P-47, C-123....
Great stuff!
Many thanks!
What a nice surprise for a smokey Monday morning!
Excellent subject and presentation ,as always.
Thanks Mike!
When I was young and foolish, I thought inline engines were the bees knees....now that I am much older and still somewhat foolish, I appreciate how good radials especially the R-2800 were. Great video!
Many thanks!
In-line was the best No P47 went to 49000ft None dived to 0.88 Mach As far as I know NO P47 went from Britain to Argentina and then aerial mapped the whole country.
No back then in-lines were the KINGS
Certainly many good V12's were out there back then, but a hole in the radiator was all took to bring 'em down. Running with one or two cylinders blown off was an amazing quality for the radials. Good thing the oil tanks were so big....although with all the oil blowing around it would be tough to see!
@@garyyoung4074 And why would a competent enemy go for the engine when any cannon hits on that massive turbo supercharger and piping would be enough to cause massive problems Engine stops plane drops, no gliding in a 17000lb brick
With the in-line the plane could still fly for miles before seizing and then glide further. Always a fallacy about holes in the radiator bring the plane down
Awww, you weren’t foolish when young, Joe! The V1710 is the bees knees in my book, and I wish I could have worked on just one. But yeah, there’s plenty of room in that book, and especially for the R2800. It’s an engine that could, and did it!
Thank you, Mike. Always a pleasure watching your work.
In the late 1970's the U.S. Coast Guard had several Convair C-131s as medium range search aircraft as a bridge from retiring Hu-16s until they got Falcon jets from France. I had an engine run letter for these aircraft. I loved the sound of those engines and they were easy to access for maintenance. So much power. Fist full of throttles with water injection too. Woohoo!
Very cool!
It was the American Rolls Royce Merlin. A truly great and war winning engine.
Thank you for another great program...
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Great video, Mike, as usual. In 1970 I got to fly on United's last DC-6 from Salt Lake City to San Francisco via Ely, Elko and Reno, one week before they phased out the type on that route. They had a balky starter on Number Two, so they kept the engine idling on the ground at the intermediate stops. The F/E had to brace the passenger door open against the propwash. I had the extreme pleasure of ambling down the airstairs and standing in the slipstream, listening to the glorious bark emanating from those exhaust stacks. My other fond memory was going back to one of the rear window seats after dark as we flew into SFO. You could actually see the red hot exhaust piping through the partially open cowl flaps. Not quite as impressive as the flames visible on the DC-7s R3350s, but awesome nonetheless!
Loved those engines.
In your photo of the American Convair I noticed the N number and had to go look back thru my log books.
I found it N94203 and she was serial #6.built in 1957 , she was sold overseas. I never got to fly her but I did many of her later siblings at a small airline in Ohio. They were wonderful aircraft to fly, If it wasn't too hot or too cold out. They were happy between 55 and 75 degrees....
Great work yet again, Mr. Machat! It’s always a pleasure watching your work.
Hey, I built the Corsair kit at 4:06! A 1/32 scale beut’ of a model! Man, I loved building that one…sigh, about 40 years ago.
And wow, the P-61 at 7:35. So beautifully deadly looking, my personal WWII favorite. That particular photo is iconic.
The Howard 500 at 11:24 is indeed striking! I worked on a PV2 resto, and always thought the Lodestar/Ventura/Harpoon models were a bit short on looks, and I first thought Kelly Johnson, at his young age, was after function over form. It was to my great relief he was assigned the project after the prototype phase of development, and subsequently created some magnificent looking frames, with a little hiccup with the profile looks of the Shooting Star. Anyway, back to the Howard…clearly the best looking of the models listed prior. Did Mr. Johnson have a hand in the Howard? Guess not, after reading the Wikipedia article. As sleek as it looks in flight, it still retains some of the dumpiness of it’s progenitors. Perhaps if it had tricycle gear. I was surprised to learn how much of a new design the Howard was.
Another great presentation, as usual
Can you imagine all the exacting machining and work that went into producing just one engine?
Machined hard steel nonetheless.
Crankshaft, rods, pins, bearing shells, even the engine case itself was steel on the large radials.
I worked in a facility that in the 40s and 50s built R-2800s under license. In the early 90s that portion of the facility was demolished. When they crane with the wrecking ball got to the portion of the plant with the test cells the ball just bounced off of the concrete.
Delightful! So many cool aircraft!
The first airplane I rode on was a DC-6. It was at night and I remember being able to see flames in the exhausts.
One advantage of being an old man, I remember the SOUND of a Constellation or a DC-6 taking off at Midway in Chicago. My father would take us out to the airport to watch the planes take off and land. There was an observation deck open to the public on the roof of the terminal.
among the many engineering marvels with a large influence on the outcome of WW2 was the power, reliability and durability of the R-2800. The P-47M, P-47N, and P-61C all used the uprated 2800hp version of the R-2800, however on 150 octane fuel the P-47D reached slightly higher than 2800hp at some altitudes when pulling 70" of manifold pressure with water injection
The Constellation. The most reliable four engine tri-motor aircraft in the world. But, one of the most beautiful aircraft designs ever. She did have all the curves in all the right places places.
Agreed!
One of PWA's best! My dad said they still had piston engine parts around "the shop" when he started working there in 59-60. "If it aint round...it aint sound"!!!!
Another nice video Mike!
That's a Howard 250 tri-gear, not a 500. The 500 was a pressurized aircraft and did not have large 'picture windows' for the passengers.
Concur, and the N number ices it. Boy if I had real money, I’d try to get my hands on one of the two 500s still flying!
And it has 1820s.... should be easy enough to source a good 500 photo...
Correct. I have photos of both aircraft - titles were switched when filed.
Correct. I have photos of both aircraft - titles were switched when filed. Thanks for watching!
Excellent informative video on my favorite engine 👍
I have seen a comment somewhere that the designer of the engine used to work for Wright and when he presented the idea, management wasn't interested as they were full steam into the 3350. So he left and went to P&W and the rest is history. Great video.
Now you need to do a video on the R-1830 Twin Wasp and the PBY-5A, which my dad was very familiar with during WWII, serving as the flight engineer in the USAAF 4th ERS Flight D.
Thanks for the comment!
It was an amazingly reliable aero engine.
Yes, Mike. I was spoiled as a young man. I used to hang around a small ag aviation business when I was 13-14. I lived out in the sticks of New Jersey (Indian Mills was the closest PO at the time) and these folks used a small defunct farm with a grass airstrip as an auxiliary field to their Pitman home base.
Sometimes they would bring in their Stearman. It had an R-2800 Double-stacked Wasp, wing tip kits, and cockpit roll cage with canopy but no doors. It was a mean looking machine, with blue fuselage, yellow wings, and high gear to accommodate the huge prop. To be yards away from that aircraft as it started was an absolute thrill to this young guy. And such an inspiration! Take-offs... WOW! What a sound. The return fly-by at a high rate of speed to get upwind for landing is a sound for the ages.
I perk up instantly when I hear even the faintest note of an R-2800. Last time it was a Bearcat stopping for fuel at our town airport. But they are getting few and far between. Maybe I'll hear more with Oshkosh approaching. You going, Mike?
Stearman Pic: www.airfields-freeman.com/nj/Pitman_NJ_78_Stearman_AgWagon.jpg
C47 /out
Great comment and neat photo, thanks! I've attended the Oshkosh air show since 1978, but my last one was in 2012. Don't travel much anymore at age 75.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Glad you liked it. I really had a great youth around airplanes with good people who were willing to take time out to show and explain finer points to me, and let me learn, not shoo me away. This was back around 1978-79. I'm almost 58 now and would give anything to go back to that time. My first ride with those guys was in their Super Cub from that very strip. Gun then run from the end of the runway, got off the ground about 5-10 feet, then just before the tree line 'Reds' (the company owner) yanked the stick back and up we went until the speed bled off and we dropped a touch until normal flight resumed. I was laughing like a crazy kid. That's all I ever wanted was to feel what I'd seen hundreds of times. It was amazing. Cheers, Mike! I understand about Oshkosh. I've lived here in WI for 14 years now and have only been once. Shameful to me. But I better get my backside in gear before I'm too creaky to go anymore.
My Dad was an aerial gunner in WWll, flying 53 missions in B-26 Martin Marauders over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, etc. The R2800 in B-26s was 1800HP increasing to 2000HP in later production, the B-26 went from design direct to production, it was the first bomber to fly over 300MPH and had to be flown like a fighter due to it's high landing speed. The addition of 6ft of wing span in later models allowed a slower landing speed. The 320th BG flew from Mc Dill in FL to Belem Brazil then to Ascension Island in the Atlantic and on to Algiers North Africa. Flying across the ocean with dead reckoning to hit a small island in the middle of the Atlantic!
Thanks Mike for another excellent video. Back in 1984 when I got out after six years in the USAF( F-4D & F-16A crew chief) I got a job at a shop at Long Beach airport that overhauled large radial engines Stewart Davis INC and I loved it but the writing was on the wall for the shop so in 1985 I went to work for Mcdonnell Douglas and I ended up working as a flight ramp mechanic on MD 80s MD, 90s and MD 11s before finishing my career on C 17
Greetings to a fellow Douglas Long Beach vet, and thanks for the great comment!
Great presentation, as always. Thank you.
I was enlisted Navy and in an aviation squadron based at Norfolk, Va., 71-75. A detachment of us were always going out to Miramar for exercises. For the first couple of years, we would get on a C-118 and fly cross country, stopping in Oklahoma for fuel & food stop. I loved it because the C-188 flew low and I got to see a l lot of country in good detail that way. And with the C-118, we could sit and spread out anywhere we wanted with lots of Spades, Poker, Hearts, Acey-Deucy being played. The Navy then switched to their version of the 727 and we had to just sit in our seats and couldn't move around. No one liked it...!!! Sure, we got to Miramar faster, but that spoiled all the fun for us, and for me, the scenery from below. One time, in a C-118, we landed at Miramar and were finishing our taxi to the ramp when the cargo door fell off....!! Of course my first thought was what if that cargo door had fallen off during the flight somewhere...?? That would have been interesting..!!
I love your work....thanks a million..!!
I have a type rating for the Convair 240/340 that used that engine. To get maximum power it required 145 octane aviation fuel.
An excellent trip through the history of a truly classic aircraft engine. I love to hear a multiengine aircraft flying overhead with these babies roaring! 👍
I remember that Revell box cover with the Jolly Rogers Corsair. Wow!
I’m not the biggest aircraft historian, but why haven’t I seen the Howard before? Wow!
For all of the years that I flew 1950's and early 60's airliners, I never realized that they had radial engines. I would look out of the windows a see sleek cowlings with movable air cooling vents and massive props. Once or twice a year, I fly to Europe on Airbus and Boing jets. The difference in speed, vibration and cabin noise is something people younger than me will never get to appreciate
Have to agree on this engine. I have the White book on the 2800 and read it for enjoyment. My father was a flight engineer on B24s with their 1830 engines so I believe I inherited a feeling for these engines from him. Give me a good old piston engine and I'm a happy camper.
@ 17:05 on the left of the picture there seams to be an Arado 243 Blitz if not two of them, also curious of the plane with counter rotating props behind one of the German jet! Great content Mike and excellent execution....
Thanks Mario, and yes those are two captured Ar. 234s at left background. The larger aircraft behind is a Dornier Do. 335 Arrow. Good catch!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 You're welcome Mike!
During the Vietnam war I spent four years in the Calif. Air National Guard with the 146th Air Transport squadron,which was flying C- 97 four engine cargo planes powered by four massive P&W R- 4360, 28cyl. turbo charged radial engines. I worked four years as a line mechanic. The four engines were deafening when run up for maintenance checks. They could develop up to 4000 HP (for a brief time on take off or for an extended time in an emergency while in flight). I flew numerous times as an on board technician with a hundred pounds of my hand tools. My ears would buzz and ring after take off and for a time after we landed. The engines thunder could be felt in your entire body. They were about as big as a VW bug of the 1950s. I was an experience I have never forgotten.
I wouldn't have beleived you about the Noratlas but yes it checks out that one Algerian AF example with wing-tip JATO was converted to R-2800's. I see another commenter has pointed out the Howard 500/ Howard 250 photo indescretion. They kept both engine teams alive with these souped up Lockheed birds. Alot could be said for the R-1820's being good reliable engines too.
T29 was also flown by Navy squadron VT-29. Lotsa celestial observations for my Navy NFO wings.
The 3 aircraft montage at 0:15, lower left, depicts a Grumman S2F equipped with
Wright R-1820 engines. And I believe the Grumman Guardian was the last
single piston engine aircraft produced by Grumman, rather than the Bearcat.
Did you mention the DC 3 or was that a different model number? Great video. I wonder if they were easier to work on than the Merlins of the day? Perhaps so since they were air cooled.
My first half-dozen flights were on a Martin 404. A great airplane.
The A-3J Savage was a three-engined plane. There's a J-46 Jet in the Tail,the Air inlet had a 'door' in front of the vertical stabilizer, and the exhaust was aimed just a few degrees down, out & under the tail surfaces. This jet engine used the same Gasoline the R-2800's did, and was there to give a 'Boost-Speed', or, power should one of the Radials fail )not Likely, btw!), and it had a negative effect on Range. However, the AJ was the Navy's first Carrier-based Nuke Bomber, so, having a 'fast get-away' of 448 mph made sense during the MAD era.
Very engaging presentation. Did I also say interesting? I like the sound of large aero engines on the boil, and the radials win by a nose. Very well done, sir!
Many thanks!
Hello Mike. You have an excellent eye for lines, and an excellent engineering mind also. I love the Connie and I hope the R-2800 book is on it's way it's way to me now. Best regards.
Many thanks!
wow...love it
Whoa, another excellent presentation, Mike! Exquisitely researched and with outstanding photos. My favorite channel, by far !! (Hickock 45 is #2)
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Wow - imagine 46 Liters!
A Ford 3.5 eco boost is now making 400hp. That would be 5200HP in 46 Liters with today's technology.
“Would probably” cost between 2-3 ‘B’illion to develop. Where I get this number: GM says it takes about 2 billion (2021) to develop a new ICE (internal combustion engine) and that is for a passenger car and you know how marine and aviation adds to costs. And personally I wouldn’t want to fly or ride in such a powered aircraft till the 2nd-3rd generation.
Sort of. Lets not forget it was designed for 2800hp all day every day every year.
@@andgate2000 Exactly - I totally get it, although I am struck by the inefficiency of some of the radial monsters of yesteryear. I know they're built to tolerate sustained use for 6, 8, or 12 hours, etc; at a time. But still, the RPMs are also super low on this one.
Where did all of this wonderful Avaition art come from.
Thanks for the question, and those images are my paintings from the early days of my aviation career as an artist.
Great content and photos! Thanks!
Thanks, Mike.
Somehow, you seem to have missed my personal favorite user of the Marvelous PW R-2800 series engine, the Douglas A-26 Invader, available with either a plexiglass Bomber Nose or solid Gun Nose. My first acquaintance with this wonderful bird was as a Water Bomber in the movie "Always"
The Douglas A-26, one of my personal favorites as well from the great Long Beach plant is at 05:24. Thanks for watching!
Shoot, I loved that movie.
I had no idea the 2800 was manufactured into the 60’s.
Great content , I love the the Revell box art!! 😄
Great piece, thanks.
Thank you. Very informative.
Thanks for another great video.
Great piece Mike!
I was lucky enough to experience 'the noise' as late as the mid-1990's.
I did my training at an airfield that was a tanker maintenance base for A-26 Invaders and CL-215's.
When I flew in northern Canada, C-46 Commandos often frequented the airfield at which I was based.
Unforgettable - glad I cought the tail end of that era.
Another great video Mike!
My grandmother worked for 12 years as an inspector at Pratt & Whitney, mostly on that engine since she was hired at the beginning of WWII.
Legendary!!
Mike, another excellent video that expanded my knowledge base. I was surprised to see Pratt was cranking these engines out through 1960!
Love the 2800. Spent lots of time “under the hood” on em….
Mike, another wonderfully informative video production - thank you. If I may point out, however, (if someone hasn't previously) that the "pressurized version" shown at timestamp 16:15 would appear to be a pressurized A-26 (single vertical stab) rather than a pressurized B-25 (twin tail). Or am I mistaken?
Good point, but the B-25 reference was because North American was proposing the single-tail fin, pressurized design as a successor to their Mitchell bomber. The A-26 was a Douglas airplane. Thanks for watching!
The beautiful B-28 Dragon…
Very nice video once again Mike, the clam shell doors for engine maintenance is amazing.
Warwick here in England is pronounced with a silent middle ‘w’, so it’s Wa Rick, sorry if I come over as being picky, say it how you wish Mike, take care
Thanks Sarah-Jane, and my apologies. 'Should've know that since my Brother-in-law is from England and was born and raised in Gloucester. He corrected me when I said "Glow-ces-ter," and pronounced it "Gloster." Lesson learned, and thanks for watching!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 No need to apologise Mike, I know in the U.S. you pronounce the same words differently. The silent 'W' is common in words here, same as Norwich is pronounced NoRich, and others.
As a quick Max tangent, words like Gloucester and Mainwaring ( as in Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army ) were used to catch out people in WW2, namely to search out German spies as they'd say them wrong. Take care
The Douglas Invader is such a wonderful aircraft, it sits alongside the mosquito in my book as one of the classic piston powered multiengine warbirds that I'd love to fly on, with the addition that it's rugged metal construction means it obviously long outlived the brilliant but lithe wood construction of the mossie. I'm sure a few Invaders are out there bombing fires somewhere.
Until your videos I had no idea the Convair 240 series was intended to be the replacement of the DC-3. Up until a few years ago regularly saw a cargo one with the venerable RR Dart turboprops, last I heard a mishap on the ground has kept that bird from flying again, I just see a generic CRJ cover that flight now (the cargo carrier is Aeronaves TSM, which as a Douglas friendly channel this is, you'll get a kick out of their fleet I'm sure).
As always,
Great comment, thanks!
I hit the like button on the way *in* for your videos
Appreciate that, thanks!
I forgot another famous aircraft that used the Wright R-3350 engine was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber.
P & W's R2800 is Quite Possibly the Bitchinest Engine Ever Made. It's entirely appropriate that a brace of them power Quite Possibly The Most Beautiful Aircraft Ever Produced, also known as the F7F Tigercat, from the legendary Grumman Ironworks, which was Quite Poss... Ok, Ok, you get the idea.
Loved this video.
My dad (R.I.P., Captain) took to the skies above Korea in an A26 Invader, and it's 2 R2800s always got him safely back to Earth. Or I wouldn't be typing this, of course.
Long live the Double Wasp!
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
I have heard the claim before about the Corsair being the first US fighter to exceed 400mph in level flight. But I believe that the Lockheed P-38 did so before the Corsair was built.
As always a fantastic and well done video Mr. Machat! Never knew so many aircraft used the R2800 engine. Also had no idea of the original Connie being equipped with them. Fascinating!! As always an enjoyable and informative presentation as only you can do. Really enjoy and learn fro each and every one. You and Max have the best channels going. As always God Bless you and your family. Thanks for everything you do! Take Care Always Sir!
Really great video for covering my curiosity about this engine.
Thanks for sharing your research and for your excellent video.
🙈🙉🙊 😎 🇺🇸
Appreciate the comment and thanks for watching!
I do need to let you know the Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation was powered by Wright R-3350-DA3 Duplex-Cyclone 3400 hp engine. In fact, all models of the Lockheed Constellation and Lockheed Super Constellation were powered by various models of the Wright R-3350 engine.
Yes, that is correct, and as stated, the original C-69 Constellation only was an R-2800-powered aircraft.
In your photo of the Curtiss XF-15 at 17.18, are those 2 Arado 234s in the background? Interesting photo if so!
looks like it to me. i would guess that they were some that we brought over from Germany after the war. 🙂
Good catch - yes, captured German aircraft brought back to the U.S. for evaluation.
I'm more interested in the aeroplane BEHIND the first Ar-234 - what that might be? Pfeil perhaps?
So are there still dusty warehouses full of factory-new engines and parts slathered in Cosmoline somewhere?
One can hope! Thanks for watching.
8:40 ok that is awesome .. and also absolutly terrifying lol i would be having nightmars about that opening up in flight for ... what ever reason and loseing the plane lol
Minor error. You said the aircraft being towed into the hangar in 1948 at 6:11 was a United DC-6B. It's a standard DC-6. The DC-6B didn't exist then. First flight and entry into service 3 years later in 1951. Don't think any DC-6B's had props with the rounded tips like that early standard DC-6.
I was lucky to have flown on at least a dozen DC-6B flights around 1966-68 shortly before they were retired - Canadian Pacific, Pacific Western and United. Very versatile and reliable aircraft, partly due to the R-2800's. Over the years Canadian Pacific used them on both longhaul international routes to 5 continents and on much shorter domestic flights, mainly between Vancouver and many small towns, mostly in British Columbia. The last few DC-6B's were replaced by 737-200's in late 1968. Clearly remember my single UA DC-6B flight, a one-stop Vancouver-Seattle-Portland in 1966 or 1967. Pacific Western used them between Edmonton, Alberta and remote gravel strips in the Arctic and on their shuttle service between Edmonton and Calgary until they were also replaced with 737-200's starting in late 1968.
The Canadair C-5 is only a one-of-a-kind in that it was equipped with R2800s. The Canadair North Star, to give its full name, was a series produced airliner based on the DC-4, but with various changes, the most important being that it was equipped with Merlin V12s. This aircraft was used extensively by both Canadian and British airlines and military. Thanks to its Merlins it was *a lot* faster than the DC-4, however it was also impossibly loud for the passengers and various attempts at rerouting the exhausts did not eliminate the problem. I suspect that this is why the single VIP version, the C-5, which was used to transport Canadian government VIPs and foreign dignitaries, was equipped with R2800s; after all the Prime Minister and the visiting Queen should be able to have a normal conversation without having to yell over the roar of the engines.
I worked on them in Iceland and Bermuda. Not much fun to work on. The Old guys said the designer must have had a Mech dating his daughter. Fortunately there was only one plane and 4 engines plus spares, and it was the CO's bird. I preferred my T-56s. Those are sweet engines. Even found their way onboard Naval ships as Ship's turbogenerators. Over 4000hp each.
Love the videos Mike. What is the aircraft pictured at the 2 minute mark just after the book cover photo?
That's the engine start-up of a Convair 340. Thanks for watching!
Looks like a couple captured Arado 234 jet bombers in the background on that Curtiss XF15C shot.
Yes, good catch!
I think the USAAF team and the RAE Farnborough team used to swap planes
17:09 Are those Arado 234 jet bombers in the background??
Yes - good catch!
I keep returning to this wonderful video. It seems I notice something new every time. This time, my eyes stuck on the Vought XF-4U. Now, I may be a bit of a weirdo, but I find the early prototype with the forward cockpit much more beautiful than the eventual production versions. I imagine visibility was better, too. Of course, both are gorgeous- it's like asking who do you prefer: Sophia Loren or Raquel Welch..?
Great comment, thanks!