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Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
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I got to sit in one but couldn’t wrangle a flight. My dad was a WOP flying out of Bottsford during the war. He survived seventeen major crashes in Lancasters one of which he was the sole survivor.
From Ebay I bought a book entitled “On The Wings Of The Morning.” Reading it, I turned a page and there was a photo of my Dad and his crew posing with their Lanc. I nearly fell out of my chair! That book has pride of placement in my dining room.
He flew in them from their introduction in 1941 till the end of hostilities in 1945. I was born in 1946.
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That’s a Lancaster bomber, another Avro designed plane. They were worth their weight in gold to bomber command.
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Powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines. Originally my name was to be Merlin. I’m glad I became Paul named after Tommy Paul the copilot of my dad’s Lancaster. He didn’t survive the war. He died in the crash that my dad was the only one who lived. My middle sister had Beauchamp as her third name after the Captain of the crew. Penny Beauchamp was from NZ IIRC.
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The Lancaster has always been one of my favorites of the bombers. I built a model of the dam buster version when I was a kid and was totally enthralled with the ingenious scheme they came up with for bombing the dams effectively. A great example of "thinking outside the box".
I knew the Spitfire and P-51 Mustang were too, but check out the list of other planes that used it as well!
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Ironically, the first and last versions of the ME Bf109 were powered by Rolls Royce engines.
I think the de Havilland Mosquito is a really cool plane too. Amazing the things you can make with plywood. Fighter-bombers, PT boats, giant sea planes, bass cabinets...
This is cool too, though the interaction between the prop speed and the camera's shutter speed is very deceptive.
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- Feb 12, 2006
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I don't know about you guys, but the engineer in me kept looking at the folks standing in front and to the side of the prop thinking "not a good idea". I didn't see anything keeping that trailer from moving forward, maybe the pitch was so feathered that it didn't produce much thrust? All it takes is a simple accident to ruin a perfectly fun afternoon.
If you pause the video about 4 seconds from the start, you can see some sort of struts or something going down to the pavement and possibly a wheel chock. I think you're also right about the prop not providing too much thrust, because the guys running it aren't getting blown around too hard. Still, I'm with you. I'd be a little hesitant to stand in certain areas near that thing.
I used to live close to an airport and an airforce base. Occasionally, a four engine piston pounder would fly over the house a little too low. Everything would rattle. You’d run out to see if it was clipping the trees. They were never that low but the roar of the engines sure made it feel like it. Maybe that’s one reason why I like the low end rumble of a bass.
Something comforting in old technology. Things were engineered well. Tube amps are like planes, they can be easily rebuilt from the ground up and, with a little maintenance, can stay in service as long as you want.
Something comforting in old technology. Things were engineered well. Tube amps are like planes, they can be easily rebuilt from the ground up and, with a little maintenance, can stay in service as long as you want.
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Being a life long airplane freak, I realized a few years ago that I've subconsciously started to note airplane sounds and when I hear something unusual it grabs my attention immediately. For instance the A-10 has a very distinctive sound from it's turbofan engines, so I always notice them and start scanning the sky to see if I can spot it. I also immediately notice a multi engine prop plane because the engines are never really synchronized so you hear a throbbing of the engine sounds. I try to always go mountain biking when the local towns have parades because frequently they'll have a flyover of some interesting plane(s) from the Yankee Air Force that is headquartered about 40 miles south of us and there are some good places on my riding route to stand and watch them for several minutes. I frequently see a B-25 and they now have a functional B-17 that I've seen a few times (and heard).
What really amazed me on one ride was that I heard a very different multi engine sound that I'd never heard before, so I stopped and started watching the direction that the sound was coming from. I was amazed when a B-29 came into view! It was probably a couple thousand feet up, but I could see it well enough to identify it. Nothing else has that silhouette. It blew my mind because I'd never seen one in flight before and didn't know there were still any flying.
The one WWII plane that I dream of seeing in flight someday, but probably won't, is a P-38 Lighting. It's definitely one of my all time favorite planes, but I guess they're pretty scarce. Not many were saved from the scrap yards and even fewer are still flying.
What really amazed me on one ride was that I heard a very different multi engine sound that I'd never heard before, so I stopped and started watching the direction that the sound was coming from. I was amazed when a B-29 came into view! It was probably a couple thousand feet up, but I could see it well enough to identify it. Nothing else has that silhouette. It blew my mind because I'd never seen one in flight before and didn't know there were still any flying.
The one WWII plane that I dream of seeing in flight someday, but probably won't, is a P-38 Lighting. It's definitely one of my all time favorite planes, but I guess they're pretty scarce. Not many were saved from the scrap yards and even fewer are still flying.
Al Kraft
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It's actually tied to down to some pad eye type restraints (you can see that early in the video) and it looks like the prop is set for minimal thrust judging by the prop wash effects. Still, if one of those were to break loose the torque alone would pick that trailer right up. I also find it bad practice to have anyone on the plane of rotation of a prop if it can be avoided - even those nice shiny Ham Standard ones.
At one point in my career I headed the group at NAVAIR that had all the aircraft propulsion support equipment including test cells for everything from turbofan and jet engines to turboshaft and turboprop engines. It was always fun to run things up on the stand, a little like having the heart of the aircraft right their in your hands.
Al Kraft
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The Navy's S-3 used the same TF-34 engine and it does have a very unique sound. Given its capabilities it is actually a quiet engine with a great thrust to weight ratio and an impressive specific fuel consumption rating.
The other aircraft that has usually creates an unmistakable beat frequency is the V-22. It almost sounds like it's kicking the air out if the way of the aircraft.
A former neighbor of mine used to race a hydroplane with one of those V12 Merlins in it 
.
EDIT> or more probably an Allison V-1710 ?
.EDIT> or more probably an Allison V-1710 ?
Al Kraft
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As I recall Packard also had a wicked V-12 of their own (tracing its roots to their version of the Liberty engine from the WWI time frame). During the second WW Packard also built Merlins for British aircraft use under a licensing agreement.A former neighbor of mine used to race a hydroplane with one of those V12 Merlins in it
EDIT> or more probably an Allison V-1710 ?
I'M 55... AND BEING ANGRY IS MY JOB , AND I'M GOOD AT IT...I'M IN!
Well, I'm 65 and being angry isn't my job anymore. Now I just do it for recreation, sometimes for it's cathartic effects, but mostly cuz it's just fun. SO QUIT YELLING AT US, DAMMIT!
You young pups think you got something to be angry about now? Just wait til yer teeth start fallin' out, ya can't get it up anymore and even if you could, ya can't remember what you're supposed to do with it! See what you got to look forward to?!?!
Hey, thanks. Damn, that was fun!
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Side note on RR Merlins - I have a mate who works on Classic Bikes/Cars and recently he had a Riley Saloon in for a
"Bit of a going over" to set it up after a complete re-do. When it went I commented that it must be a relief as it was
worth a decent wad of reddies. He smiled and said "yep - but it was nothing to the Lagonda" , I said "yea
that big blue Straight Eight (from memory) was kinda special.
He said (twinkle in eye) "no not that one - the one with the Merlin engine .....................................................
..................................................... Wot? said I .............................. and so the story came out that some time
after designing the Merlin, said designer left Rolls, ended up buying an ailing Lagonda Car Co. and one of the models
was powered by a miniaturised V12 "Merlin" - there were only 7 or so made and he'd had one in his ratty semi rural
shop for work.
Said he'd never been so scared in his life - basically slept beside the bugger like a guard dog with only one eye shut at
a time until it was finished and gone.
Cheers Maurie.
"Bit of a going over" to set it up after a complete re-do. When it went I commented that it must be a relief as it was
worth a decent wad of reddies. He smiled and said "yep - but it was nothing to the Lagonda" , I said "yea
that big blue Straight Eight (from memory) was kinda special.
He said (twinkle in eye) "no not that one - the one with the Merlin engine .....................................................
..................................................... Wot? said I .............................. and so the story came out that some time
after designing the Merlin, said designer left Rolls, ended up buying an ailing Lagonda Car Co. and one of the models
was powered by a miniaturised V12 "Merlin" - there were only 7 or so made and he'd had one in his ratty semi rural
shop for work.
Said he'd never been so scared in his life - basically slept beside the bugger like a guard dog with only one eye shut at
a time until it was finished and gone.
Cheers Maurie.
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