Allison T-56 turboprop

Don't know where to put it, but talk about survival and airplanes and one engine stands out. First models put out 3,000 hp, latest put out 4500. Used in 4 major airplanes for the military.

C-130 Herk First flew in 1954, still in production. The military has tried to replace it several times, come up with nothing better.

C-2 used for COD for carriers, first flew in 1964, worn out and to be replaced by 2024 with tilt rotor cargo version of Osprey that may well work, but is hard to maintain.

P-3 sub hunter, first flew in 1958, supposed to phase out of US Navy in 2020, but lot of other countries intend to keep flying them.

E-2 Hawkeye radar and control, first flew in 1960, still being modified and up dated, don't know when it is supposed to be replaced.

What was the secret of the 1950's, lot of planes developed in 1950's and 60's still dominate things today, Improved and lots of electronics, but basic low speed aircraft, choppers, high speed fighters that are non stealth, passenger planes, heavy bombers that are non stealth,still haven't really changed.

Like the basic shovel, hoe, pick axe, axe, hand saw, hand wood plane, piston water pump, etc, some things seem to have been developed as far as the design goes, and then it is just improvements, better steel, fiberglass parts, etc, but the basic design has reached at least a halt in design improvements if not the final end.

What are your favorites? Some of mine.

Fiskar or Collins axe
Snow and Neely peevee
cast iron cookware
Pennsylvania type piston water pumps with brass cylinder below water level
Older Stanley hand planes
Older wood handsaws
Older pick axe or grub hoe with good steel
Springfield 03 with heat treated action
Ruger 1022
Colt Trooper or Lawman model revolver in 357-38
Lee reloading equipment, simpler the better for long run

The list could go on forever, but some things just become the end in my mind.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! The basic concept of the turbo prop hasn't really changed much, and in fact, neither has the basic Turbine Engine. You basically have TWO turbo prop designs, the Blow and Go and Direct Drive designs, with the Blow and Go being the more popular for very high power output and simplicity! That said, the Direct Drive design is vastly more fuel efficient and have a much higher power density ( Big power numbers, small core Turbine) and should have displaced the Blow and Go long ago, but Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have cornered that market with their respective designs. While the Pratts can make YUGE power numbers, it comes at a price, and that price is fuel and complexity, where the Allison and Garett ( Honeywell) and to a lesser extent, Lycoming have proved to be vastly more useful, and in many cases lighter and more compact! Given the choice, I would go Garett every time, lighter, more compact, simpler, and much better fuel burn, with the downside, being not a lot of different power ratings available, but I would compromise to get the fuel burn numbers, in many cases close to 30% less in the same power as a Pratt or Rolls! Lycoming doesn't really do Turbo Props, but the design can/could be adopted easy enough, and if they were to offer them in a Turbo Prop configuration, believe me, it would be a game changer!

 

Rode a couple over the years and one load master on a long flight said the design went back to a WW2 glider, high wing, airplane hung under like a weight, lots of stability, lots of clearance for engines. He had been in during WW2 and Korea and loved C-47's, but said C-82 and C-119 were a little hairy at times. Loved the C-123 and would have stayed with it if he could have. Going from C-47 to C-130 in one long flight made you feel like somehow you must have entered a time machine when you went to the hanger and transferred cargo in 1960.

Here it is 2020, C-130 replaced for all practical purposes the C-47 which was based on DC-3 from 1935, first DC-3 flight was 32 years to the day from the Wrights first flight. I don't know what the future will bring, but in my lifetime I have rode in WW1 Jenny trainers, Ford tri motors, B-52's and F-101b at well over Mach 1 and got into Boeing transport and go coast to coast non stop with out thinking about it. 1938 till now, what an incredible time to be alive.

 

A-10 Warthogs, oh boy do they shoot stuff up. They turn tanks into swiss cheese. I've witnessed it up close. I respect Martha McSally for this and more.

 

Back in the day, I got to ride the back seat in a few jets, first one was an F-16, and that was epic, talk about fun, that plane was like a scalpel, super quick and agile! Second was supposed to be an F-15, but I got kinda shafted as they were getting ready to deploy, so instead, I got the back office in an F-4G wild weasel with all the goodies, I was not dissapointed one bit! That plane will always be my first love. Not quite as quick or as agile, but rocketing across the Arizona desert above Mach 1 tends to cure all that ails ya! Man, that thing was simply awesome! Few years later, I finally got my F-15 ride, that was impressive to say the least! Not as quick as the 16, and not as fast as the 4, but it was insanely good at everything, I can totally understand why it remains the greatest fighter in U.S. History, you cannot catch one, cannot get a shot at one, and cannot out perform one no matter how good you are of what you fly!
There is nothing that compares to the sounds and feeling of a big powerhouse jet engine mounted right behind you, especially as the throttles are opened and the jet cannot hold it's brakes, then you hit the afterburner and it's like the hand of god slams you from behind and off you go, just able to get the landing gear wound up before the forces rip them off! Words cannot describe the feeling of that kind of power!

 

Yup, and the F-4 still holds the absolute world speed record down low, 100 feet, 971 MPH, 1000 miles, and it will likely never be beaten! BTW, that record was a full production spec "E" airframe, and the "G" is actually faster still, but still "Top Secret" And, something they don't talk about, but there are still 32 full spec "S" models still in active front line service tucked away @Hill AFB ready to go play that most dangerous game, Air Defense Suppression! You can spot them real easy, they have the F-14's canopy and windscreen!

 

This was taken in 2018 on my last visit to Hill to see old friends!

And one of the Sterile airframes kept ready 24/7/365 for missions!

All are very late "E" models converted to "G" and later to "X" models long after the F-16 Was to replace them, and failed!
All have a ZERO time reset and phase 4 wing and airframe rebuild/conversion, and all can out maneuver the Teeney fighters as they no linger have any airframe restrictions, even at max combat load! Cannot tell the real juicy details such as the engines and systems, but these are STATE of the ART!

 

That would be the F-111, awesome airframe when it worked, nightmare when it didn't!

 

Didn't get a chance to ride in but a couple of fighters, the worst part of the whole ting was the ejection trainer. Sat in the seat, did the sequence, and it shot you about 30 feet up in the air on a track and left you hanging until they let you down slow. Not a good place to be afraid of heights.

Favorite is still the poor damn bear in a test ejection.

 

There once was a civilian contractor who may or may not have gotten a backseat ride in an F-4E at Seymor-Johnson AFB in the late 80's. This person may or may not have gotten out after 30 minutes with, umm, and embarassing excitement. One hell of a plane, noisy, stinking, and this person would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I know a guy like that as well !!
Sloth

 

Belonged to the flying club at Eglin and learned to fly. Instructor was a WW2 and Korea fighter pilot and was a test pilot on the F-105 at the time. Before he let me solo a L-21, he made me learn how to fly needle, ball, and airspeed, get df steers to find way to runway, and power on, flaps, slow flight and practice crashing the airplane. The L-21 had full harness and with radio and rocket racks removed, would stall at about 50 or so and his attitude was if all he** broke lose, save your life and forget the airplane. Real belt and suspenders man, a couple of ex wives and between and hoped to teach flying when he retired. He took me up in a T-34 and wrung it out, only time in my life that I have been in a hammer head stall, engine idling, plane upside down and hanging from belts, airspeed indicating about 50 knots, and then all he** broke loose. I never saw his log book, but the FAA inspector who did was very polite and called him Colonel even when he was in civies.

Oh to be that young and dumb again. Loved the airplanes, the pilots, the work, just hated the military and could see no way to put up with it to get to play with the airplanes.

 

Was looking a while back at C-130 crashes and saw a little blurb on a Norsk crash into a mountain in Sweden. Crew died, old tale assume means "ass u me". Everything made perfect sense as they knew it, in fact there were several errors in the system that on that particular day killed them.

A lot of food for thought in the accident report and a lot of things that carry over to survival. Do you have spares for your AR 15 or will loss of one cotter pin in cleaning it turn it into a very poorly designed club? Kind of funny when you pop the grip on mine, would put a spare AR in there if it would fit. In life as well as in flying, its the little things that kill you. Best prepared survival location in the world can be nearly impossible to defend or survive in if one ex wife, girl friend, boy friend, building inspector, etc, informs some one that wants your resources of your location, defenses, and amount of supplies. Details always count and while you are flying, preparing, defending, etc, for months or years, the fatal accident, being over run, etc, only takes a few seconds or minutes.

Very few words have as much meaning as those in an accident report that state the cause was "controlled flight into terrain" as it means the aircraft was ok and for some reason, fatigue, bad weather, instrument problems, etc, the crew did not respond correctly and flew into the ground or water.

 

These days, I rock a pair of Super Cubs, they are both serious bush planes, and more fun then a fella should be allowed to have! The first one in a Zlin kit, basically the essence of a J-2 Cub from the 1930s with the wing of a PA-18 Super Cub! Base weight is an unbelievable 680 pounds dry, and carries 48 gallons of fuel!
Power is from a custom built ACE Aero conversion based on the old reliable and unbiquitous Lycoming IO-360 wide deck, basically I used just the case halves and rear timing cover, the rest is all ACE! Displacement is now 428 cubic inches and with fuel injection and electronic ignition makes a whopping 320 H.P! Though I have it flat rated to 260 for normal use, I can over spool it to the full 320 when ever I want/need! It's fitted with a Hartzel 3 blade Adventurer Climb Prop of 78 inches, and can pull 38 inches of pitch at full load. It will climb vertically and can achieve the do not exceed air speed of 145 knots vertically! Take offs with full flaps and brakes locked are around 8 feet ( best ever) and landings with the brakes locked and max flaps are under 10 feet, carefully!

The Second is a Back Country Super Cub, basically the only thing resembling a super Cub it's the airfoils and general dimensions, it's 100% custom. While I'm still building it, the performance should be breath taking! It has another ACE Aero kit, but one based on the Lycoming TSIOQ 540, power is a very conservative 440 H.P. and we dyno'ed it all the way to 580 with the Turbo squeezing 14 pounds of boost and the water meth injection at full volume! She is set up with a Hartzel Adventurer series 3 blade power prop 82 inch and can pull 45 inches of pitch at full power, which theoretically should pull her through 156 knots, but I'm pretty sure the drag will not allow much over 140 max! Still, should be an epic rocket/freight hauler of a bush plane!
These days, I'm all about going slow, the slower the better, and nothing like watching a Rotor head shake his head when you tell him where your landing, and seeing his jaw drop when you take back off! Lol. Is an addiction, what can I say!

 

Used to help the A&P a lot. Lycomings were always my favorite, tough as nails and easy to work on. Worked free most of the time just for the check rides.

 

Id have moist ,
Do a ceiling check with me , no rotor , spin and screw !!!
Sloth / VT
214B will have a bladder MT !!