Classic Aircraft Walkarounds by nuuumannn

[nuuumannn]

The RH engine nacelle with gun butt location visible on the leading edge. This aircraft was never armed. The intake lip on Meteors was wooden. I'm not certain what the horizontal strip on the cowl is. Anyone?

Looking straight into the air intake, note that unlike on axial flow engines, the compressor face is not visible.

The lower fin arrangement; note the endplate on the trim tab trailing edge.

The inboard trailing edge of the RH wing showing flap and speed brake, duplicated on the underside.

LH outer wing underside with flap partially open. Of interest are the gills forward of the flap and the blunt end of the drop tank. Note also that the rego is repeated on the underside of the LH wing.

The rear of the belly tank with pos'n light aft.

RH main undercarriage leg with mud guard.

RH main u/c bay; note junction boxes, door actuation struttery and cg datum visible.

Nose u/c bay with ethyl alcohol tank top left. Now, I'm sure I had a picture of the nose gear somewhere...

Lastly, G-ARCX in position on display at East Fortune.

Thanks for looking; it's not the most well known of subjects, hence my interest and it would make an attractive model. The next Classic Aircraft Walkaround will feature Bristol's Big Bruiser, the Beaufighter.

 

[Airframes]

Moe good stuff Grant. Looking forward to seeing the Beau.

 

[Gnomey]

Cool shots! Thanks for sharing.

 

[nuuumannn]

Hi Folks, the third Classic Aircraft Walkaround features the Bristol Beaufighter; an aeroplane that needs little introduction. A perennial favourite among researchers, enthusiasts and modellers alike, Bristol's Big Bruiser oozes charisma in the flesh and looks bigger than it actually is owing to its high nose attitude. Sadly, not many examples of this iconic aircraft survive, so the opportunity to get close to one is not high. There are two known examples currently undergoing restoration to flying condition, but it will be some time before either of these, both in the UK, will grace the skies again. There are museum examples in the UK, USA, Canada, Israel and Australia, where Beaufighters were manufactured under licence.

The subjects of this photographic survey are TF.X RD235 at the RAF Museum, Hendon, DAP Beaufighter Mk.21 A8-328 at Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia and the RAF Museum's forward fuselage section, provenance unknown, which at the time these images were taken was at East Fortune, Scotland to publicise the arrival of the remains of Beaufighter TF.X RD220 (a sister to RD235 built in the same facility in Weston-super-Mare and serving with the Portuguese Navy post war) from South Africa. Whilst not a comprehensive look at every aspect of the Beaufighter, the images were taken of specific details.

RD235:

A8-328:

Fwd fuselage:

A8-328's nose, the distinctive hump present on many Australian Beaufighters housed the Sperry autopilot. Also visible are the 20 mm cannon ports and DF loop in its perspex bubble aft of the cockpit.

Nose underside showing cannon ports and pilot's entry door. The square panel on the extreme nose housed a gun camera. Note the yellow IFF aerial.

LH engine inboard, note carburettor intake on top of the nacelle, exhaust collector ring and support struts bracing the engine gearbox casing.

RH engine outboard, showing exhaust tube and cowling gills. Note the carburettor intake filter, location of the small fairings on each engine cowl, also the small strut between the end of the exhaust tube and the wing underside.

More cowling detail showing cowling gills, oil cooler on wing leading edge and bulge in undercarriage door.

Leading edge oil cooler, note that the horizontal vanes are aerofoil shaped with a lipped leading edge.

Pitot tube under left hand wing.

Rear of underside of engine nacelle showing drain fairing.

Interior detail of outboard undercarriage door, inboard door is the same. Note rubber curtain seal around the lower edge of the door.

Main undercarriage assembly.

RH inboard wing trailing edge.

Observer's cupola; the aft section could be slid open on the rails visible inside the cupola to enable a .303 Vickers 'scare gun' to be used. Radio aerial also visible at right.

Left hand wing trailing edge showing location of flare tube (drift sight?) opening on underside.

Right hand fuselage side showing trailing aerial lead opening.

Rear fuselage and fin area with tail wheel visible. Note deflected trim tab on elevator trailing edge.

Tail section rear view, note where the tailplane butts against the fuselage has no dihedral, also note rudder deflection cutouts on tailplane trailing edge.

Lower rudder detail showing trim tab and position light.

Cockpit. The white plaque is a display board written in English and French. The lever on the control wheel is the park brake, the button on the control wheel is a press-to-talk button; the firing button for the guns is the gated switch on the right side of the control wheel.

Cockpit left side console showing power levers in board and condition levers outboard and flap and undercarriage levers. The Beaufighter had automatic mixture controls as indicated on the throttle box. The vertical gauges show rounds left per magazine. The two gauges to their left show fuel quantity, with oxygen quantity and regulator gauges to their left.

Left hand cockpit console showing colour coded fuel tank selection wheels and fuel **** lever. The two colour coded pull switches are emergency fuel cut-off levers. Ahead of these is the propeller feathering buttons, press and hold to feather and press and hold to unfeather. Feathering the propellers was done electrically by a solenoid switch.

Left hand cockpit.

Right hand cockpit console with compass, rudder trim wheel and morse keys visible. Note also the rocket projectile firing panel at top left.

Right hand cockpit showing auxiliary fuel tank quantity gauges. The colour coded circular switch is aileron trim. The red lever is for emergency canopy window opening.

Interior of the forward fuselage looking forward.

20 mm Hispano cannon ammunition magazines.

First aid box and oxygen economiser in right hand centre fuselage looking forward.

Left hand centre fuselage ceiling looking aft, showing hydraulic fluid tank.

Crew entry and escape door looking forward.

Forward fuselage interior, note white asbestos covered air ducting to the right.

A beautifully presented Bristol Hercules on display at IWM Duxford, allegedly from a Bristol Beaufighter. Note the generally neat appearance of the Hercules unit.

Thats all for now, folks. The next Classic Aircraft Walkaround will feature the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird.

 

[Airframes]

Excellent shots Grant. I could have used some of those interior shots a few years ago, for my 1/32nd scale effort! The Beau front section has travelled around a bit, it was at the Manchester Air Space Museum for a while.

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Top shelf stuff.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[nuuumannn]

Welcome to the next installment of my Classic Aircraft Walkarounds. The Lockheed SR-71 is one of the most distinctive and enigmatic aircraft ever built, despite this it was the very public face of the United States 'Black' programmes of the 1950s, '60s and '70s achieving speed and altitude records that stand to this day for air breathing aircraft. It was a remarkable feat of engineering and was far ahead of its time.

For those of you unsure of the relationship between the A-12 and SR-71, the A-12 was conceived first as part of Operation Gusto, a high speed supersonic replacement for Aquatone, the U-2 and was the first incarnation of Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson and the Skunk Works' remarkable airframe. Faster than and marginally smaller than the SR-71, the A-12 was solely operated by the CIA and its activities, indeed its very existence under Project Oxcart remained secret until the early 1990s. Produced under the USAF's Senior Crown programme, the SR-71 had two crew, which was the principal difference between the two jets; the A-12's pilot's workload was enormous, so a Reconnaissance Systems Operator was installed in what used to be the A-12's 'Q' Bay, primary reconnaissance camera bay. The A-12 was eventually retired as a result of Senior Crown; there was no need for two identical projects running simultaneously, and the publicity accorded the SR-71 made sure the activities of the CIA and its A-12s remained firmly in the shadows.

The first time I was able to get close enough to touch one of these jets was years after the Senior Crown project had been wrapped up, with the decision to display a Blackbird in the United Kingdom. Article No 2013 (64-17962) is on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the week it arrived I trotted down to DX to get a closer look. Despite requests, I wasn't allowed to look in the cockpit!

Arriving in England in April 2001, '962 had visited the UK of two occasions before, to Detachment 4 of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, not very far away from Duxford at all, as the Blackbird flies. '962's first detachment to the UK was between 6th and 18th September 1976 and its second and last was for a year from 19 October 1984 until mid October 1985, which made it a perfect candidate for preservation in the UK. Making its last flight on 14 February 1990, '962 has a total of 2835.9 flying hours under its belt. It is currently the only SR-71 to be displayed outside the United States. This is '962 as it is currently displayed in the American Air Museum at Duxford.

64-17968 on display outside the Virginia Air Museum, Richmond Virginia from front on illustrates the unusual chines that characterised the type.

'962 at Duxford in April 2001 shoehorned in beside a Buccaneer and surrounded by a Vulcan and Comet; its size is readily apparent. From a frontal aspect it appears smaller than its length suggests.

'962 from behind; its overall matt finish is apparent; its paint was described as 'ironball' radar attemuating paint. Whilst cruising at a speed of one mile every two seconds meant that airframe temperatures varied from 245 to 565 degrees Celcius, while the outside air temperature was around -56 degrees at 80+,000 feet. It was claimed that the overall black finish reduced the outer skin temperature by 30 degrees. The skin was rough to the touch, like a very fine grain of sandpaper.

Air data probe and unusual nasal profile, the prominent bumps either side of the probe are radar warning receivers.

The SR-71A's nose cone from forward of the cockpit was interchangeable with different sensor fits dictating the mission to be flown. Two different nose sensors were in use; the Optical Bar Camera and the ASARS-1 synthetic aperture radar. The former was contained in its own environmentally controlled casing and provided horizon to horizon coverage by use of a revolving barrel prism with an exposure slit. This equipment enabled the USAF to claim that the SR-71A could photograph 100,000 sq miles of territory an hour. The ASARS-1 provided extremely high resolution radar imagery and could operate in a search mode or in spot mode to provide images of small areas. It was that capability of this equipment that led to the re-activation of the Blackbird in the mid 1990s.

Crew visibily was not high on the designer's priority list as can be seen here. The circular opening aft of the RSO's cockpit is the Nortronics Astro-inertial navigation star tracker as part of the aircraft's inertial navigation system and aft of that can be seen the rectangular opening for the in-flight refuelling receptacle; the flying boom probe would come into contact with the door and slide aft until it mated with the aircraft's receptacle.

Cockpit window glazing in a heavy titanuim canopy designed to withstand extreme temperatures as the aircraft cruised at 3 times the speed of sound. Each crew member had to wear a full pressure suit; the last SR-71 crewmembers wore suits that were almost identical to those worn by NASA Shuttle crewmembers. The slightly bulbous nose cone contours indicates that this aircraft was fitted with ASARS-1. The darkened forward facing diamond flat surface on the underside is a Defensive Electronics Sensor as part of its ECM suite.

The starboard engine intake spike. These were moveable, travelling 26 inches between fully retracted and extended. At full extension speeds of up to Mach 1.6 were capable with full retraction at Mach 3. Correct operation of these spikes was crucial to maintain the correct flow of air to the compressor and an electronic Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System was developed by Honeywell for controlling the inlets and also the aircraft's stability augmentation system and autopilot after severe problems encountered when pilots attempted this manually. If the spikes were not positioned correctly, the shock wave that forms at supersonic speeds at the lip of the engine intake would be expelled from the inlet, resulting in what became known as an 'unstart'. The result was a lack of air to the compressor, high exhaust gas temperatures and no thrust from the unstarted engine, which caused violent yawing to one side. At three times the speed of sound, this was decidedly hazardous.

Visible aft of the intake are bleed air louvres, which provided bypass air for engine cooling and for maintaining stable air pressures within the jet's engines at supersonic speeds. At its cruise speed of Mach 3.2, the SR-71's engines required 100,000 cu ft of air per second. Note also the main undercarriage arrangement of three wheels.

The SR-71's vertical stabilisers were all moving and did not have a seperate rudder, although the lower section was fixed. The '1' signifies '962's time at Detachment 1, Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, where it was the very last SR-71 on station before the programme was wound down in 1990. Around the '1' is a serpent native to the island, which lent its name to the exotic jets that operated there; "Habu". On the announcement of the type's retirement, a crew member drew a head stone in chalk around the '1' with the words "R.I.P. Detachment 1, 1968 – 1990". The sentiment was not appreciated by senior personnel and it was removed shortly afterwards.

Exhaust petals and cooling intake doors are visible. The SR-71 had four separate hydraulic systems, two of each operating via an engine driven hydraulic pump. The left hand engine operated A System; flight controls and L System; LH engine intake, bypass, landing gear, refuelling, while the right hand engine operated B System; flight controls and R System; RH engine intake and bypass, emergency undercarriage systems, braking. I'm not certain, but I assume that special temperature insensitive hydraulic fluid would have been developed, possibly synthetic and resembling phosphate esther based fluids in use today, such as Skydrol.

Visible on the trailing edge are triangular sections of Radar Absorbent Material. Note also the longitudinal corrugated skin sections, within which was housed the type's unique PF-1 fuel, named JP7 in service, which would leak profusely from each integral tank when refuelled on the ground. Once flying, the skin would expand with high temperatures. These corrugated panels led to Lockheed's Kelly Johnson being accused of building a Mach 3 Ford Trimotor!

More to come.

 

[Wayne Little]

Excellent!

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff Grant, and it sure is an impressive bird close up. Got some shots of the engines, at Duxford, if you want me to add them?

 

[nuuumannn]

More of the SR-71A. The left hand vertical stabiliser, exhaust and elevon; the SR-71's tailcone housed a fuel vent outlet. Each centrally hinged vertical stabiliser could move 20 degrees either side of the centreline, but at speeds above Mach .5, movement was limited to 10 degrees.

This view shows the leading edge contour of the left hand outer wing. Five degrees of camber was applied to the outboard wing leading edge, which reduced its bending moment and applied aerodynamic loading to the rear engine nacelle. These loads were then redistributed to the fore and aft wing box sections. The auxiliary bleed air inlet doors and bypass duct suction relief louvres are seen to advantage aft of the intake. Engine maintenance was achieved relatively easily, with the entire outer half of the nacelle hinging upwards from the top centreline of the nacelle, outer wing and all.

Left hand engine and inlet spike. Developed by Pratt and Whitney, Ashland Shell and Monsanto, the aircraft's special high flashpoint JP7 fuel was contained in fuel tanks in the fuselage and integrally in the wings. As a result of its high flashpoint, the SR-71 used a chemical ignition system using a highly volatile pyrophoric fluid called Tri-Ethyl-Borane. Because of its instability, the TEB tank on board was pressurised with nitrogen to keep it inert until required.

The wing to fuselage join showing the prominent fuselage chines. These were used to house operational equipment. On the left hand side were Bays M, P and S looking aft to the wing join, on the right hand side, Bays N, Q and T. These carried various signals intelligence equipment, much of which is still classified, but included equipment for recording radar signals as well as defensive electronics and Technical Objective cameras.

Underneath the nose looking aft. Note the patchwork nature of its skin panelling. The diamond shaped DEF sensor is visible, as is the forward UHF antenna; the SR-71 had a comprehensive communications suite of HF, VHF and UHF equipment.

Close up view of the nose undercarriage door and also the R Bay door, which housed radio equipment, its opposite was E Bay, which housed electronics. All these doors were lined with heat resistant materials.

Nose undercarriage leg with landing and taxi lights. Note the Skunk Works logo on the undercarriage door.

The interior of the nose undercarriage bay looking aft. This was kept cool by the aircraft's environmental control system. Note the rather large phenolic lined uplock jaws. Undercarriage selection was done electrically, but actuated hydraulically. A cable operated alternate release was provided to open the uplock jaws.

Main undercarriage leg. Each wheel could be changed without removing any of the others thanks to individual axles.The undercarriage doors were titanuim.

The main wheels were specially made by BF Goodrich and were impregnated with aluminium for heat resistance. Each cost $2300 each. Mainwheel loaded pressure was 415 psi and each was good for some 15 full-stop landings.

The main wheel bay in the centre fuselage separated the forward and aft fuselage fuel tanks. The titanium shroud protected the wheels against heat and hydraulic lines against the threat of bursting tyres suffering from overheating.

The extraordinary Pratt Whitney JT11D-20 engine, known as the J58 in service was initially developed for a Lockheed project called Suntan for a high speed strategic recon aircraft dubbed the CL-400 and also benefitted from technology that went into the JT9 engine that was being built for the North American XB-70. Designed for continuous operations with afterburner at Mach 3, it was a single spool high bypass turbojet, which coped with high temperatures and fluctuating pressures of high speed supersonic flight by a sophisticated bleed air system. To reduce the ever present threat of compressor stall, bleed air was ducted from the fourth stage of its nine stage compressor through six low compression ratio bypass ducts , which considerably reduced pressures across the compressor assembly at crucial stages when required. This bleed air was then ducted to the turbine exhaust at the front of the afterburner can at the same static pressure as the main flow, which reduced exhaust gas temperatures and produced a more efficient pressure ratio and increased thrust for a given fuel consumption. The big bleed air ducts are visible.

The J58's afterburner casing is visible here. Owing to the aircraft cruising with afterburner engaged, engine exhaust temperatures had to be maintaned at as even temperatures as possible. Inside the can-annular combustion chamber variable-area spray bar atomisers were developed for more efficient fuel combustion. It was discovered during the A-12's development that the shock diamonds being produced by the afterburners were producing considerable radar returns, so an additive called A-50, which contained caesium, was introduced into the jet's PF-1 fuel, which reduced the frequency response of the afterburner plume.

Lastly, two off-shoots of Project Gusto; this is the YF-12, a Mach 3 supersonic interceptor armed with Hughes AIM-47 Falcon air-to-air missiles that were capable of destroying a target 120 miles away. A bomber derivative was also drawn up but not constructed. Both projects were cancelled, despite positive results from the F-12 missile tests and the enormous potential of a common Mach 3 interceptor, reconnaissance and bomber fleet and this YF-12 is now on display at the USAF Museum, Dayton Ohio.

This is a D-21 supersonic drone codenamed Tagboard and utilised A-12 technology. Capable of cruising at Mach 3.3 at an altitude of 90,000 ft, the D-21 was powered by a Marquardt RJ-43-MA ramjet and was carried aloft piggyback style by a specially modified A-12 named M-21. Despite its potential, Tagboard was cancelled by Kelly Johnson himself after a collision between the D-21 and its M-21 carrier aircraft resulting in the death of a crew member. This D-21 survives at the USAF Museum, Dayton, Ohio.

That's it from the Skunk Works! The next Classic Aircraft Walkaround will be a closer look at a rather beat up old Lodestar.

 

[nuuumannn]

Just an addition to the information posted, the breakdown of Gusto airframes is as follows; there were 15 A-12s, of which two were converted to M-21s. Of these, six were destroyed, including one of the two M-21s; three men were killed. Three YF-12s were built as separate airframes to the A-12s but in production sequence within the A-12 serials, of which one was converted into the sole SR-71C. Apart from the example at the USAF Museum, one was lost, both crew ejected safely. 31 SR-71s were built, the thirty second was the YF-12 that was converted to the SR-71C; this mated the YF-12's rear section to the forward fuselage of a non-flying static test aircraft. This number includes two SR-71B crew trainers with raised rear cockpits. Of the SR-71s, 12 were lost, with only one fatality.

So 18 A-12s (including the YF-12s), plus 31 SR-71s makes a total of 49 airframes; a very expensive exercise, but many state well worth the expense in the capability they offered.

 

[nuuumannn]

I've decided to separate these out into individual threads, beginning with the Lodestar.