Girls and Aircraft - Volume II

[XBe02Drvr]

the PT-23 was better than the PT-19 & PT-26

Why was it better? Just because it didn't have a Ranger engine? Did that one have a W670 Continental? Other than the engine and cockpit details the airframes were pretty much the same weren't they?
In 1967, as a junior in college, I was offered a low time PT26 with a fresh 200 HP Ranger for $1500. (A full year's tuition at the time) My tuition was already paid, and I was broke, so I had to pass on that. A year later I heard that the guy who did buy it took it in for an annual and discovered the main spar was rotted out and the glue was delaminating. Repairing that ran up a $5500 dollar bill, and when I left for the Navy three years later the plane was still sitting out in the weather waiting for him to scrape up the cash. When he finally got it out of hock, it of course, had to be annualed again, and the Ranger wouldn't pass compression test due to rusted cylinders. The plane eventually burned up in a fire "of mysterious origin" out in front of the maintenance shop one night.

 

[MIflyer]

I was there 1988-1993. I lived in Burgundy Village about a quarter mile west of Telegraph Rd. Across the street from my house was a large area of undeveloped land that I think that Harry also owned.

A friend of mine was ferrying a PT-19 back in the 60's. The engine quit and he deadsticked it into a briar patch, got out, and left it there.

 

[Snautzer01]

Women War Workers in Britain War Effort 8x10 WW2 World War II Photo 906 | eBay

 

[Snautzer01]

WWII photo Pilots of the 46th Guards Air Regiment resting world war/33q | eBay
WWII Photo Soviet girls night bombers World War Two / 167 | eBay

Night Witches - Wikipedia

 

[Gnomey]

 

[XBe02Drvr]

View attachment 611601

That girl in the foreground really ought to give up smoking. It's not conducive to health and long life.

 

[TheMadPenguin]

That girl in the foreground really ought to give up smoking. It's not conducive to health and long life.

Compared to being a fighter pilot, smoking is safe if you're not near the fueling station.

 

[BobB]

Why was it better? Just because it didn't have a Ranger engine? Did that one have a W670 Continental? Other than the engine and cockpit details the airframes were pretty much the same weren't they?
In 1967, as a junior in college, I was offered a low time PT26 with a fresh 200 HP Ranger for $1500. (A full year's tuition at the time) My tuition was already paid, and I was broke, so I had to pass on that. A year later I heard that the guy who did buy it took it in for an annual and discovered the main spar was rotted out and the glue was delaminating. Repairing that ran up a $5500 dollar bill, and when I left for the Navy three years later the plane was still sitting out in the weather waiting for him to scrape up the cash. When he finally got it out of hock, it of course, had to be annualed again, and the Ranger wouldn't pass compression test due to rusted cylinders. The plane eventually burned up in a fire "of mysterious origin" out in front of the maintenance shop one night.

PT-23 had 220hp and an extra 10% power means a lot. Also, the Rangers had a reputation for running hot while the W-670 was a trouble-free engine. The PT-19 only had 175hp and I remember my father saying that someone had one at Hybla Valley or Woodbridge that you would see doing aerobatics and it could never get over the top of a loop.

 

[BobB]

I was there 1988-1993. I lived in Burgundy Village about a quarter mile west of Telegraph Rd. Across the street from my house was a large area of undeveloped land that I think that Harry also owned.

A friend of mine was ferrying a PT-19 back in the 60's. The engine quit and he deadsticked it into a briar patch, got out, and left it there.

Franklin Reid's father was a wealthy landowner and I wouldn't be surprised if his sister, Mary Lewis Lehman, had inherited some land near there. If you flew out of Beacon Flying Service at Hyde Field, you'll appreciate this story. My father and I were about to leave on a trip to Washington when an airport neighbor came by and asked where we were going. When he heard we were going to Hyde Field, he said "I flew in there because my sister lives nearby. Nobody came out to park me so I found a spot myself. Then some old woman came out and started chewing me out for parking there." My father laughed and said that had to be Mary Lewis.

 

[Snautzer01]

WWII Military WAAC Photo Scrapbook Original (49) Pics | eBay

 

[MIflyer]

Don't think I have posted this one here before. If so, you have my profuse simulated apologies.

 

[TheMadPenguin]

Don't think I have posted this one here before. If so, you have my profuse simulated apologies.

View attachment 611956

Boeing 377 (for those who want to know) There were several Clipper America named craft.
From clippernames
Lockheed 749
Boeing 377
Boeing 747-121
Boeing 747SP
Airbus A300B4
and American Clipper, a Boeing 314.

I dunno how to look up NC3290H.

 

[bdefen]

I haven't looked at all 239 pages of this thread so I hope this isn't a duplicate. Original main landing gear wheel for XB-36.View attachment 609691

That is some kind of centerlock racing wheel....wonder if it's part of the Porsche options list??

 

[bdefen]

Don't think I have posted this one here before. If so, you have my profuse simulated apologies.

View attachment 611956

The little guy is an Ercoupe, isn't it? My dad had a buddy who had one.

 

[bdefen]

That girl in the foreground really ought to give up smoking. It's not conducive to health and long life.

Perhaps it's wacky tabacky....she won't care in a moment.

 

[MIflyer]

N3290H is an Ercoupe. I own one. That N number is currently assigned to a balloon so that particular serial number airframe probably did not survive until today.

By the way, you can look up N numbers either on the FAA website or at aircraft-data.com. On Aircraft-data.com you have to enter the N number in the search block AND then click on the N number if it comes up as one they have found.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

Don't think I have posted this one here before. If so, you have my profuse simulated apologies.

View attachment 611956

Hey Clipper, where d'ya hide your towbar? Can't push you back with just my prop hub!

 

[MIflyer]

If it is the same as the KC-97 those engines have reversing props.

Back around 1977-78 when a very severe winter prevented adequate home heating oil deliveries to Buffalo NY, they flew the fuel in with KC-97's, which could reverse their props and stop on the icy runways, while the KC-135A could not.

 

[TheMadPenguin]

N3290H is an Ercoupe. I own one. That N number is currently assigned to a balloon so that particular serial number airframe probably did not survive until today.

By the way, you can look up N numbers either on the FAA website or at aircraft-data.com. On Aircraft-data.com you have to enter the N number in the search block AND then click on the N number if it comes up as one they have found.

N3290H is a 0-engine balloon, but NC3290H is a no-hit entry.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

If it is the same as the KC-97 those engines have reversing props.

Yes, but you don't do powerbacks with them just before you fly across the pond. I remember one time when UPS was presented with an impossible load of Vermont Teddy Bears the day before Mothers Day, too big for all the small feeder aircraft in New England to handle. So they chartered a Convair 240 freighter to take the overload. When the plane arrived in BTV, the cocky young newly minted captain got tired of waiting for the FBO folks to find the right towbar, and after idling fifteen minutes facing downwind, powered back into his loading spot, then noticed his cowl flaps were still closed. The wheels had barely hit the wells outbound when #1 failed, and he burned up #2 getting around the pattern and off the runway. I made three round trips to MHT that night and had to cancel the morning return for crew rest.

Back around 1977-78 when a very severe winter prevented adequate home heating oil deliveries to Buffalo NY, they flew the fuel in with KC-97's, which could reverse their props and stop on the icy runways, while the KC-135A could not.

That was the "Great Blizzard of '78". The morning after, on a charter from PVD to PWM in severe clear, we flew 2,000 feet over BOS (Logan International) and it was a sea of whiteness with a little 1,500x30 foot strip plowed out with National Guard Bird Dogs and Hueys flying out of it. BOS Twr freq was SILENT, and came on the air to chat with us for about five minutes. VT, NH, and ME got themselves plowed out, then sent their plow trucks to MA and CT.