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RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 1:26 pm
by obvert
ORIGINAL: wdolson
I think an A-26 would better for a plane to go places than a PBY. I don't think anyone has landed a PBY on water in 30 years. If you did want to land it on water, you have to deal with extra corrosion problems as well as checking the hull for leaks. Plus a PBY is very slow. An A-26 has twice the cruising speed.
Bill
Slow, yes, but I can wander around from the nose turret to the side blisters. That interior is big enough for a nice little lounge with a table, a bed, a big screen LCD, and a nice minibar!
If I suddenly got into high frequency trading and was able to afford this kind of thing, I'd be thinking about journeys like this!
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/TransAfricanCat.html
Or just days like this! [:)]
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 1:33 pm
by John 3rd
ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
Kids? lol well there none I like on this list
You must like those fancy German or Japanese imports[:)]
Random question: Are there ANY Japanese bombers still flying? I know there are several fighters but are there any Betty/Nell/Sally/etc...
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 3:17 pm
by JohnDillworth
Random question: Are there ANY Japanese bombers still flying? I know there are several fighters but are there any Betty/Nell/Sally/etc...
Betty was a good looking plane.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 4:08 pm
by JohnDillworth
Random question: Are there ANY Japanese bombers still flying? I know there are several fighters but are there any Betty/Nell/Sally/etc..
As far as I can tell no. there is one Betty, a Judy and I think Val in existence The Judy might be flyable but the Betty has yet to be restored. There is an air museum in Chino Calf that has the Val and the Betty Planes of Fame
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 5:56 pm
by m10bob
The J 3 I learned to fly in was an exact twin of the L 4 as shown, (complete with the blue tinted plastic window over the cockpit which not all had.)
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:22 pm
by bomccarthy
At least with the Piper, you have a toy which you can use fairly often. Parts should be easy to come by and the later versions of the engine are still made, unlike with the others. If you own anything with a Merlin, you'll have to stand in line for parts with the racers, who blow a few up every year.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:28 pm
by Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: Feltan
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: obvert
I'd want a PBY. Imagine where you could take that thing![:)]
My point exactly. It would work great for fly-in fishing trips! [8D]
Most of the rivers and streams I fly-fish at would make a PBY landing a little dicey -- too shallow and too rocky.
Regards,
Feltan
Well, a PBY for the long-haul stuff and then one of these babies for the small stuff. C'mon Feltan-use your imagination, man! [;)]
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:29 pm
by Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: obvert
ORIGINAL: wdolson
I think an A-26 would better for a plane to go places than a PBY. I don't think anyone has landed a PBY on water in 30 years. If you did want to land it on water, you have to deal with extra corrosion problems as well as checking the hull for leaks. Plus a PBY is very slow. An A-26 has twice the cruising speed.
Bill
Slow, yes, but I can wander around from the nose turret to the side blisters. That interior is big enough for a nice little lounge with a table, a bed, a big screen LCD, and a nice minibar!
If I suddenly got into high frequency trading and was able to afford this kind of thing, I'd be thinking about journeys like this!
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/TransAfricanCat.html
Or just days like this! [:)]
Now yer talkin'!
Dibs on the lounge area!
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 7:01 pm
by warspite1
ORIGINAL: obvert
ORIGINAL: wdolson
I think an A-26 would better for a plane to go places than a PBY. I don't think anyone has landed a PBY on water in 30 years. If you did want to land it on water, you have to deal with extra corrosion problems as well as checking the hull for leaks. Plus a PBY is very slow. An A-26 has twice the cruising speed.
Bill
Slow, yes, but I can wander around from the nose turret to the side blisters. That interior is big enough for a nice little lounge with a table, a bed, a big screen LCD, and a nice minibar!
If I suddenly got into high frequency trading and was able to afford this kind of thing, I'd be thinking about journeys like this!
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/TransAfricanCat.html
Or just days like this! [:)]
warspite1
I believe this picture was taken near Guadalcanal, yes it was, I can make out The Slot.....
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 7:56 pm
by wdolson
ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
Kids? lol well there none I like on this list
You must like those fancy German or Japanese imports[:)]
ORIGINAL: John 3rd
Random question: Are there ANY Japanese bombers still flying? I know there are several fighters but are there any Betty/Nell/Sally/etc...
This is a good place to start:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/
I think it's a bit out of date though. There was another site dedicated to preserved Axis aircraft, but I found a forum notice that it had been shutdown a few years ago.
There are some Spanish built He-111s still flying, and there was a Do-24 flyable a few years ago, but I think it is in a museum now. The Do-24 had been re-engined with much newer engines and was used by the grandson of the founder of Dornier to attempt an around the world flight.
There are fewer Japanese aircraft left and even fewer in flyable condition. I know at least one Judy has been restored to flyable condition, but I don't think it is ever flown. As far as I know, there are no twin engine Axis aircraft flyable except those Spanish He-111s.
Bill
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 8:04 pm
by wdolson
ORIGINAL: bomccarthy
At least with the Piper, you have a toy which you can use fairly often. Parts should be easy to come by and the later versions of the engine are still made, unlike with the others. If you own anything with a Merlin, you'll have to stand in line for parts with the racers, who blow a few up every year.
There are enough Merlins still flying to find spares. There was a company in Chino that specialized in spare parts for Mustangs. They carried spares of all the usual maintenance items and could make anything else. The owner had a Mustang and gave me a ride once.
The more powerful the warbird, the more expensive the parts will be though. When I rode the Collins Foundation B-24 I was talking with one of their ground crew and he said the cost of fuel was one of the smaller expense items. Spare parts were what ate up most of the budget. He said the main landing gear tires need to be replaced a couple of times a year and cost $1200 a tire. Fortunately the B-17 and B-24 shared the same tire size, but they aren't regularly made anymore. Continental will do a special production run for them and they pool with other B-17 operators, but they are still very expensive.
There are specialty companies making spare parts and restoring engines, but anything from a boutique business is going to cost a premium.
The trainers are popular in large part because they are a lot cheaper to keep flying. There are a lot of them and they are fairly cheap. Once you start getting up into the 1000+ HP arena, the prices skyrocket both from demand and extra expenses keeping higher performance planes going.
Bill
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 6:31 pm
by bomccarthy
ORIGINAL: wdolson
ORIGINAL: bomccarthy
At least with the Piper, you have a toy which you can use fairly often. Parts should be easy to come by and the later versions of the engine are still made, unlike with the others. If you own anything with a Merlin, you'll have to stand in line for parts with the racers, who blow a few up every year.
There are enough Merlins still flying to find spares. There was a company in Chino that specialized in spare parts for Mustangs. They carried spares of all the usual maintenance items and could make anything else. The owner had a Mustang and gave me a ride once.
The more powerful the warbird, the more expensive the parts will be though. When I rode the Collins Foundation B-24 I was talking with one of their ground crew and he said the cost of fuel was one of the smaller expense items. Spare parts were what ate up most of the budget. He said the main landing gear tires need to be replaced a couple of times a year and cost $1200 a tire. Fortunately the B-17 and B-24 shared the same tire size, but they aren't regularly made anymore. Continental will do a special production run for them and they pool with other B-17 operators, but they are still very expensive.
There are specialty companies making spare parts and restoring engines, but anything from a boutique business is going to cost a premium.
The trainers are popular in large part because they are a lot cheaper to keep flying. There are a lot of them and they are fairly cheap. Once you start getting up into the 1000+ HP arena, the prices skyrocket both from demand and extra expenses keeping higher performance planes going.
Bill
There was an interesting article in Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine back in 2002 concerning the guys who work on Merlins and Allisons:
Masters of the V-12
Some of them didn't have kind words for the boat racers and tractor showmen who ran through Merlins and Allisons like Homer in a donut shop. Their advice if you're looking for a new engine - find a Merlin (or Griffon) built after the war for the Canadian airliners or Coastal Command -- RR built them with beefed up bottom ends for long-life and they spent most of their time at lower power settings.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 6:50 pm
by wdolson
RR built a version of the Merlin for tanks, I believe it was called the Meteor. Instead of an aluminum block, it was cast steel and it was not geared to spin a propeller fast enough to leave the ground, but it was essentially the same engine. It would have worked fine for a monster truck, though the hydro boats wanted the lightest engines possible. Hydro boats today use jet engines and have left the Merlins and Allisons behind.
I could understand using them though. After the war surplus military hardware was dirt cheap and only a tiny few people were thinking about the future.
Bill
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 7:10 pm
by TOMLABEL
HO DADDY (again)!!!!![&o]
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 10:31 pm
by Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: warspite1
I believe this picture was taken near Guadalcanal, yes it was, I can make out The Slot.....
See, I would have said that was taken during your recent holiday to the Seychelles with Jenna, et. al. You were trying out your new SLR on your PBY and she just so happened to be in the way.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 1:17 am
by warspite1
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: warspite1
I believe this picture was taken near Guadalcanal, yes it was, I can make out The Slot.....
See, I would have said that was taken during your recent holiday to the Seychelles with Jenna, et. al. You were trying out your new SLR on your PBY and she just so happened to be in the way.
warspite1
So there I was, aboard the trusty PBY, with my funky new piece of camera kit, all ready to take the perfect landscape picture; entitled "Lagoon at sunset" when this lovely young lady decides to disrobe in front of me! There she was stark naked, and adopting that saucy, come-hither-young-man pose. I mean, who needs that? I didn't know where to look as you can imagine. I had to circle the aircraft a number of times and keep the camera going just hoping that she would get out of the way so I could take the picture I wanted......
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 3:08 am
by rustysi
ORIGINAL: warspite1
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: warspite1
I believe this picture was taken near Guadalcanal, yes it was, I can make out The Slot.....
See, I would have said that was taken during your recent holiday to the Seychelles with Jenna, et. al. You were trying out your new SLR on your PBY and she just so happened to be in the way.
warspite1
So there I was, aboard the trusty PBY, with my funky new piece of camera kit, all ready to take the perfect landscape picture; entitled "Lagoon at sunset" when this lovely young lady decides to disrobe in front of me! There she was stark naked, and adopting that saucy, come-hither-young-man pose. I mean, who needs that? I didn't know where to look as you can imagine. I had to circle the aircraft a number of times and keep the camera going just hoping that she would get out of the way so I could take the picture I wanted......
OK, right. That's your story and you're sticking to it.[:D]
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 6:03 am
by Orm
ORIGINAL: obvert
ORIGINAL: wdolson
I think an A-26 would better for a plane to go places than a PBY. I don't think anyone has landed a PBY on water in 30 years. If you did want to land it on water, you have to deal with extra corrosion problems as well as checking the hull for leaks. Plus a PBY is very slow. An A-26 has twice the cruising speed.
Bill
Slow, yes, but I can wander around from the nose turret to the side blisters. That interior is big enough for a nice little lounge with a table, a bed, a big screen LCD, and a nice minibar!
If I suddenly got into high frequency trading and was able to afford this kind of thing, I'd be thinking about journeys like this!
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/TransAfricanCat.html
Or just days like this! [:)]
You sold me on the PBY. [:)]
But if possible I would rather have this one.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 6:49 am
by obvert
ORIGINAL: Orm
But if possible I would rather have this one.
Gas guzzler! [:D]
Although, speaking of a lounge! That presents some possibilities.
There's a certain flair to the lines of the PBY though.
RE: OK Kids....you can own only one of these...which do you pick?
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 7:25 am
by Orm
ORIGINAL: obvert
ORIGINAL: Orm
But if possible I would rather have this one.
Gas guzzler! [:D]
Although, speaking of a lounge! That presents some possibilities.
There's a certain flair to the lines of the PBY though.
I was assuming that if I was fluent enough to own, maintain and operate a PBY I could afford a Sunderland.
Sea Otter? Anyone?
