By:      Norm Goyer

The Liberty V-12 liquid cooled engine was designed in 1917 by a group of American auto manufacturers. It was the first engine designed for mass production methods for aircraft engines.

Our thanks to Wikipedia for the facts about the Liberty, NG

There is little doubt that one of sweetest sounds in the field of aviation is the roar of a Mustang with a Packard V-12 Merlin, swinging a four-bladed prop, roaring over the field in a low level pass. Almost as good as you know what. The Merlin dominated the air battles of Europe during World War II. An almost twin, the Rolls Royce Merlin, was right alongside propelling Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mosquitoes. Lockheed P-38 Lightings, Curtiss P-40 Warhawks  and Bell Airacobras were using a another sibling, the Allison V-12. The only hold out opting for a radial air-cooled engine was the outstanding Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. It’s Pratt & Whitney twin row R-2800-59 radial engine was one of the most dependable engines of the entire war. The Allies most capable foe was the German Messerschmitt Bf.109, you guessed it with a V-12 liquid cooled Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 very similar to the Merlins. In fact Spain used Rolls Merlins in their post war fleet of Bf.109s, an almost direct swap. It would be hard to find another engine that seemed built for the aircraft of World War II. Unfortunately that would be incorrect.

The engine was installed in a Douglas DT torpedo bomber. The Liberty produced about 400-hp.

The mighty Merlin, Allison and Rolls owe their heritage not to World War II but to World War I, that’s right, 1917, was the year it all started. With America about to enter the war it was deemed necessary for America not to produce fighting planes, but to mass produce engines to power the coming larger aircraft. England and France both said that they had the capability of building the airplanes, but desperately needed larger dependable engines. America had many firms capable of building engines, unfortunately automobile engines, and not airplane engines. A new design was needed, one that was capable of being mass produced, and versatile enough to produce different sizes, using the same components. Auto engines use mostly a cast iron block with the cylinder holes bored after the block was cast. In other words, four, 6, 8 and 12 cylinder car engines have no interchangeable main parts other than pistons, rods and other smaller components. The British SE.5, German Albatros and Fokker D-VII used automobile engines from Hispano-Suiza, , Mercedes and BMW. An engine designed just for aircraft was needed as fast as possible.

The Liberty was also used in the four-engine Curtiss NC-4 aircraft that was first to fly the Atlantic. Shown is the first NC, which only had three Liberty engines.

A group of auto makers including Packard, Hall-Scott, Buick, Ford, Cadillac and Marmon were asked to design and produce a new series of engines. All signed on but Cadillac who opted out as the company did not want to produce weapons of war. That prompted their designer to bail out and form the Lincoln Automobile company and promptly joined the group. The resulting Liberty L-12 was a modular design, where four or six cylinders could be used in one or two banks. A single overhead camshaft for each cylinder bank operated two valves per cylinder, in a similar manner to the inline six-cylinder German Mercedes engine. Dry weight was 844 lb. Ford was asked to supply cylinders for the new engine, and rapidly developed an improved technique for cutting and pressing steel which resulted in cylinder production rising from 151 per day to over 2,000, Ford eventually manufacturing all 433,826 cylinders produced, and 3,950 complete engines. Lincoln constructed a new plant in record time, devoted entirely to Liberty engine production, and assembled 2,000 engines in 12 months. By the time of the Armistice with Germany, the various companies had produced 13,574 Liberty engines, attaining a production rate of 150 engines per day. Production continued after the war, for a total of 20,478 engines built between July 4, 1917 and 1919. An inverted Liberty 12-A was referred to as the V-1650 and was produced up to 1926 by Packard the exact same designation was later applied, due to identical displacement, to the World War II Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin. The Allison VG-1410 was an air cooled inverted Liberty L-12, with a geared super-charger and Allison epicyclic propeller reduction gear and reduced capacity.

The Packard Merlin V-1650 which was installed in the famous P-51 Mustang was a direct descendent of the Liberty V-12 engine.

The Liberty started the trend which dictated that aircraft engine cylinders should be individually bolted to the crankcase for easy replacement. The Liberty engine had a great reputation and was installed in the Curtiss NC series of seaplane which were the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Liberty engines were also installed in the Douglas DT bomber, and the Douglas Mail Plane. Another great accomplishment due to the needs of war.

Technical:

• Type: 12-cylinder liquid-cooled V piston aircraft engine
• Bore: 5 in
• Stroke: 7 in
• Displacement: 1,649.3 in³
• Dry weight: 845 lb

Components

• Valve train: One intake and one exhaust valves per cylinder operated via a single overhead camshaft per cylinder bank
• Cooling system: Liquid-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 449 hp at 2,000 rpm (takeoff)
• Specific power: 0.27 hp/in³
• Power-to-weight ratio: 0.53 hp/lb

By:      Norm Goyer

The PT-22 was not the best trainer of World War II; many were destroyed in crashes due to low speed handling problems.

I have never jumped out of an airplane, came very close one time, but, I chickened out. What happened? I had recently purchased a Ryan PT-22 for $450.00, complete with two surplus parachutes. Neither the surplus primary trainer or the chutes were in pristine condition. But, they were cheap, and I was broke, as usual. I made some minor repairs to the airframe and to the Kinner 165-hp five-cylinder. It sounded like a John Deere tractor engine but seemed to run just fine. I am of the mindset that if something isn’t broke, I don’t fix it.

I had been flying a Fairchild PT-26 with a 200-hp in-line inverted six-cylinder engine and would love to spend my flying time doing leisurely loops and snap rolls over the Connecticut River in Northampton, Massachusetts. I depended on the river to keep the loops straight and I even attempted to come out of the snap rolls more or less on the same heading. A precision aerobatic pilot I was not. Uncle Sam had taught me that loused up aerobatics with a wild gyrating aircraft, seemingly out of control, were the hardest for the enemy to hit, that was me. Every time I landed one of my buddies would ask, ” What in hell was that you did over the Ox Bow?” Never could answer them truthfully so I used the old favorite, “That was a reverse whifferdill. Looked great didn’t it.” Many years later I was giving a television host from Hollywood a canyon ride in “Stormin’ Norman”, my SNJ-6 (Texan) and I managed, again, through precision sloppy flying snapped out of a loop and the big North American proceeded to teach me who was boss, and it surely wasn’t me. After taking a few seconds to figure out what the airplane was doing I recovered and landed, sure enough, “What was that maneuver——-etc etc?” \

“Oh that was my specialty, a reverse whifferdill.”

“Looked like you lost control to me?” Damn I hate passengers who know too much about flying. I later heard that my passenger had related his experiences on his daily game show. “Most exciting ride I ever had”, he said.

The author almost bailed out of the PT-22 he was flying when a section of the wing fabric ripped off. A decision was made to stay with the aircraft, fortunately it worked.

Whoops, forgot what I was talking about. Right, parachutes. Well one nice fall day I took off in the PT-22 and climbed out to 6,000 feet over the river. I had heard that the Ryan was not able to do a round loop, it was too draggy, too underpowered to motor over the top. Not with this superior pilot at the controls, I was determined to do a nice round loop and recover right through my entering slipstream and on course. I forget what the red line speed was, but I think it was in 180 to 190 mph range, so I firewalled the tractor engine, lowered the nose, and when the airspeed indicator was wavering around the red mark, I gently pulled the nose up into the start of a nice round loop. Dreamer, I made it almost to the inverted position and lift, gravity and lack of flying speed took over. I was now in a lead sled falling, not flying, but falling backwards. Still having some brain cells that were working, I kept my cool, and wiggled the controls in different directions until one combination got the nose back down and the rotation stopped. Oh wow! Look at that 220 mph. What’s that flapping noise? Whoops, one section of fabric on the starboard wing (right wing to you landlubbers) had peeled back and was draped over the aileron. My instructor’s voice came back to me, “Fly the airplane.” So I very gently brought it out of the dive and managed to keep the rest of the fabric and the wings on the airplane. I found that the Ryan would fly under control at a wide open throttle. I had enough aileron control, plus some very careful use of the rudder, to maintain a heading and altitude. It got squirrely when I slowed below 100 mph. I decided to “hit the silk”. This chute was so old it probably was silk. I unhitched and started to climb out of the cockpit. Then my few remaining brain cells starting questioning my latest dumb idea. I had never had this chute packed and recertified, it has been sitting in the open cockpit in the rain, I didn’t even know how old it is. So, I climbed back in the seat, hooked up my harness and headed for Barnes Airport, in nearby Westfield. They had an Air National Guard unit there and a wide, extra long runway. My plan was to land the airplane at 100 mph and when firmly on the wheels retard the throttle slowly until the plane was taxing. Barnes had a control tower and I had nothing, So I circled the tower, they saw the fabric flapping in the breeze, and shot me a green light. My next worry, would a tire blow, not if I flew the plane very gently onto the runway with no bounce, no swerving, just a grease job. The landing was the only thing that I did properly on that flight. It was fast, long and everything held together. The Ryan had  a strong landing gear, with a hinged forward section, that was very well sprung. After I taxied off the runway I borrowed some 100-mph tape (duct tape) and patched up the wing and flew home. My reputation was growing in Western Massachusetts, Norm’s in the sky, better wait until he lands.

The PT-22 was a committee revised version of the excellent Ryan ST-A, designed for military training. It was not an improvement.

Now does that mean I don’t trust parachutes? No, I mean follow the rules, your life will depend on the condition of the chute. Have it packed and take care of it, it is a lot more than a seat cushion. NG

The PA-15 was a bare-boned, side-by-side, sport aircraft built to keep Piper from bankruptcy.

By:      Norm Goyer

My close friend Sparky Barnes Sargent totally rebuilt a Piper PA-17 Vagabond by herself. Over the several years that was required, Sparky documented the project with photos and her thoughts. The story of her Vagabond became her college thesis. At the time I was Editor of Custom Planes, and thanks to a tip from Charles Stites, contacted her and a very successful writing career for Sparky was on the way. Sparky loves her “Vag” and flies it often from her home, which is located on a grass strip. This area of Washington, Oklahoma, is perfect for leisurely site-seeing flights. The original Piper Vagabond PA-15 resulted from a very clever pre-bankruptcy  ”clean up man.” The resulting PA-15 is credited with saving Piper in the unexpected postwar aviation slump.

The PA-17 Vagabond had sprung landing gear and dual controls. It was also called the Vagabond Trainer.

Piper built some well established post-war aircraft, the J-3 Cub, J-5 Cruiser (PA-12 Super Cruiser)  and the J-4 Coupe. The problem was they were pre-war aircraft and did not fit the mold of what 1948 post war pilots wanted to fly or to buy. The airframe was welded steel with some wood parts. The aircraft were fabric covered and were all tail draggers. Piper believed that the airplanes they were marketing were very good airplanes, and they were. But, they were not very saleable post-war airplanes. Technology had advanced, Piper had not. Sales plummeted and Piper was facing possible bankruptcy.

The four-place 115-hp Piper PA-16 Clipper had control sticks. It was replaced very shortly with the PA-20 Piper Pacer which had a larger engine and control wheels.

The word came down, “Build a minimum airplane as cheaply as you can. Use only the parts that are in the warehouse.” Those parts were mostly J-3 parts, steel tubing, fabric, wood parts, 50 gallon barrels of Cub Yellow dope, 65-hp Continental engines and big fat balloon tires. Have at it guys! The resulting aircraft did indeed save Piper from bankruptcy. The PA-15 managed to use all the parts from the Cubs. The wings of the new airplane were cut down one bay which still allowed the fabric rolls to be used without any waste. The plane was a side-by-side sport plane, no dual controls, no landing gear shock struts, no bungee cords only a welded-on, steel-tube landing gear which depended on the low pressure fat tires from the Cub for shock absorbing duties. Piper had the airplane and they used another technique to sell them. It’s called “filling the pipe line.” Call all the Piper dealers and with a little arm twisting cajole them to purchase two of the new minimum PA-15s. Almost all the dealers fell in line looking for the rumored all metal low wing models now on the drawing board. (Comanche no doubt). To help out the dealers, Piper designers took the Piper PA-15, stretched it 17 inches, added two seats in back, added dual controls, shock absorbing landing gear, a larger fuel tank and a 115-hp Lycoming engine. The PA-16 Piper Clipper was born. Almost immediately Pan American filed a breach of copy write suit stating that they had the exclusive rights to the name “Clipper” and didn’t want a little puddle jumper besmirching their great flying boat image. So Piper dumped the Clipper, added a little larger engine, took out the control sticks and added control wheels. prettied it up a bit and the PA-20 Pacer was born, still a modified Vagabond however. The short-wing Piper inventory was slowly growing. But, it was also the decade of the wimpy pilot and the tail dragger was out, and training wheel airplanes were in. Being the leader in the cheap way to do things, Piper turned the main gear around so the wheels were further back behind the CG. Then they added a nose gear and a matching size tire. Most other aircraft used a smaller tire as a nose gear, but not the new PA-22 TriPacer. Like all the Vagabond family the TriPacer was a great flying aircraft; it did look rather dumb, but fly it did, and it was cheap to buy and cheap to fly. Piper had one more dumb trick in its bag called the Colt. They took the TriPacer, removed the two rear seats, removed the rear window and the flaps, put a 115 Lycoming engine in it and hoped to steal some of the learn to fly students from Cessna’s C-150. Didn’t work. There you have it Piper buffs, the story of the PA-15 and PA-17 Vagabond and the launch of the Piper Short wing series. The upcoming Piper Cherokees would save Piper, and just in time. Poor Piper, they were successful, in spite of themselves.

By:      Norm Goyer

Every air show has a collection of like new, yellow Piper J-3 Cubs.

I grew up in the rock maple forests of Western New England where every fall Mother Nature puts artists to shame with her vibrate living colors. When viewed from above they almost seem to be changing before your eyes. Artists have tried to duplicate nature’s infinite palette with little success. But some aircraft designers have also used color to great advantage;  but none coming close to Mama Nature.

Let’s talk about the obvious first, the J-3 Cub, whose specially blended yellow with a slight bit of orange has its own name, Cub Yellow. As Henry Ford once said, “I’ll sell you a Model “T” Ford in any color you want as long as it is black”. So would Bill Piper, Cubs were yellow with a black lightning stripe and small drawing of a bear cub on the tail, that was your only choice. But, it became the most well known paint scheme in the history of aviation. His three-place Cub Cruiser was painted Orange; it too had its own color, “Cruiser Orange.” Early Cub Coupes were painted blue. After World War II Piper still painted their Cubs yellow. Aeronca upset the airplane cart by closely copying the Cub’s yellow paint scheme. They used a slightly more chrome yellow and adding a distinctive orange belly to give the pot-bellied airknocker a more modern look to go along with its “real door”, front-seat piloting and full engine cowling. “Holy Batman, Mr. Piper, what are you going to to about that?” Piper’s answer was the Piper Cub Special; the airplane had a lighter color yellow with medium blue trim. The engine was fully-cowled and you could fly from the front seat. Unfortunately, sales fell flat, those who wanted a Cub, wanted a yellow cub with its Continental hanging out in the breeze. Not to be outdone by the Aeronca Champ, Piper left their classic Cub alone and concentrated on their three-place Cruiser. They dumped the 75 hp engine, put an 100 hp in, used a full cowling and painted the Super Cruiser a pleasing cream with red trim. Now they had a winner. They even redesigned the fuselage a bit and added another seat and sold it as the four-passenger Family Cruiser. Piper then using their head for a change, decided that the classic Cub needed a more powerful member of the Cub family. The Super Cruiser name went over very well so why not the Super Cub, voila, another classic Cub was born. Again they went with a while paint scheme with red trim. The new Super Duper Cub was available with various engines up to 160 hp with the 150-Lycoming powered being the most popular. They removed the fuel tank from the cowling area, added tanks to the wing, added flaps, put in toe brakes and balanced the aircraft for front seat piloting. In addition to a great working aircraft for towing gliders, towing banners, pipe line patrols and fish spotting duties they also found out that they had built a dynamite seaplane. I have flown Cubs including a 40 hp Taylor Cub, a 50-hp Piper Cub on floats and a 150 hp Super Cub on Edo floats; I have loved them all.

The three-place Piper J-5 Cruiser came from Lock Haven painted in "Cruiser Orange."

Piper stopped producing Super Cubs in the 1980s but other firms have helped themselves to the design. You can buy an ultralight Cub, a homebuilt Cub, and LSA Cub and restored original Cubs. It seems that the American buying public will stick with a product they know and respect. Cubs have been part of our aviation history since the early 1930s and they show no sign of going away any time soon. The most popular model airplane of any category from rubber band models to huge 50% scale behemoths has always been the Piper Cub. They are unique in many ways. They are highly respected for being outstanding aircraft, they fly better than many modern aircraft. “It flies like a Cub.” is a tremendous compliment. Yes I am a Cub junkie. Why?

The post war Piper PA-11 Special had a multi-color paint scheme of light yellow and blue.

I soloed in a Piper Cub at 6.6 hours, I obtained my seaplane rating in a 50-hp Cub, I searched for lost aircraft in a CAP L-4 Cub, I counted desert burros and horses from a Cub and I taught my kids to love a Cub. I have flown them from land, sea and snow. I have landed them in pastures, on dirt roads, Interstates for fuel, fairgrounds for display and strictly for open door summer flying fun. Oh yes, I also have two 81″ RC Cubs, an 81″ RC Super Cub and a 106 inch 1/4 size Super Cub. I also have floats for all of my RC Cubs, as they make a superb RC seaplane. Mr. Taylor, thanks for designed such a great fun airplane and Mr. Piper, thanks for building them. You dun good. NG

The PA-12 150-hp Super Cub was mostly white with red trim. They made outstanding seaplanes.

By:      Norm Goyer

These Corsairs were photographed while flying over a remote island in the South Pacific.

In my opinion, some of the most exciting and dramatic photographs of aircraft are those picturing Navy aircraft operating from carriers or in flight over the vast oceans of the world. For me it is impossible to look at a photograph of a Corsair without searching for details as to which model Corsair I was looking at. Is it a F4U-1 or is it an F4U-4? No, I only see three prop blades so it must be an earlier model than a Dash 4. There were so many minor changes and yes, major changes, that I still find this 70 year old aircraft very fascinating. One of the big regrets of my life is that I never had the chance to fly a Corsair or land on a carrier. The atom bombs stopped the war but it also prevented me from realizing some of my dreams.

The Curtiss Helldiver saw action operating from carriers during later years of Pacific war.

Carrier aircraft are more photogenic because of many elements. A constantly shifting runway, heart-in-the-mouth take offs, where the plane powers itself off the deck (before catapults) and dips toward the ocean below, then slowly rises and heads out to sea. Landings are very dramatic, especially in stormy seas. Watching World War II era LSO (landing signal officers) waving their flags, now mostly replaced by computer controlled position lights is extremely visual. The actual snatching of one of the cables, by the arresting-hook dangling from the tail of the aircraft adds to the excitement. During the height of sea battles, many aircraft returned to their carriers damaged, landing gears stuck up, or only partially down, pilot injured or blinded by an oil covered windscreen. I still cringe when I see that Hellcat slam into the superstructure of the carrier and break in half, or the Corsair bounce over the cables and slide on its nose, while deck crewmen rush to put out the fire. Our modern Navy jet fighters are equally photogenic and require even more skills due to their speed and complexity. Our nation owes every Navy pilot who risked his life for our freedom a very special thanks and a “Well done.”

Not all Navy aircraft were based on carriers. The Vought Kingfisher was used on cruisers and other naval ships. They were launched by catapult, landed on the water, then craned back onto the ship.

The US Navy recently released, through their museum archives, a series of photographs depicting Naval aviation. I looked through hundreds of photos, over several days, and picked out a few which I really thought “told the story of carrier operations.” NG

The Korean War saw renewed use of World War II Corsairs. These are aboard the USS Oriskany headed for Korea.

This Korean era carrier's deck has prop-driven Corsairs and jet powered Grumman Panthers.

Vietnam saw US carriers back in action. The Grumman A-6 Intruder is shown clearing the deck after launching.

By:      Norm Goyer

The Douglas DF was manufactured in 1936 and 1937. Many of the wing, engine and tail parts were from the Douglas DC-2.

The year 2010 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Douglas DC-3, the aircraft that helped establish the airline industry as we know it today. World War II saw the same airplane with a new suit of camouflage clothes setting the benchmark for military twin-engine “fitzall”  transports, The proud old girl is still earning her keep, what a great American airplane.

Before the DC-3 established her reign, there was the DC-2, the starting point for the infant airline industry. Douglas knew they had an outstanding wing and engine combo, a great tail design and a plan form that could be used to continue the line of famous Douglas seaplanes and flying boats. Douglas engineers took these elements and added a boat-shaped fuselage, no landing gear, and the DF series of airframes were developed. The first two airframes were labeled DF-151 (Douglas model number) and were promptly sold to Japan. They wanted to clone the latest American manufacturing methods. And indeed they did, Japan used these two DFs for both military and civilian transport after they did a bit of reverse engineering. The two were flown to Japan via the Bering Straits. The second pair of DF-195s, exact same airframe, were sold to Russia who needed dependable water based aircraft along their remote seaports. The two Russian Douglas airframes were disassembled and transported to Russia via ship. It is not known if any of the four airframes are still in existence, however, it is highly doubtful.

Douglas believed that there was a market for the DF, replacing obsolete four-engine seaplanes. The first two were sold to Japan.

Douglas only built four airframes; they didn’t really push the design because of their huge backorder for DC-3 transports. They also knew the era of Clipper type flying boats was grinding to an end. Airports were rapidly being constructed which had the strength and length to handle the four-engine transports which were on the design boards of almost every large company. Douglas engineers were working on the DC-4, Lockheed on the Constellation and Boeing on the Stratoliner. Douglas also knew that Consolidated had a far better twin engine military seaplane which had been designed just for search and rescue. Yes, we are talking about the outstanding Consolidated PBY series of Catalina twin engine seaplanes and flying boats. Some were built as only capable of operating from the water while others were amphibious (had retractable landing gear). So the rugged, great flying twin engine Douglas Flying Boat was discontinued. It was the last seaplane of any kind built by Douglas.

The second two DF 151s (DF-195) were sold to Russia who used them for many years.

But what had convinced Douglas engineers and the marketing department that there was indeed a market for a flying boat version of their great selling DC-2 transport design? It was Pan American Airways who also owned majority interests in a number of foreign airlines. Douglas viewed the airline as being a possible operator of a new series of aircraft, namely the new Douglas DF-151. It seems that Pan American had become the second customer for the Douglas DC-2 and had also bought two Dolphin amphibians for operation by a subsidiary. Douglas engineers reasoned that a large and efficient flying boat airliner could be built; the obvious customer was Pan American. The first studies were started in 1935, and the project was given the designation of DF for Douglas Flying boat. The new aircraft would allow the airline to retire their earlier flying boats yet still offer an airplane which had the capability of their four-engine aircraft with an even longer range. And, the fact that two engines are cheaper to operate than four was stressed by Douglas.

Poor sales and an increased military market caused Douglas to cease production. This was the last seaplane ever built by Douglas.

Specifications:

Span                            95 ft 0 in
Length                          69 ft 10.56 in
Height:                          24 ft 6.25 in
Wing area:                    1,295 sq.ft
Weight empty:               17,315 lb
Max T/O weight:            28,500 lb

Max speed:                   178 mph at 6,800 ft
Cruise speed:                160 mph
Service ceiling:              9,842 ft
Initial climb:                   800 ft
Range                           1,500 miles

By Norm Goyer

The S2F Tracker was first flown in 1952, many are still in service around the world.

I would like to thank Wikipedia for the technical facts about the Grumman S2F series of aircraft, NG

For many reasons I have always found the Grumman S2F a fascinating aircraft. It is not the handsomest stud on the flight deck. It lacks the flowing lines of contemporary fighters such as the Grumman F9F. The S2F was first flown in 1952, and delivered to the Navy in 1954. Over the years various versions were produced, including the Tracer, Trader and the Tracker. Almost from day one, the S2F was nicknamed the Stoof (S-two-F). The E-1 Tracer version with the huge round radar dome on the top was called the Stoof with a Roof, who says our sailors don’t have a sense of humor. It was also called other not so nice names, but they were nicknames of acceptance; the airplane did its job.

The S2F was initially designed for anti-submarine warfare and sized to be capable of carrier operation. This Tracker is being launched via steam catapult.

The S2F was first designed as a high-wing twin radial engine submarine chaser and spotter. It was also used delivering mail and supplies to aircraft carriers. It had folding wings for compact storage. Grumman produced 1,185 Trackers. Another 99 aircraft carrying the CS2F designation were manufactured in Canada under license by de Havilland Canada. U.S.built versions of the Tracker were sold to various nations, including Australia, Japan Argentina and Taiwan. The Tracker was replaced  for U.S. military use by the S-3 Viking; the last USN Tracker squadron was decommissioned in 1976. The last Navy S-2 was withdrawn from service on August 29, 1976. A number are still used as firefighting aircraft. Trackers continued to provide excellent service with the naval forces of other countries for years after the U.S. discontinued them. For example, the Royal Australian Navy continued to use Trackers as front line ASW (anti submarine warfare) aircraft until the mid 1980s.

Grumman E-2s were equipped with a radar dome and earned the nickname "Stoof with a roof".

I was watching TV the other night and learned that Argentina had used various Trackers operating from two Argentina carriers during the Falkland Island battle with Britain. Argentine Naval Aviation received seven S-2A in 1962, six S-2E in 1978 and three S-2G in 1990s. They were used from both aircraft carriers, the ARA Independencia and the ARA 25 de Mayo. They were also used as US-2A (carrier delivery) conversions, Maritime Patrol and ASW roles. They were extensively used in the 1982 Falklands War, first from the de Mayo, from where they detected the British Task Force and then from the mainland  when the carrier returned to port after the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano cruiser. In 1990s the remaining operational six aircraft were converted to turboprop by Israel Aerospace Industries.

Many S2Fs were converted to turbine power. This S2T is being used as a fire bomber.

The Grumman S2F saw extensive civilian flying with forest fire departments in several countries including the US and Canada. In the late 1980s, and early 90s, Conair Aviation of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada took possession of retired U.S. and Canadian Trackers and converted them into Firecats, with a retardant tank replacing the torpedo bay. The Firecats were made in two variants, a piston engine Firecat and a turboprop-powered Turbo Firecat.

This propjet S2T belongs to Argentina and after it survived the Falkland Island war was converted to turbine power.

Specifications S2F

• Crew: four (two pilots, two detection systems operators)
• Length: 43 ft 6 in
• Wingspan: 72 ft 7 in
• Height: 17 ft 6 in
• Wing area: 485 ft²
• Empty weight: 18,315 lb
• Loaded weight: 23,435 lb
• Max takeoff weight: 26,147 lb
• Powerplant: 2× Wright R-1820-82WA radial engines, 1,525 hp

Performance

• Maximum speed: 280 mph at sea level
• Cruise speed: 150 mph
• Range: 1,350 mi or 9 hours endurance
• Service ceiling: 22,000 ft

Armament

• 2 homing torpedoes (Mk. 41, Mk. 43, or Mk. 34), depth charges (Mk. 54), or mines in the bomb bay
• 6 underwing hardpoints for torpedoes, depth charges, or rockets

By:      Norm Goyer

The Estrella Warbird Museum, located in Paso Robles, California, has a great collection of military aircraft featuring Korean and Vietnam era aircraft.

My daughter Celeste is an event planner, along with her many other art design skills. She recently called me and suggested I write a column about a new Warbird Museum which had just been dedicated in Paso Robles, California, close to her studios in Cambria. Celeste started her warbird flying in the back seat of one of my SNJs when she was way under five years old and the love of old fighting iron has stuck, as it has for me. As usual, she was right on with her instincts for a good story.

Celeste Goyer and Stephen Price stand near a Grumman Intruder, workhorse of the Vietnam carrier war, and star of the "Flight of the Intruder" movie and novel.

We arrived at 10:00 am at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, which was a P-38 fighter training base during World War II. The gate guard for the very large indoor and outdoor display hangars and areas was one of my favorite light jets, a Cessna T-37 “Tweety Bird”. Just behind a small fence, were lines of warbirds in their natural colors and conditions, that of fighting aircraft which had served their country proudly, and were now enjoying siesta time in the bright California sunshine. Lines of military helicopters and jet fighters, dating back to the very early Lockheed T-33/F-80 Shooting Star were on display. Exotic iron, like the Lockheed F-104, the “Missile with a man in it”, and the very famous Grumman Tracker “Short Ugly Little Fellow”, sorry I had to clean up that name for family Internet reading. This aircraft served in the US Navy as an anti submarine warfare aircraft and a carrier capable courier/mail plane, then a radar aircraft carrying a huge round antenna on top of the fuselage and finally years of having belly tanks installed in the bomb bar and filled with fire retardants for the California Forestry Department as a borate bomber. This short ugly, you-know-what, earned its keep, big time.

The Estrella Museum has a Grumman S2F Tracker rescued from the fire wars. (see Bird of the Week for more Tracker photos)

Both the movie and the book “Flight of the Intruder” were smash successes. The star of the book/movie was a Grumman Intruder, side-by-side attack aircraft. Many years ago, with the help of a Grumman employee flying friend and a press card from a major network, I was able to tour the Grumman plant in Long Island where they were building Intruders and F-14s and modifying F-111 Aardvarks with new avionics. The Estrella Warbird Museum has a beautiful Intruder and an F-14. These are impressive aircraft. I really liked this museum because you could walk right up to the old birds, scratch their tail feathers, some even had access to their cockpits. Old military pilots better bring a box of tissues ’cause you are going to need them.

Now, who can resist a beautiful aircraft with one's initials on it, not me. These markings were on an Intruder.

Another big plus to the Estrella Warbird Museum is the fact that you will see aircraft that you seldom have a chance to view up close. Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture have hundreds of World War II aircraft and a few later jet fighters but not all of the aircraft that made up the rosters of our Air Force, Navy and Marine aviation units, or the planes that flew from carriers during the height of Vietnam and even the early Gulf wars. These are not air show aircraft, they are working aircraft, the very same ones and looking just like those whose pilots and crews accomplished unbelievable feats of courage during the heights of battles on the sea and in the air.

There is a WWII era Link trainer display, including a full set of controls. This is a very rare exhibit.

How did a group of dedicated aircraft lovers manage to obtain 26 prime aircraft from the US Navy and Air Force? It wasn’t easy, but it certainly was worth the hard work of over 500 museum members. Would you believe that they average over 100 guests every month attend the dinner and business meeting? Now that is very unusual for a club. The members incorporated as a nonprofit organization dedicated to displaying our nation’s air power. Thus they became eligible to receive surplus retired aircraft from the military on a lease per plane basis. The 500 members of the museum receive these aircraft, then the hard work begins. Many have weathered years of unprotected outdoor storage and need new paint and markings. Many have dings and dents that must be repaired so the aircraft appear to be airworthy. The museum does have an airworthy Douglas C-47 which recently participated in the gathering of DC-3s and C-47s in Illinois.

We also toured the display buildings and saw some very unusual objects, antique military vehicles, authentic uniforms of many countries, and, one of my favorites, a genuine complete Link Trainer. I used one of these while I was a flying officer for the CAP in Massachusetts many years ago, this display brought back many memories. The museum also has modern military simulators which can be rented. Another new addition is the addition of many famous racing cars, including NASCAR, dirt Track and Indy cars. It is an excellent assortment for auto racing fans.. Racing cars and aircraft have always had a close relationship.

The museum is easy to get to via car and aircraft, yours of course, not the cigar tubes. It is located just off Interstate/California 101 in Paso Robles, there are excellent road signs and the museum has weekend hours and by appointment. I highly suggest you check out their web site for a list of aircraft and hours of operation. Log onto www.ewarbirds.org or call them at 805-227-0440. If you go, give the short ugly little fellow a nice pat on the nose, ugly airplanes also need a little love. NG

By:      Norm Goyer

The Army purchased many Twin Bonanzas and renamed them the Seminole

I would like to thank Wikipedia and Beechcraft publications for the facts and figures of the many Beechcraft military aircraft. NG

It started in the late 1930s with the D-18 Twin Beech, before World War II, and has continued to date, August 2010. Beechcraft light twins have helped our military protect our freedom.

One of the more successful family of light twins started with the well known Beechcraft D-18 Twin Beech, thousands were built and used in all branches of the military, in many different roles. Beech’s second family of outstanding light military twins commenced with the Twin Bonanza  B-50.  The “T’Bone” was built to act as a second choice to the larger more powerful Beech D-18. The Twin Bonanza light duty twin eventually morphed into the Queen Air and then the King Air line of both reciprocating and turbine powered aircraft, still being built as the King Air Model 90. The original T’Bone was a rugged airplane; it had the appearance of being larger than the D-18, of course it was not. I had the use of one for about a year and I loved the big old bird, and I mean big old bird. It was a far cry from the Piper Aztec and Seneca I had been flying, this airplane was a twin, spelled with all capital letters. This was a pilot’s aircraft from the three-passenger wide, front cockpit seating to the twin-geared Lycoming engines, to the huge two bladed paddle blade props needed to handle the torque of the geared engines. If the step didn’t deploy, you even needed a step ladder to enter the cockpit. The large diameter props needed a long landing gear for clearence. The military put the T’Bone based Seminol to work immediately in many transportation roles.

The Seminole was used with great success during the Korean conflict.

The Twin Bonanza first flew on November 15, 1949. Work was started on it in April of  1949. The Model 50’s type certificate was awarded in 1952, and production began the same year. The United States Army used the Twin Bonanza, L-23 Seminole, utility transport, making it the largest fixed-wing aircraft in the Army’s inventory at that time. Ralph Harmon, the airplane’s designer, stated that during an initial demonstration flight for the Army, Claude Palmer, a Beechcraft Demonstration Test Pilot, crashed while trying to land over a 50-foot tree line. The aircraft was loaded with soldiers and sandbags. Everyone on board walked away from the crash. The Army was so impressed with the structural strength of the Twin Bonanza, that they eventually purchased 216 of the 994 examples produced. It was also the first twin-engine aircraft, in its class, to be offered to the business market. The Korean War was raging in the early 1950s and the US Army needed more Seminoles so it took almost the entire production for 1952 and 1953.

The Queen Air, which was a Twin Bonanza with a much larger fuselage, was a very popular business aircraft.

In the late 1950s, Beechcraft, using the Model 50 as a starting point, developed the Model 80 Queen Air. The Queen Air is a twin-engined light aircraft produced in several different versions from 1960 to 1978. It was based on the Twin Bonanza, with which it shared key components, such as wings, engines, and tail surfaces, but featuring a much larger fuselage. In the turn the Queen Air served as the basis for the highly successful King Air series of turboprop aircraft. The Model 80 Queen Air was used as a business aircraft, in an utility role, or as a small commuter airliner. Production ran for 17 years.

The Beechcraft King Air became a very popular military fast personnel transport. This one is in Navy markings.

The real star of the Twin Bonanza’s offspring is the Beechcraft Model 90 King Air. which was conceived as the Model 120 in 1961. In May 1963, Beechcraft began test flights of the proof-of-concept Model 87, a modified Queen Air with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-6 engines. In July, Beech announced they were working on a new type. A month later Beech Marketing began accepting orders for the “King Air”, with deliveries to commence in Autumn 1964. In 1964 after ten months of test flying the Model 87 was delivered to the United States Army as the NU-8F. In January, the first definitive prototype Model 65-90, was also fitted with PT6A-6 engines and flew for the first time. The first production aircraft was delivered in October, and by the end of the month, 152 aircraft had been ordered.

President Lyndon Johnson used a King Air as his personal Air Force One for local transportation while in Texas.

The U.S. military has used King Air 90s in various roles, primarily VIP and liaison transport, with designations including the VC-6A, the T-44 Pegasus, and the U-21 Ute. The U-21 Ute used by the US Army was the most common version. Most U-21s were unpressurized Model 87 derivatives, but there were also five U-21Fs based on the A100 King Air; and three U-21Js, which Beechcraft designated Model A100-1, but were actually the first three production Model 200 Super King Airs  The majority of the U-21 series were retired in the second half of the 1990s. Since then some have been modified as ag-spray aircraft.

During the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, the United States Air Force acquired a Model B90 King Air “off-the-shelf”. The Air Force labeled it VC-6A, the aircraft, serial number 66-7943, was used to transport President Johnson between Bergstrom Air Force Base (near Austin, Texas) and the Johnson family ranch near Johnson City, Texas. When Johnson was aboard, the aircraft used the call sign Air Force One. This aircraft is now on display, with other presidential aircraft, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

Beechcraft is still carrying on the tradition of a prime military aircraft supplier with their new T-6 A, Texan II. For many decades the Beechcraft T-34, both recip and turbine versions taught our pilots the art of military flying..

By:      Norm Goyer

The Beechcraft Model 45 was used by both the Air Force and the Navy for primary flight training for many decades.

My thanks to Wikipedia and Beechcraft publications for technical information. NG

The T-34 was the brainchild of Walter Beech, who developed it as the Beechcraft Model 45 private venture at a time when there was no defense budget for a new trainer model. Beech hoped to sell it as an economical alternative to the North American T-6/NJ Texan, then in use by all services of the U.S. military. The T-34 won a competition which included a Fairchild T-6 look-alike and a Temco modified tandem Swift. The T-34 was the only one which met the specifications of the military bid instructions which included tricycle gear and small engine.

The last T-34 produced by Beechcraft was the T-34-C Mentor with a P & W PT-6 propjet engine. These aircraft are slowly being replaced with the new Beechcraft Texan II propjet trainer.

Three initial design concepts were developed for the Model 45, including one with the Bonanza’s signature V-tail, but the final design that emerged in 1948 incorporated conventional tail control surfaces for the benefit of the more conservative military (featuring a relatively large unswept vertical fin that would find its way onto the Travel Air twin-engine civil aircraft almost ten years later). The Bonanza’s fuselage with four-passenger cabin was replaced with a narrower fuselage incorporating a two-seater tandem cockpit and bubble canopy,which provided greater visibility for the trainee pilot and flight instructor. Structurally, the Model 45 was much stronger than the Bonanza, being designed for +10g and -4.5g, while the Continental E-185 engine of 185 horsepower (hp) at takeoff (less than a third of the power of the T-6’s engine) was the same as that fitted to contemporary Bonanzas.

Thousands of air show spectators have seen Julie Clark's exciting aerobatic routine with her T-34 "Free Spirit" performed and choreographed to music.

Production of the T-34B for the United States Navy (USN) began in 1955. The new Mentor featured a number of changes reflecting the different requirements of the two services. The T-34B had only differential braking for steering control on the ground instead of nosewheel steering, additional wing dihedral and, to cater for the different heights of pilots, adjustable rudder pedals instead of the moveable seats of the T-34A.^[1] T-34A production was completed in 1956, with T-34Bs being built until October 1957 and licensed B45 versions built in Canada (125 manufactured by Canadian Car and Foundry)

In 1973,fifteen years after the T-34 production ended, the T-34C Turbo-Mentor powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop engine was developed. Development proceeded at the request of the USN, which supplied two T-34Bs for conversion. After installing a P & W turboprop, PT-6, the two aircraft were redesignated as YT-34Cs; they first flew in September of 1973. Mentor production re-started in 1975 for deliveries of T-34Cs to the USN and of the T-34C-1 armed version for export customers in 1977, this version featuring four underwing hardpoints. The last Turbo-Mentor rolled off the production line in 1990. In 2004, due to a series of crashes involving in-flight structural failure during simulated combat flights, the entire US civilian fleet of T-34s was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. The grounding has since been lifted but there are severe restrictions on the permitted flight envelope.

The T-34C is still used as the primary training aircraft for United States Navy and Marine Corps pilots. The T-34C is currently being replaced by the T-6 Texan II but is still the primary aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Whiting Field. NAS Pensacola has already completed the transition to the Texan II. The first new T-6s arrived at Whiting Field during the summer of 2009.

Specifications:

• Crew: Two
• Length: 28 ft 8½ in
• Wingspan: 33 ft 3⅞ in
• Height: 9 ft 7 in
• Wing area: 179.6 ft²
• Empty weight: 2,960 lb
• Max takeoff weight: 4,300 lb  (T-34C-1 weapons trainer – 5,500 lb
• Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop, 715 shp derated to 400 shp

Performance

• Never exceed speed: 280 knots, 322 mph (IAS)
• Cruise speed: 214 knot,  246 mph max cruise at 17,000 ft
• Stall speed: 53 knots  61 mph, flaps down, power off
• Range: 708 nmi,  814 mi at 180 knots, 207 mph and 20,000 ft
• Service ceiling: 30,000 ft