Favorite aircraft

[larry cottrill]

That's my all-time favorite, the Starfighter. Loved and hated ... by the same pilots at the same time! Had the all-time best safety record of any jet fighter for Belgium, probably the worst ever in Germany. It also had a terrific kill ratio in Vietnam against MiGs. The "manned missile" was one of the great products of the Lockheed Skunk Works, of course.

But, it had a flat spin that kicked in right away from any cross-control stall. No less than Chuck Yeager got into that after a flameout one time and rode the ship through thirteen complete flat spins, fighting it all the way, and then ejected out just before it hit the dirt. When that plane enters a spin, there's not a man on earth that can force the nose back down and pick up flight speed again. Impossible.

My other great all-time favorite is the great Fokker DR-I triplane - the first cantilever wing fighter, though certainly not the all-around best fighter of WWI [which was by all accounts, the Fokker DVII].

I have a half-completed F-104 that I designed around the Dynajet and carved and hollowed out of solid block balsa back in my college days [might have shown that to Ben when he was visiting], and I once had a very small model of Baron Richthofen's DR-I that got broken up badly before I even had a chance to fly it. That was a nice little model, quite beautifully finished, about 16 or 18 inches top wingspan.

L Cottrill

[RG Rhodes]

OK-
the McDonnell XP-67 Bat

[RG Rhodes]

And a three-view

[marksteamnz]

Larry "It also had a terrific kill ratio in Vietnam against MiGs." It being the F104 starfighter then no, that is not correct.
The recent issue of Air & Space magazine indicates that no MIG's fell to F104's in SE Asia.

[larry cottrill]

Larry "It also had a terrific kill ratio in Vietnam against MiGs." It being the F104 starfighter then no, that is not correct.
The recent issue of Air & Space magazine indicates that no MIG's fell to F104's in SE Asia.

Well, once again, I have to stand corrected. Obviously thinking of something else, or just mis-remembering something I'd read.

Thanks,

L Cottrill

[Anthony]

Must be the F-4.

F-104 is basically a ground-based defense interceptor...

[steve]

(can't remember weather this was posted or not but...)

I'd like to submit the lockheed Constellation to the list of favorites. it is one of those aircraft that was not built, but sculpted.

here is a fantastic video of one in action:
http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.ph ... rating=yes

be sure to look for the part about halfway through where the flames start gushing from the exausts on takeoff- air travel used to be much more exiting then it is now!

[steve]

this ones for you larry!

nine F-104's flying in formation:
http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.ph ... rating=yes

kind of a big download with dailup but well worth it IMHO!

[dynajetjerry]

Steve,

I bow to your selection of the "Connie" as a beautiful airplane. Right on!

Notice the blasts of smoke as those big radials fire up. Fire also is often emitted. Such smoke and fire is very common with radial engines, partly because of the accumulation of oil in the bottom cylinders after the engines are idle for a while.

The Super Constellation employed the largest mass produced engine for aircraft, the P&W R-4360, 28 cylinder, 3500 HP radial (4 banks of 7 cyls. each.) This same engine was used in the Douglas Globemasters, B-36, FG-1 Corsair, B-50, and Fairchild C-119, among others.

The original civilian and earliest military Constellations use the Wright R-3350 radial, even though it had more developmental problems than the big P&W. The Wright was also in the B-29, Douglas AD-1, and many others.

I enjoy wallowing in the rumble of big radials as they idle.

If anyone is interested, I can tell an amusing but true story of my nephew and me talking to a crew chief for the Globemaster II.

Jerry

[hinote]

The Super Constellation employed the largest mass produced engine for aircraft, the P&W R-4360, 28 cylinder, 3500 HP radial (4 banks of 7 cyls. each.) This same engine was used in the Douglas Globemasters, B-36, FG-1 Corsair, B-50, and Fairchild C-119, among others.

I believe that engine was also turbocompounded (as opposed to turbocharged).

The exhaust gases were routed through a power turbine that was directly attached to the crank. The turbine added torque to the engine output directly, rather than increasing the intake massflow and pressure.

Bill H.
Acoustic Propulsion Concepts

".......some day soon we'll be flying airplanes powered by pulsejets."

[marksteamnz]

Steve,


I enjoy wallowing in the rumble of big radials as they idle.

If anyone is interested, I can tell an amusing but true story of my nephew and me talking to a crew chief for the Globemaster II.

Jerry

Jerry I'm very interested. The race planes at Reno with the big radials were fantastic. Dreadnought, Rare bear etc

[Bruno Ogorelec]

I enjoy wallowing in the rumble of big radials as they idle.

I spent my childhood in a Thunderbolt. There was one in a children's playground near my place -- gutted but with all things you cannot get off with your bare hands still there.

I spent hours and hours and hours sitting in that cockpit, holding the stick, pushing the big pedals and imagining the sounds and the feeling of the plane shaking and rocking from the immense torque.

What a brute...

[yipster]

http://www.xprizefoundation.com/ has a really long video on spaceflight and the X price

[larry cottrill]

I spent my childhood in a Thunderbolt. There was one in a children's playground near my place -- gutted but with all things you cannot get off with your bare hands still there.

I spent hours and hours and hours sitting in that cockpit, holding the stick, pushing the big pedals and imagining the sounds and the feeling of the plane shaking and rocking from the immense torque.

Yes, the venerable Jug was one of the all-time greats, and you're right - the combined mechanical AND aerodynamic torque was a huge force, requiring a heavy right foot on the takeoff run. Of course, this was true of the big Navy carrier deck fighters, as well.

Like the B-17, the Jug was renown for getting practically torn apart by enemy gunfire and still bringing her occupant home. These were unbelievably rugged for a fighter - lots of armor plate around and beneath the cockpit, too. They were pretty ugly, but deeply loved and respected by those who flew them into battle.

L Cottrill

[larry cottrill]

this ones for you larry!

nine F-104's flying in formation:
http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.ph ... rating=yes

kind of a big download with dailup but well worth it IMHO!

Thanks very much for that, Steve! Beautiful shots.

And, yes, I have to agree with you on the Constellation, too - the best looking airliner ever, I think. Very posh for its time, with all the available passenger amenities. What fun it would be just to look out the window at a pair of those big engines / props hauling you along.

L Cottrill