Saw your picture by the A-26.

Is there a more magnificent sound than a round P&W flying by?

Stirs the soul.

Ralph

 

Two incredible sounds - a Rolls Merlin at 60" MP or an R-2800 (Tonawanda built R-2800's during WWII).

 

I want a P-51 Victory Roll with my Merlin sound..... if that's o.k.
Those 2 stimuli make me think Im standing on a makeshift British
runway in 1944.


Here is a pic I saw day before yesterday at one of my favorite SBC engine part suppliers...Ohio Crankshaft-an Allison V-12 being line bored.... there was no comment on where it was headed...
so I'll dream it's going into the teeth painted nose of a P-40 Warhawk.
*
*
http://www.ohiocrank.com

 

How about a P-47, with the R-2800, it was faster than a P-51, definately could out dive it, definatley take more punishment and had a much higher rate of returning the pilot home..... as top P-47 Ace Hub Zemke found out when the wings came off his P-51 and he finished out the war as a POW.....

 

If you like P-47s, check this out. http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...amp;pr=goog-sl

 

Thanks a million Ken and a million thanks to our veterans.

Merry Christmas

Ralph

 

Thanks Ken, I've got that CD.... The reason I am biased is that my dad was an ace (six confirmed) in the P-47, razor back, during WWII.... Not many left in the registry still flying.

This is a commissioned painting of his plane....

 

The P-47 was probably the most durable fighter we had...the fastest
variant of the P-47 was the M model... P-47M... it was built to try and
defeat the German buzz bombs and had a top speed of 470mph..

That would make it faster than the P-51D... D model.. which a majority
of P-51's in Allied service were..... but there was an H model Mustang
..with a tall tail... the P-51H mostly saw service in Korea and could
muster 487mph. From recolection, I think the P-51D topped out at
about 437mph...
I believe the P-47 had the fastest dive capability... it's been a few
years since I poured over that information.... the Mustang turned a little better..
Both great fighters... no doubt about it..

The greatest solo plane demonstration I've ever seen... and I've seen
the Angels and Thunderbirds... was put on by a Hawker Sea Fury at
the Houston Air show in 1987..... I called in fake sick to work so I could
go down and see the show... I will never forget how the ground pounded as the Big Fury taxied down the runway with that big thumping
and loping radial.....it made a BBC sound like a church mouse.
Those big WWII Warbirds... when they are moving under power..
absolutely give me goosebumps.

 

Very,Very nice to hear... My thanks to your Dad and to you for
informing us...

 

Kyle,

The XP-47H with the Chrysler inverted Vee attained 490 MPH... only two were made as the end of the war was near and the soon to be Air Force was concentrating on jet engines.....



Still I gotta agree with you, those loping radials do sound great..... almost as good as a BB Vette with pipes.....

 

Have you been to AirVenture in Oshkosh? If you like warbirds, as I also do, you will find them there. Jugs, Mustangs, Corsairs, Seafurys, most of the 'Cats, Spitfires, A-26, on and on. Over the years I have been lucky enough to be there for the even more rare types like the Mosquito, Marauder and P-39. It was a real treat to photograph "Glacier Girl" in formation with a P-51 and F-15.
I like them all but have always been somewhat partial to Mustangs. They are just plain beautiful! I have found it impossible to ignore the sound of a Merlin at full takeoff power. My father was on a communications halftrack during the war. He was a P-47 fan, with good reason.

 

... I've never seen that plane... very nice.. an inverted V ???
then it got a different engine....hmmmm ...very interesting
Very nice lines on that airplane

 

Here is a real pix.....





"Converted from P-47D to test experimental 2300 hp Chrysler XIV-2220-1 sixteen-cylinder inverted Vee liquid-cooled engine with a large under-fuselage radiator. First flight was made on July 26, 1945."....

BIG'UN.....

 

Republic AP-10 XP-47J Thunderbolt (43-46952) USAAF




"Aircraft achieved 504 mph in level flight in August 4, 1944, an unofficial world speed record at the time for piston-engined aircraft. As of August 21, 1989, the record is held by Grumman Bearcat N77F "Rare Bear".....

 

Ralph,
If you are referring to this picture, that is my son, with the pilot, after the flight. My son has always known his dad was an old warbird freak, but this was his very first time up close to one-----------------not to mention a ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm working on restoring another A-26, and helped a little with this one. They were taking it up to check everything out after making repairs as a result of an engine fire a couple of months ago. Since I know some of the guys with the black A-26, I asked the pilot if my son could go along and he said "sure".



I think my most favorite part of these old round motor birds is the engine start up. Nothing like the whine of that big starter and then the cylinders beginning to hit!

 

The Allison V12's were very popular in unlimited modified tractor pulls. There were brave souls who would mount two on a rail frame. Then there was the guy in Denison Iowa who found an Allison W24. It was basically two V12's with a common crankcase, two cranks, and an internal timing chain. It was originally a stationary power plant at a mine. What a sound that made!

 

North American P-51 Mustang "Dago Red" set a new race speed record of
507.105 mph during Unlimited Class Heat 3-A of the 2003 National
Championship Air Races & Air Show.

During a race w/turns... not flat out and straight

 

Recently went for a ride along in a B-24 bomber - possibly the only flying one left.

It was AMAZING!!

 

Hawker Sea Fury- my favorite radial

 

Canada has a few of those old birds left.

http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/c...ustangIV.shtml

http://secure.warplane.com/pages/aboutus.html

A Lancaster is still flying.