TALESPINNERS - July, 2002

Hangar Flying
with Stu Faber

NEW BOMBER. Popular Science, July 02, says that Lockheed is working on the FB-22, a stretch version of the F-22 Raptor.  More powerful engines for Mach 1.6 speeds, a larger wing of the delta type, 80% more fuel, and an internal bomb bay will give the ability to bomb from as high as 60,000 ft.  It is designed to carry 24 of the new Small Diameter Bombs, which are less powerful but much more accurate, plus self defense.

ENGINE POWER. Bob Louderback passed along to me a Public Library book, Allied Aircraft Piston Engines by Graham White.  It is a detailed look at WW II engines.  How they developed, where they were used, and who was involved.  As horsepower was pushed higher and higher there were many problems, particularly with supercharging.  He points out that in early WW I gasoline from US was 50 octane although the octane rating system had not yet been invented.  That from Asia was 70.  As WW II started much was still about 87 octane.  In 1922 using lead (tetra ethyl lead, TEL) some engine's power could be doubled on 98 octane.  By war's end some 115 (lean mixture) / 145 (rich) PN (performance number) was available.  Manifold pressures could be raised considerably as was HP.  Complex superchargers did the trick.  The 1650ci Rolls Merlin went from 790 HP in 1934 to 2200 HP by 1945 using 115/150 gas and water/alcohol injection.

A STEP BACK. Another book, The Great War in the Air, by John H. Morrow, Smithsonian Press, is a detailed look at WW I aviation.  In 1914 aviation was just beyond the Wright Flyers and early Curtiss planes.  Some people saw the possibilities of aviation in wars but most resisted it as new and untried and only a sport.  This included politicians, who were reluctant to fund it, and the infantry and cavalry military men.  Some reluctantly saw some use as reconnaissance scouts with a greater range than cavalry but nothing else.  In Russia aviation was a branch of cavalry.  Germany was so proud of its Zeppelins and their expected potential as bombers that they believed opponents would be so afraid they would surrender.  "Experts" on both sides predicted the war would last little over six weeks.  The French even canceled airplane and engine orders after a couple of weeks.  Few saw a need for fighters and most early planes could barely lift a pilot and fuel let alone bombs.  Most artillery could not be pointed up to shoot at planes.  Early observation planes were unarmed and observers did not know what to look for. Ground commanders didn't trust them and most were ignored.  Later radios came into use but at first reports had to wait until landings and messages had been forwarded.  It soon developed that the other sides didn't want planes looking behind the lines and began shooting at each other with pistols and rifles and some hand grenades.  Machine guns were installed but could not fire through the prop disk.  Armor plating the backs of prop blades was tried but didn't work too well.  Engine cams to synchronize firing were finally invented.  In spite of politics and short sightedness, as time passed engines got better, planes got stronger, and pilots got more than 15 or 20 hours of training.  And ground commanders began to see the usefulness, but in most cases aviation units were still just a sort of sideline of ground units and not a service in themselves.  The navies found them useful for submarine patrol but little else.  In the beginning France, which had been a leader in aviation development, was the major producer of a variety of planes and engines.  Germany was so proud of its Zeppelins it did not see a need for planes.  Britain had seen aviation as just a sport and was poorly prepared.  Although Russia was technologically backward Sikorsky built them what was probably the best bomber of the time.  It was a trimotor biplane with considerable range and payload and pretty good reliability.  The other Europeans added little and the Americans were way behind.  Curtiss did sell some flying boats to various of the Allies.  Zeppelins did bomb England and one was knocked out with a bomb from above, and there was talk of pouring acid on them.  Tracers bullets burned some. But they contributed little.

As is usual the short sightedness, resistance to change, politics, and personal turf fights cost many more lives and lost opportunities than was necessary.

TRAFFIC CONTROL. Charles Spence reports in June 21 General Aviation News that the reports coming in from countries which have privatized air traffic control are not finding it as great as was projected.  Will anybody learn or do we have to reinvent the wheel again ?

GLACIER GIRL. The P-38 being restored at Middlesboro KY has taxied twice and may be ready for a flight test soon.  It was visited by a 174 fly-out recently.  Maybe it will make a return visit?  Reported by GAN.

WAR BIRDS. As a former B-24 and B-29 crew chief I felt it necessary to visit he B-24/LB-30 and B-29 at Lunken the last weekend of June.  As I was paying my admission fee I thought of the times when I was provided with room and board and paid $32 per month to look at B-24s courtesy of the US Air Corps.  I have long complained that the plane the Confederate Air Force calls a B-24 is really a British LB-30 (Liberator).  I looked it up and the Air Corps did designate some of the first LB-30s as B-24 and B-24A mostly for test purposes.  The The LB-30 was a design ordered first by the French from Consolidated-Vultee before US entered the war.  When France fell the order was transferred to the British.  They did not find them useful for bombing but needed their longer range as sea patrols to protect convoys in mid-Atlantic and other coastal patrols.  Many were configured as longer range transports.  Often used to return bomber ferry crews to the US from Europe.  The B-24D was the first produced in quantity for the US.  They included a number of changes.  A number of defensive guns and turrets were added, the engines were turbocharged, which caused the oil coolers to be placed on both sides of the nacelles giving them the distinct oval shape, and self sealing fuel tanks and some armor installed.  They were rated to carry a heavier load faster and farther than B-17s but the difference was not great.  As the B-24 had two bomb bays, extra fuel tanks could be added in the forward bomb bay increasing the range.  Some were configured as transports, known as C-87s, and some used as tankers to fly fuel over the CBI Hump to fuel B-29s.  The one on display is one of two still flying of some 19,000 built in a number of variations, more than any other WW II plane.  At one time Ford turned out one every hour 24/7.  The one owned by the Confederate Air Force was the 25th built.  Following a nose wheel collapse in Canada on its way to Britain it was returned to the factory and repaired and converted to a transport.  It has been in continuous service ever since.  It is considerably different than the B-24s I remember.  Although in the summer of 1945 I spent 6 weeks in B-29 school and finished near the top of my class (a WAC got the best grade), and spent some 4 months as crew chief, it is amazing how little I remember about them.  I do remember changing a bunch of carburetors.  At March Field in 1945, 100 hour inspections were done by specialized crews as part of the Production Line Maintenance system used there.  In the field, inspections were usually done on the flight line by the regular crew plus anyone not otherwise busy.  At March there was wooden dock like platform into which the planes were parked giving access to all four engines without several portable work stands.  Each engine got a separate crew for the inspection with a fifth for the rest of the plane.  The WAC mentioned above was the 100 hour inspection crew chief.

Copyright © 2002 by Stu Faber.  All rights reserved.