Aircraft story.... (Page 3/7)
maryjane AUG 05, 08:56 AM






photos taken this year, planes sitting at tiny airport of Lampasas Tx

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-05-2024).]

Valkrie9 AUG 05, 04:03 PM
Ryan L-17..
Patrick AUG 05, 04:51 PM

quote
Originally posted by Valkrie9:

FIRST FLIGHT IN 8 YEARS! - Hawaii Mars Startup, Taxi & Test Flight on Sproat Lake

"Enjoy the sound of 10,000 horsepower as this nearly 80-year-old aircraft takes to the skies once again!"



...

The float plane looks like a toy in comparison!
cvxjet AUG 05, 10:05 PM
My father worked on the Martin Mars at NAS Alameda....l almost got to see one of the Mars at Lake McClure back in the 2000s- went boating on the lake and my buddy mentioned "They had the Martin Mars here on the lake two days ago" to which l replied "Arrrggggggggggg!!!!!"

In June I rented and RV and took my neighbor's son up to Oregon to see the Spruce Goose- largest aircraft ever made- 320' wingspan and EIGHT Corncob 4360 radial engines... have wanted to see it for years but it was on display down in Long Beach- and I hate SoCal (Too many people)

They moved it up to McMinnville, OR (Just SW of Portland) and built a whole museum around it (Also have the SR-71- and it's engine- on display) along with a whole 'nother hanger with space stuff...

We also stopped at Lassen Volcanic NP, Newberry Caldera NM, Crater Lake NP and Lava Beds NM (Yes- l am a fan of volcanoes- as long as they do NOT go off when I am around them)

[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 08-05-2024).]

Patrick AUG 05, 11:22 PM

quote
Originally posted by cvxjet:

...the Spruce Goose- largest aircraft ever made- 320' wingspan and EIGHT Corncob 4360 radial engines...



That plane must've sounded incredible... but it only flew once... so it gets put into the one hit wonder bin.

Valkrie9 AUG 06, 11:58 PM

Made of Canadian wood, good wood. Birch plywood-Balsa-Birch plywood composite construction.
No doubt, DeHavilland's designs were consulted as successful aircraft of '37 and later the DH98 Mosquito.
DH91 Albatross 1936
de Havilland DH91 Albatross
de Havilland Gipsy Twelve (King I) The Gipsy Twelve was an air-cooled, supercharged, inverted, V-12 engine
That's some innovative engineering in the 1930's.



Composites you say ?
NewDustin AUG 07, 01:59 PM
From a very selfish perspective, the loss (and opportunity loss) of exceptionally cool aircraft during the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been hard to watch. However anyone feels about Russia and the USSR, they made some REALLY cool planes. It's like something the US' crazy uncle would make in his shed.

Case in point, the big Ekranoplans have been abandoned again. I was extremely excited the Lun-class was getting preserved when they towed it to a 'military park' site, but the site was never finished and it's just rotting somewhere new now. Same thing with the Spasatel, which was supposed to be getting refurbished for some cool arctic stuff but instead is still sitting rotting away. At least it's partially covered, and hopefully inside sometimes on that rail.

I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the KM Ekranoplan that these are based off of, but it's one of my very favorite aircraft. It was the heaviest and longest aircraft ever until the An-225 (sad times), and...I mean LOOK at it:


The proportions of the thing are SO cool:
Patrick AUG 13, 07:07 PM

The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber flew its final flight this past Sunday. Glad to see it got the royal sendoff it very much deserved.
NewDustin AUG 14, 06:15 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:
The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber flew its final flight this past Sunday. Glad to see it got the royal sendoff it very much deserved.


What a COOL plane.
Patrick AUG 18, 12:03 AM

quote
Originally posted by Valkrie9:

The Spruce Goose...



A new video about this massive plane. Please excuse the accent.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 08-18-2024).]