Neil, Terry:
I had a similar experience with Terry's "other" recip airliner: the Super
Connie. Left Frankfort, Germany March, '55-- my first flight (not quite 10
years
old). Stopped at Shannon, Ireland for fuel, then on to Gander, Newfoundland.
Not quite as dramatic as Neil's-- but by the time we landed in Gander, one of
those big turbine-compounded radials was dead. We had to wait in the terminal
(damn near froze!) while they swapped-out. When we re-boarded, seems like they
spent 10 minutes on the end of the runway with the brakes locked and the engines
at takeoff power (??)-- testing them, I guess. The noise and vibration were
incredible-- unbelievable, to a 10-year old!
Boris Said (sports car racer) recently said of his skull fracture that it was a
lot like a tequila hangover-- well, when I got my first tequila hangover some
years later, I instantly recalled that Super Constellation doing its 4-radial
"dyno test"! Haven't quit loving big engines, though (haven't quit drinking
tequila, either).
Russ Mack
p.s.-- was the wing loading a lot less on airliners back then? That was also
the
bounciest flight I have ever had on a big plane.
"Albaugh, Neil" wrote:
> Terry;
>
> I'll take your word on the reliability of the engines on a DC-6 but my one
> experience flying in one (as a passenger back in '57) was otherwise. We took
> off from Rhein- Main Airbase (W. Germany) and were flying back to NJ. Six
> hours out of Prestwick, Scotland we lost an engine and headed back to
> Prestwick. Seeing the wing tanks dumping fuel to lighten the load was not an
> inspiring sight! After a layover, we had another DC-6 flown in from Rhein-
> Main and continued over to Goose Bay, Labrador and then to NJ without
> incident. Whew! That was a few days after I graduated from high school. I'll
> never forget the sound of a big reciprocating engine cranking up and then
> firing in the still, cool darkness as the sound carried over the tarmac.
> Those inertia starters still give me a real chill when I hear them cranking
> over a big engine.
>
> Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rose & Terry Hunt [mailto:hunt@Kuentos.guam.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 5:39 PM
> To: Land-speed@autox.team.n
> Subject: Recips.
>
> Dick J. and list, I have time in DC-6 and 1049h Constellation aircraft. The
> 6
> was nicer to fly and the engine very reliable. The Connie had way more
> horsepower partly due to the power recovery turbine. An exhaust turbine thru
> a
> hydraulic coupler put about 500 HP directly on the crank . A shaft was in
> there also. The problem was they blew up often. That's why they had those
> large exhaust pipes. So all the parts could evacuate easily.Terry Hunt, Guam
> Bomb, #743
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