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Craig
Big canopy? The preproduction birds I flew at Edwards had the original BIG TALL canopy. Like sitting in a glass circus tent. Was a foot or more over your head. Flying with it gave you a headache as the big wide prop blades each threw a big chunk of air back on canopy and gave what was called a two 'P' vibration. Was like flying inside a bass drum. Edwards took a three bladed prop off a C-131 and cut down to the correct diameter to fit the 900 HP engine in 'A'. This stopped the pounding in the cockpit but Aero Products had made and delivered their whole contract (500+/- props) which were stored in a warehouse and AF didn't want to throw away (that money). Alternate solution was to cut the canopy down (about 6-8 inches as I recall). They should have dumped the Aero Products and put three bladed props on. Smooth engine, less pounding in cockpit, no crankshaft breaking at prop hub, etc. I have between 300-400 hours in 'A' bird. Could have opted for the 'B' in Panama (605th Air Commando Sq) but figured the A/B-26K would be more fun. Glide bombing, strafing, rockets, etc. Same configuaration (K version) they flew on 'trail' in VN. When Navy bought bird ('B') most of the basic 'bugs had been cleaned up by AF ( I live just off Memorial Drive between Toll Road (Sam Houston Parkway ex Westbelt) and Wilcrest. We were pretty well out west when we bought (1972) but now they are tearing the houses down to get the land and building million dollar homes around us (makes my 3000 sq ft with pool look like the poor boy on the block ( I-10 is being expanded to 10-12 lanes (just started) over the next 5 years. Will be just as crowded when finished as it is now ) The T-28 was one of the first A/C designed to minimum structural criteria to meet specs. Prior A/C through the years had been over designed as engineers didn't want anything to break. With the design change (to reduce weight and give better performance) the birds were designed light and flown. As things broke during test (Edwards), only those items were beefed up before birds went to units. This ended up giving you a best weight to performance bird. All (at least military aircraft) are designed this way now. Of course with computers they are now better able to design close to optimum weight/strength first time. Hope some of these rambles about history help those building and flying homebuilts understand how things went along through the years since the Wrights. My grand son is going to make his first 'dual' parachute jump this afternoon. Waiting to hear how it went. Big John ----clip---- This one started life as a B model. Had the big engine and the three blade prop, tall canopy. Had a documented history with the Blue Angles, but the owner *just had to have* it painted up in Lexington colors and markings... The bird strike was right between ribs 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 on the right wing. Never could figure out how it got through the prop without touching it....Only thing we couldn't fix at the time was the phenolic tube that ran out the wing in front of the spar. Last time I saw the airplane, and that's been a few years, you could still get a whiff of stench in the cockpit after it had been closed up for a few days. BTW..what part of Astro city are you in? I lived out where Beltway 8 is now. West Belt road was the western city limit when we moved there in '65. Craig C. |
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