[quote]He was a legend - a rock star.[/quote]
He sure was. I met him when I a kid. A larger than life character. Here's picture of the P51 he owned - same one that claimed his life in 1977.
[list]
[li]
<blockquote>[img width=500 height=273]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/ ... I-Bill.jpg[/img]</blockquote>[/li]
[/list]
CADORS 2017O0906
-
John Swallow
- Posts: 319
- Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:58 pm
Andrew:
Never had a real tumble in the T-33. It was usually the result of a f*cked-up attempt at a high level loop (25,000' - 30,000') It was not a pretty manoeuvre what with fluid spilling out of every orifice in the aircraft. The aircraft was basically out of control. Recovery was easy: let go of the controls and wait until denser altitude.
The T-33 syllabus had an exercise whereby the idea was to show a student the effects of compressibility to be encountered during high level flight. So you'd go up and do a "Mach run" and show the effects (buffeting, aileron buzz, etc) and then attempt a loop or two to show the pronounced gyroscopic effect of the engine going over the top and the lack of control effectiveness, etc.
The closest I ever got to tumbling was to run out of airspeed going vertical in a high-level loop and then there's that l-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-n-n-g period as the aircraft attempts to return to earth - tail first. Sometimes it fell backwards in which case it would wallow into maybe an upright spin; other times is would fall forward down past vertical onto it's back and go half-assed inverted. That's what I mostly wound up with... The recovery was simple: hang on to the only thing that kept you from winding up into the canopy (the stick) and eventually the nose would come down and there you were. Never wound up in an inverted spin...
I'm not sure you could tumble a T-33 below 10,000 feet and I'm not sure you would want to do such a thing: I'm guessing but I would think that the stresses developed on the aircraft in the denser air would be considerable. Plus the fact that the aircraft is basically out of control. You folks in the smaller aircraft (Pitts and such) are lucky in that you can pretty well control the entry/exit of the airplane out of tumbles/lomcováks/etc; you have the power and the aerodynamic authority. In the T-33, you were the initiator but the Gods of Aerodynamics dictated the recovery. Leaving you with dust in your eyes, various publications on the floor boards, and student puke in the canopy...
I had a friend who would attempt to demonstrate a loop in excess of 30,000 feet. I noted that it was pretty difficult to do. He responded: "If I pull it off, he'll think I'm the greatest pilot since Billy Bishop; if I f*ck it up, I'll demonstrate tumble recover. Win-win!"
Never had a real tumble in the T-33. It was usually the result of a f*cked-up attempt at a high level loop (25,000' - 30,000') It was not a pretty manoeuvre what with fluid spilling out of every orifice in the aircraft. The aircraft was basically out of control. Recovery was easy: let go of the controls and wait until denser altitude.
The T-33 syllabus had an exercise whereby the idea was to show a student the effects of compressibility to be encountered during high level flight. So you'd go up and do a "Mach run" and show the effects (buffeting, aileron buzz, etc) and then attempt a loop or two to show the pronounced gyroscopic effect of the engine going over the top and the lack of control effectiveness, etc.
The closest I ever got to tumbling was to run out of airspeed going vertical in a high-level loop and then there's that l-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-n-n-g period as the aircraft attempts to return to earth - tail first. Sometimes it fell backwards in which case it would wallow into maybe an upright spin; other times is would fall forward down past vertical onto it's back and go half-assed inverted. That's what I mostly wound up with... The recovery was simple: hang on to the only thing that kept you from winding up into the canopy (the stick) and eventually the nose would come down and there you were. Never wound up in an inverted spin...
I'm not sure you could tumble a T-33 below 10,000 feet and I'm not sure you would want to do such a thing: I'm guessing but I would think that the stresses developed on the aircraft in the denser air would be considerable. Plus the fact that the aircraft is basically out of control. You folks in the smaller aircraft (Pitts and such) are lucky in that you can pretty well control the entry/exit of the airplane out of tumbles/lomcováks/etc; you have the power and the aerodynamic authority. In the T-33, you were the initiator but the Gods of Aerodynamics dictated the recovery. Leaving you with dust in your eyes, various publications on the floor boards, and student puke in the canopy...
I had a friend who would attempt to demonstrate a loop in excess of 30,000 feet. I noted that it was pretty difficult to do. He responded: "If I pull it off, he'll think I'm the greatest pilot since Billy Bishop; if I f*ck it up, I'll demonstrate tumble recover. Win-win!"
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 16 Replies
- 3109 Views
-
Last post by Colonel
-
- 5 Replies
- 1136 Views
-
Last post by Scudrunner
-
- 11 Replies
- 5445 Views
-
Last post by Scudrunner
