Flying vid

Music's a bit hokey. LOVE the P51D, though!

http://www.onesixright.com/video/aerials.html

The sound of the F4U Corsair and the P51 Mustang with Merlin engine

http://www.aviationshoppe.com/Sounds1.html

AWEsome!!!!!!

Yepper, got to love that F4, I use to work on them in the navy, we were the last Navy squadron to fly'em.
I use to say "its proof that a tank can fly if you put a big enough engine on it"

OOP's,,, Sorry about that, I wrote this BEFORE I listened/played to/with the site.

I did work on the F4' Phantom's though, and they are flying tanks.

The "flying brick" definitely proves that given enough thrust, anything can fly. I crewed RF4C's, E, a few G, T33's F106,s etc. But nothing EVER made that ghostly sound of those IGV's when they made the overhead break. I even have an image of an RF4C (ZR 554) from Zweibrucken, my first duty station in '71. It is my wallpaper so I see it every day.

Got more than a few "Phantom bites" but what a sweet bird she was. Down here in Tucson, they select one to be set up as a drone. After it is all tested, they will fly a couple local hops to make sure it is okay to go to where they put the drone equipment in. Being right under the approach end of the base, I can still make out those IGV's cycling and run outside to see her flying. It is kind of sad but you know it will go down fighting and that is better than rotting in the sun.

Did you know that the "pig" was more aerodynamic flying backwards? I once read a study in Phantom Bites that the Aero engineers figured that one out.
The glide ratio was like a brick also something on the line of 8' - 12' down for every 1' forward!

How Low can you go?

Now, here is a Bloke that had a certain "air" about him.

Turn up the volume and enjoy!

http://www.directparts.com/articles/fxr/spitfire.wmv

Well, the F4U did last until 1965 before it was finally decommissioned. Boy, those 2400 horsepower radials HAD to suck some av gas, eh? The only two planes any prettier to my eye are the Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire. The F4U was a brute, though, with those gull wings and HUGE prop and radial beating the air into submission. The Stang and the Spit were sleek, superbly elegant speedsters. The final version of the Merlin V12 did crank out over 2K horsepower, mainly due to its two stage supercharger.

The Stang had a ceiling of something like 48K feet! It could approach the sound barrier in a steep dive and is the only prop plane that I know of to shoot down a jet in air to air combat.

I read somewhere that the Stang was a little fragile due to water cooling. Planes like the F4U could take a hit in the engine and still get home with that radial and no radiator. Late in the war, the mustang was used in ground attack on targets of opportunity after their bombers were safely on the way home. They got shot down a lot from ground fire. They were designed as dog fighters, not ground attack planes. An 8mm could do one in if it found the cooling lines or radiator.

I had that experience once, CD. I was working in south Texas one summer near Pearsall/Catulla area. Hotter'n heck down there in summer. I was wearing a ball cap, A&M cap. I worked on a crew for USDA/Texas Ag Extension Service that did research on cotton insect control. We'd go out every day, pick a spot for each person to count, get out, mark off 6 row feet, and start counting bugs. I was bent over counting, heard a plane, turned around and looked and it was a friggin' border patrol plane buzzing me to see if I was a wet back. I about caught the landing gear in the head! Guess he saw I was an Aggie and didn't know any better than to be out in a cotton field in 110 degree heat. He buzzed on.

I too have fond memories of working F-4's (D's, E's & G's). Didn't like the -15 (smokers of the D), but the -17's didn't have the cam links to grind out worn bushing and weld in new ones. Not a fun job at all.

Worked D's at Torrejon AB '80-'82, E's & G's at Spangdahlem AB, '87-'92. Not the airframes of todays fighter for sure. The bigger the hammer method worked. Too many Phatom bites to count.

Dino

Yes sir,,, my first tour of duty was in VF-154, one-filthy-whore as it was called by the crews. Spent 5 years (81-86) and we flew the F4N’s, the “flying brick” as CD would know did not have a hole brunch of lift, I think the speed was 140-knots be fore it would drop like a rock out of the sky,,, rather interesting to watch those birds drop out of the sky to catch a wire. As I said earlier, we were the last ‘full-time’ Navy squadron to fly’em, world cruise 83, they would hit the deck so hard that we had four hanger queens with struts through the wings by the end of the cruise.

I never heard the flying backwards thing before, and I would not doubt it one bit.

I just remember two huge engines, small wings (no lift), and AFU electronics. I was an AT. Anyway, it was an neat part of my life, it just seemed to me that fighter squadrons were tighter and had better attitudes than other squadrons I witnessed or was in, but, maybe I was just young and bullet proof back then. Spent the rest of my time in a Reconnaissance squadron, VQ-1, now that is a whole different ball of wax.