Yes! I am always amazed at what has been built.
Here's another one. I saw it on a show about mechanical marvels. I wish there was a man stranding there to see the scale. And you can't see what's below! A sewer pump in London:
Heavy Metal
- Thread starter amazinblue82
- Start date
Here's another one. I saw it on a show about mechanical marvels. I wish there was a man stranding there to see the scale. And you can't see what's below! A sewer pump in London:
3175375
Senior Member
3175375
Senior Member
The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 is truly a marvel of aviation engineering, often considered the final masterpiece of the piston engine era. This impressive 28-cylinder radial engine produced up to 3,800 horsepower, showcasing remarkable power and performance for its time.
One of the standout features is its engine mounts, strategically designed to align with the center of gravity. This design consideration helped ensure stability and efficiency during operation, a testament to the meticulous engineering involved in its creation.
What’s even more fascinating is that these engines were developed using slide rules and other manual calculations, demonstrating the ingenuity and skill of engineers before the age of computers. The R-4360 remains an iconic symbol of innovation in aviation history, embodying the pinnacle of piston engine design.
#PrattAndWhitney #R4360 #AviationHistory #AircraftEngines #EngineeringMarvel #PistonEngine #AviationEngineering #ClassicAircraft #PowerfulEngineering #RadialEngine
One of the standout features is its engine mounts, strategically designed to align with the center of gravity. This design consideration helped ensure stability and efficiency during operation, a testament to the meticulous engineering involved in its creation.
What’s even more fascinating is that these engines were developed using slide rules and other manual calculations, demonstrating the ingenuity and skill of engineers before the age of computers. The R-4360 remains an iconic symbol of innovation in aviation history, embodying the pinnacle of piston engine design.
#PrattAndWhitney #R4360 #AviationHistory #AircraftEngines #EngineeringMarvel #PistonEngine #AviationEngineering #ClassicAircraft #PowerfulEngineering #RadialEngine
3175375
Senior Member
The coolest part of this being installed on the B-36 is that the engine could be worked on while in flight.
Carswell AFB (Fort Worth, TX) air show, 1966.
Lotta beautiful machines here. many of the greatest ever done. Many still in museums even now.
One source documenting the event: Photo Full of Unique Aircraft at the 1966 Carswell AFB Air Show
3175375
Senior Member
Here’s a spooky story about an L-1011:
Perhaps the spookiest aeronautical tale ever told...
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, operated by a four-month-old Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar (the tenth example delivered to the carrier) carrying 163 passengers and 13 crew members, left New York's JFK Airport on Friday, December 29, 1972 at 9:20 p.m., en route to Miami International Airport. The flight was under the command of Captain Robert 'Bob' Loft, 55, a veteran Eastern Air Lines pilot ranked 50th in seniority at Eastern. His flight crew included First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39, and second officer (flight engineer) Donald 'Don' Repo, 51. A company employee—technical officer, Angelo Donadeo, 47, returning to Miami from an assignment in New York—accompanied the flight crew for the journey.
The flight was routine until 11:32 p.m., when the flight began its approach into Miami International Airport. After lowering the gear, first officer Stockstill noticed that the landing gear indicator, a green light identifying that the nose gear is properly locked in the "down" position, did not illuminate. This was discovered to be due to a burned-out light bulb. The landing gear could have been manually lowered either way. The pilots cycled the landing gear but still failed to get the confirmation light.
Loft, who was working the radio during this leg of the flight, told the tower that they would abort their landing and asked for instructions to circle the airport. The tower cleared the flight to pull out of its descent, climb to two thousand feet, and then fly west over the darkness of the Everglades.
The cockpit crew removed the light assembly and second officer Repo was dispatched into the avionics bay beneath the flight deck to check visually if the gear was down through a small viewing window. Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed fFrst Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot. For the next eighty seconds, the plane maintained level flight. Then, it dropped one hundred feet (30 m), and then again flew level for two more minutes, after which it began a descent so gradual it could not be perceived by the crew. In the next seventy seconds, the plane lost only 250 feet (76 m), but this was enough to trigger the altitude warning C-chord chime located under the engineer's workstation. The engineer (second officer Repo) had gone below, and there was no indication by the pilot's voices recorded on the CVR that they heard the chime. In another fifty seconds, the plane was at half its assigned altitude.
As Stockstill started another turn, onto 180 degrees, he noticed the discrepancy. The following conversation was recovered from the flight voice recorder later:
Stockstill: We did something to the altitude.
Loft: What?
Stockstill: We're still at 2,000 feet, right?
Loft: Hey—what's happening here?
The jetliner crashed at 25°51′53″N 80°35′43″W25.86472°N 80.59528°W
The location was west-northwest of Miami, 18.7 miles (30.1 km) from the end of runway Nine Left (9L). The plane was travelling at 227 miles per hour when it flew into the ground. The left wingtip hit first, then the left engine and the left landing gear, making three trails through the sawgrass, each five feet wide and more than 100 feet (30 m) long. When the main part of the fuselage hit the ground, it continued to move through the grass and water, breaking up as it went.
In all, 77 had lived through the ordeal—69 of the 163 passengers and 8 of the 10 flight attendants survived the crash, with 99 initial fatalities. Of the cockpit crew, only Flight Engineer Repo survived the initial crash, along with technical officer Donadeo who was down in the nose electronics bay with Repo at the moment of impact. Stockstill was killed on impact, while Captain Loft died in the wreckage of the flight deck before he could be transported to a hospital Repo was evacuated to a hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. Angelo Donadeo, the lone survivor of the four flight deck occupants, eventually recovered from his injuries and died on October 4, 2004.
Over the following months and years, employees of Eastern Air Lines began reporting sightings of the dead crew members, Captain Robert Loft and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Repo, sitting on board other L-1011 (N318EA) flights. The aircraft involved in the sightings were discovered to have been serviced using the recovered parts of Flight 401. These parts were salvaged after the crash investigation and refitted into other L-1011s.
The reported hauntings were only seen on the planes that used the spare parts. (Even though some parts were salvaged and re-used to maintain other airplanes in Eastern's fleet, the accident resulted in the total hull loss of N310EA and it was written off.) Sightings of the spirits of Don Repo and Bob Loft spread throughout Eastern Air Lines to the point where Eastern's management warned employees that they could face immediate dismissal if caught spreading ghost stories. While Eastern Airlines publicly denied some of their planes were haunted, they quietly removed all the salvaged parts from their L-1011 fleet.
Once every single one of the original parts belonging to Flight 401 were removed from Eastern's fleet, the ghostly crew members were never seen again...
The Ghost of Flight 401
Perhaps the spookiest aeronautical tale ever told...
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, operated by a four-month-old Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar (the tenth example delivered to the carrier) carrying 163 passengers and 13 crew members, left New York's JFK Airport on Friday, December 29, 1972 at 9:20 p.m., en route to Miami International Airport. The flight was under the command of Captain Robert 'Bob' Loft, 55, a veteran Eastern Air Lines pilot ranked 50th in seniority at Eastern. His flight crew included First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39, and second officer (flight engineer) Donald 'Don' Repo, 51. A company employee—technical officer, Angelo Donadeo, 47, returning to Miami from an assignment in New York—accompanied the flight crew for the journey.
The flight was routine until 11:32 p.m., when the flight began its approach into Miami International Airport. After lowering the gear, first officer Stockstill noticed that the landing gear indicator, a green light identifying that the nose gear is properly locked in the "down" position, did not illuminate. This was discovered to be due to a burned-out light bulb. The landing gear could have been manually lowered either way. The pilots cycled the landing gear but still failed to get the confirmation light.
Loft, who was working the radio during this leg of the flight, told the tower that they would abort their landing and asked for instructions to circle the airport. The tower cleared the flight to pull out of its descent, climb to two thousand feet, and then fly west over the darkness of the Everglades.
The cockpit crew removed the light assembly and second officer Repo was dispatched into the avionics bay beneath the flight deck to check visually if the gear was down through a small viewing window. Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed fFrst Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot. For the next eighty seconds, the plane maintained level flight. Then, it dropped one hundred feet (30 m), and then again flew level for two more minutes, after which it began a descent so gradual it could not be perceived by the crew. In the next seventy seconds, the plane lost only 250 feet (76 m), but this was enough to trigger the altitude warning C-chord chime located under the engineer's workstation. The engineer (second officer Repo) had gone below, and there was no indication by the pilot's voices recorded on the CVR that they heard the chime. In another fifty seconds, the plane was at half its assigned altitude.
As Stockstill started another turn, onto 180 degrees, he noticed the discrepancy. The following conversation was recovered from the flight voice recorder later:
Stockstill: We did something to the altitude.
Loft: What?
Stockstill: We're still at 2,000 feet, right?
Loft: Hey—what's happening here?
The jetliner crashed at 25°51′53″N 80°35′43″W25.86472°N 80.59528°W
The location was west-northwest of Miami, 18.7 miles (30.1 km) from the end of runway Nine Left (9L). The plane was travelling at 227 miles per hour when it flew into the ground. The left wingtip hit first, then the left engine and the left landing gear, making three trails through the sawgrass, each five feet wide and more than 100 feet (30 m) long. When the main part of the fuselage hit the ground, it continued to move through the grass and water, breaking up as it went.
In all, 77 had lived through the ordeal—69 of the 163 passengers and 8 of the 10 flight attendants survived the crash, with 99 initial fatalities. Of the cockpit crew, only Flight Engineer Repo survived the initial crash, along with technical officer Donadeo who was down in the nose electronics bay with Repo at the moment of impact. Stockstill was killed on impact, while Captain Loft died in the wreckage of the flight deck before he could be transported to a hospital Repo was evacuated to a hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. Angelo Donadeo, the lone survivor of the four flight deck occupants, eventually recovered from his injuries and died on October 4, 2004.
Over the following months and years, employees of Eastern Air Lines began reporting sightings of the dead crew members, Captain Robert Loft and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Repo, sitting on board other L-1011 (N318EA) flights. The aircraft involved in the sightings were discovered to have been serviced using the recovered parts of Flight 401. These parts were salvaged after the crash investigation and refitted into other L-1011s.
The reported hauntings were only seen on the planes that used the spare parts. (Even though some parts were salvaged and re-used to maintain other airplanes in Eastern's fleet, the accident resulted in the total hull loss of N310EA and it was written off.) Sightings of the spirits of Don Repo and Bob Loft spread throughout Eastern Air Lines to the point where Eastern's management warned employees that they could face immediate dismissal if caught spreading ghost stories. While Eastern Airlines publicly denied some of their planes were haunted, they quietly removed all the salvaged parts from their L-1011 fleet.
Once every single one of the original parts belonging to Flight 401 were removed from Eastern's fleet, the ghostly crew members were never seen again...
70NEWYORKER
Well-Known Member
Here’s a spooky story about an L-1011:
The Ghost of Flight 401
Perhaps the spookiest aeronautical tale ever told...
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, operated by a four-month-old Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar (the tenth example delivered to the carrier) carrying 163 passengers and 13 crew members, left New York's JFK Airport on Friday, December 29, 1972 at 9:20 p.m., en route to Miami International Airport. The flight was under the command of Captain Robert 'Bob' Loft, 55, a veteran Eastern Air Lines pilot ranked 50th in seniority at Eastern. His flight crew included First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39, and second officer (flight engineer) Donald 'Don' Repo, 51. A company employee—technical officer, Angelo Donadeo, 47, returning to Miami from an assignment in New York—accompanied the flight crew for the journey.
The flight was routine until 11:32 p.m., when the flight began its approach into Miami International Airport. After lowering the gear, first officer Stockstill noticed that the landing gear indicator, a green light identifying that the nose gear is properly locked in the "down" position, did not illuminate. This was discovered to be due to a burned-out light bulb. The landing gear could have been manually lowered either way. The pilots cycled the landing gear but still failed to get the confirmation light.
Loft, who was working the radio during this leg of the flight, told the tower that they would abort their landing and asked for instructions to circle the airport. The tower cleared the flight to pull out of its descent, climb to two thousand feet, and then fly west over the darkness of the Everglades.
The cockpit crew removed the light assembly and second officer Repo was dispatched into the avionics bay beneath the flight deck to check visually if the gear was down through a small viewing window. Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed fFrst Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot. For the next eighty seconds, the plane maintained level flight. Then, it dropped one hundred feet (30 m), and then again flew level for two more minutes, after which it began a descent so gradual it could not be perceived by the crew. In the next seventy seconds, the plane lost only 250 feet (76 m), but this was enough to trigger the altitude warning C-chord chime located under the engineer's workstation. The engineer (second officer Repo) had gone below, and there was no indication by the pilot's voices recorded on the CVR that they heard the chime. In another fifty seconds, the plane was at half its assigned altitude.
As Stockstill started another turn, onto 180 degrees, he noticed the discrepancy. The following conversation was recovered from the flight voice recorder later:
Stockstill: We did something to the altitude.
Loft: What?
Stockstill: We're still at 2,000 feet, right?
Loft: Hey—what's happening here?
The jetliner crashed at 25°51′53″N 80°35′43″W25.86472°N 80.59528°W
The location was west-northwest of Miami, 18.7 miles (30.1 km) from the end of runway Nine Left (9L). The plane was travelling at 227 miles per hour when it flew into the ground. The left wingtip hit first, then the left engine and the left landing gear, making three trails through the sawgrass, each five feet wide and more than 100 feet (30 m) long. When the main part of the fuselage hit the ground, it continued to move through the grass and water, breaking up as it went.
In all, 77 had lived through the ordeal—69 of the 163 passengers and 8 of the 10 flight attendants survived the crash, with 99 initial fatalities. Of the cockpit crew, only Flight Engineer Repo survived the initial crash, along with technical officer Donadeo who was down in the nose electronics bay with Repo at the moment of impact. Stockstill was killed on impact, while Captain Loft died in the wreckage of the flight deck before he could be transported to a hospital Repo was evacuated to a hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. Angelo Donadeo, the lone survivor of the four flight deck occupants, eventually recovered from his injuries and died on October 4, 2004.
Over the following months and years, employees of Eastern Air Lines began reporting sightings of the dead crew members, Captain Robert Loft and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Repo, sitting on board other L-1011 (N318EA) flights. The aircraft involved in the sightings were discovered to have been serviced using the recovered parts of Flight 401. These parts were salvaged after the crash investigation and refitted into other L-1011s.
The reported hauntings were only seen on the planes that used the spare parts. (Even though some parts were salvaged and re-used to maintain other airplanes in Eastern's fleet, the accident resulted in the total hull loss of N310EA and it was written off.) Sightings of the spirits of Don Repo and Bob Loft spread throughout Eastern Air Lines to the point where Eastern's management warned employees that they could face immediate dismissal if caught spreading ghost stories. While Eastern Airlines publicly denied some of their planes were haunted, they quietly removed all the salvaged parts from their L-1011 fleet.
Once every single one of the original parts belonging to Flight 401 were removed from Eastern's fleet, the ghostly crew members were never seen again...View attachment 685856
3175375
Senior Member
This is before the merger with McDonnell in 1967.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Aircraft_Company
In the February of 1960, Douglas announced an agreement with French Sud-Aviation to commercialize the Caravelle in the North American market.
This would include the development of the Caravelle VIIA version which would feature General Electric CJ805 engines with thrust reversers to be installed in the SE- 210 registration N420GE baptized as “Caravelle Santa Maria” and which would become version VIIA.
The venture did not have the expected results without any units being sold, but in mid-1963 Douglas announced the DC-9, which was a more advanced aircraft and competing in the same market range as the French jet.
Photo: Douglas Aircraft Company.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Aircraft_Company
In the February of 1960, Douglas announced an agreement with French Sud-Aviation to commercialize the Caravelle in the North American market.
This would include the development of the Caravelle VIIA version which would feature General Electric CJ805 engines with thrust reversers to be installed in the SE- 210 registration N420GE baptized as “Caravelle Santa Maria” and which would become version VIIA.
The venture did not have the expected results without any units being sold, but in mid-1963 Douglas announced the DC-9, which was a more advanced aircraft and competing in the same market range as the French jet.
Photo: Douglas Aircraft Company.
Dont recall much about this Caravelle ... its was late 50's/early 60's in its heyday. I was a pre-schooler.
I do remember the DC-9 much better. My Dad and I built a model somewhere in mid 1960's when I was in elementary school.
anyway, I had to read a bit about it. They only made about 30, a few are left but none airworthy, and the DC-9 turned out to be a more popular/higher performing design.
Caravelle looked rather ungainly to me vs. DC-9, the latter more slieek, well-proportioned about the rear end. Caravelle aft engine placement looked like an "afterthought" to me vs. a design choice from the start in the case uf the DC-9.
Didnt know Caravelle had those cool, triangular fuselage windows - at least window corners were rounded. deHavilland Comets taught industry a tragic lesson in that regard. Nobody repeated that Caravelle design though.
source: Beautiful Aircraft: French Sud Aviation Caravelle
I do remember the DC-9 much better. My Dad and I built a model somewhere in mid 1960's when I was in elementary school.
anyway, I had to read a bit about it. They only made about 30, a few are left but none airworthy, and the DC-9 turned out to be a more popular/higher performing design.
Caravelle looked rather ungainly to me vs. DC-9, the latter more slieek, well-proportioned about the rear end. Caravelle aft engine placement looked like an "afterthought" to me vs. a design choice from the start in the case uf the DC-9.
Didnt know Caravelle had those cool, triangular fuselage windows - at least window corners were rounded. deHavilland Comets taught industry a tragic lesson in that regard. Nobody repeated that Caravelle design though.
source: Beautiful Aircraft: French Sud Aviation Caravelle
Last edited:
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
1921 USS Langley airplane carrier
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Atom smasher at U of Chicago, 1948
) 12/2/1948-Chicago, IL: Monster atom smasher of the University of Chicago, already the focus of the nuclear physics world, takes a stride toward completion as pole discs are installed. The all-steel discs, shown in place above, weighs 82 tons each. The device, called a synchocyclotron, costs $1,700,000 and is expected to be ready in little over a year. More than four miles of copper wire will be placed between discs to make the giant magnet.
) 12/2/1948-Chicago, IL: Monster atom smasher of the University of Chicago, already the focus of the nuclear physics world, takes a stride toward completion as pole discs are installed. The all-steel discs, shown in place above, weighs 82 tons each. The device, called a synchocyclotron, costs $1,700,000 and is expected to be ready in little over a year. More than four miles of copper wire will be placed between discs to make the giant magnet.
any p51 mustang fans ... lotta "pilot talk" as he narrates for a observer/passenger some of what he does in Oshkosh air show.; includes prep checklist, take off, air maneuvers, and landing.
longish at 25 mins.
love this plane. 80 years old and still has the juice.
longish at 25 mins.
love this plane. 80 years old and still has the juice.
3175375
Senior Member
Amazing historic photo Ford Motor Company at its River Rouge Plant Dearborn, Michigan taken in 1965
Rarely do we come across a photo that has this much goodness going on it at once, but here we are. For starters, the picture was taken in front of the historic Ford River Rouge Complex, which was the largest integrated factory in the world when it was completed in 1928. More than 100,000 workers were employed there, even during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Over the years, The Rouge churned out all sorts of automobile models, tractors, boats, aircraft components, tires, and various other products. The Model A was produced there, as well as the Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Capri, and four decades of Ford Mustang models. Today, The Rouge site is home to The Blue Oval’s Rouge Center, which includes the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant, where the Ford F-150 is built.
This picture is full of Ford models, including a Galaxie and Falcon, a handful of Lincolns, and a whole slew of Mustangs. But everything else in the photo is a Blue Oval product as well – including the car haulers, which we bet a lot of folks would love to get their hands on today. Even the train has “Ford” printed on the side, because of course it does.
And of course, there are some snazzy looking businessmen standing by the trucks, doing what we can only imagine is, well, business. At least that’s what it looks like. Regardless, it’s nice to take a trip back to this very different, very cool era, if only for a few precious minutes…
Rarely do we come across a photo that has this much goodness going on it at once, but here we are. For starters, the picture was taken in front of the historic Ford River Rouge Complex, which was the largest integrated factory in the world when it was completed in 1928. More than 100,000 workers were employed there, even during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Over the years, The Rouge churned out all sorts of automobile models, tractors, boats, aircraft components, tires, and various other products. The Model A was produced there, as well as the Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Capri, and four decades of Ford Mustang models. Today, The Rouge site is home to The Blue Oval’s Rouge Center, which includes the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant, where the Ford F-150 is built.
This picture is full of Ford models, including a Galaxie and Falcon, a handful of Lincolns, and a whole slew of Mustangs. But everything else in the photo is a Blue Oval product as well – including the car haulers, which we bet a lot of folks would love to get their hands on today. Even the train has “Ford” printed on the side, because of course it does.
And of course, there are some snazzy looking businessmen standing by the trucks, doing what we can only imagine is, well, business. At least that’s what it looks like. Regardless, it’s nice to take a trip back to this very different, very cool era, if only for a few precious minutes…
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
my grandfather worked at the Rouge Plant for almost 40 years (1938-1972).
I did a tour there with him as a lad circa 1968. a frightening, wonderful place -- even when i didnt understand really what i was seeing. a true modern miracle. my memories of it still vivid nearly 6 decades later.
i knew i had to be in this industry. 20 years later, and a buncha college later I was.
We (people) rag on these folks in this industry, the "suits" in particular. Hell, when i was a suit in it, I ragged on us (me included for some boneheaded things I did) too for some idiot things we collectively did.
however, i still get "goosebumps' thinking about what all those men/women, of all ranks in the company - people i came to know/respect - did/do to build these companies/operations/machines that changed the world.
happy to have had a chance to participate for a while .
3175375
Senior Member
Great experience for you!my grandfather worked at the Rouge Plant for almost 40 years (1938-1972).
I did a tour there with him as a lad circa 1968. a frightening, wonderful place -- even when i didnt understand really what i was seeing. a true modern miracle. my memories of it still vivid nearly 6 decades later.
i knew i had to be in this industry. 20 years later, and a buncha college later I was.
We (people) rag on these folks in this industry, the "suits" in particular. Hell, when i was a suit in it, I ragged on us (me included for some boneheaded things I did) too for some idiot things we collectively did.
however, i still get "goosebumps' thinking about what all those men/women, of all ranks in the company - people i came to know/respect - did/do to build these companies/operations/machines that changed the world.
happy to have had a chance to participate for a while .
I had similar experiences that humbled me early in my career. The dedication and incessant drive for success was incredible.
I remember seeing my mentors in at work on the weekends when I had come in briefly to pick something up.
Later, I too contracted that bug and once worked over an entire 4th of July weekend on a proposal.
The thing that intrigued me about the River Rouge plant was that raw materials came in on one side and vehicles on the other….
yup. as my grandfather said, too many times its seems, about the Rouge Plant: "a pile of iron ore on one end (of the plant), and car pops out the other end."
Not quite true, but pretty close.
Not quite true, but pretty close.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
