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Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys

I worked "aircraft" in one form or another for 16 years. Foolishly I only attended 3 or 4 flightline airshow. I did have frontrow seats for aircraft carrier flight operations for 8 or 9 months but the oldest bird I saw there was the EA6 or the COD. At a MCAS Yuma event, a CAF B17 did a low pass transmitting to another show.
I did a system installation at a sister company in Kent Great Britian 13 or so years ago. My lodging for 8 weeks was at a Holiday inn Express at the end of the longest WWII Great Brittian air field RAF Marston (?). The field had a really nice Spitfire museum. Too many airplanes and too few ales if I remember right.
 
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RAF Manston. I was born about 5 miles from the airfield.
Thank you, Yes Manston. There is a reverence there, understandably so, for WW11 events. The hotel I stayed at was built around a WW11 control tower at the end of one of the runways. Manston opened and then closed as an International Arrival/Departure airport in that time frame. I departed and the airport closed down a week or a month later. 2011-2013?
 
A long watch, but worth it if you have an interest in bungling decision-making of the 1950s.
Some projects deservedly got the chop, but a few worthwhile ones got axed, too.
Yeah …, we had our share of projects canceled in Canada too….
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So, you got to see the Battle of Britain first hand? Were those Kraut buzz bombs really that loud?
'Bout 10-12 yrs before my time... :whistle:
My Mom lived in London during the war.. she survived the Blitz, her house didn't. If it weren't for the Underground, I prolly wouldn't be here. :cautious:
 
I know
'Bout 10-12 yrs before my time... :whistle:
My Mom lived in London during the war.. she survived the Blitz, her house didn't. If it weren't for the Underground, I prolly wouldn't be here. :cautious:
. I was just messin' with ya. I had the pleasure of dining with a lady who was a child during the blitz. The horrors that she saw, I cannot imagine living through that. And kids today think their world has ended when the battery on their phone dies. BTW, I have a fascination with WWII Britain. Any stories from your Mom that you could share?
 
I have question for A&P fellas... oil, see below)

One of my aunts was in London with the US State Department durch der krieg . She was a free-spirited and enthusiastic lady of a sporting disposition. They used to call girls like her "flappers". As an older woman she'd blush pink at the memories of the Polish officers... And she found the bombardment "stimulating"... She had a story about a V-1 that hit not far away.

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A question for y'all airborn jet fellas. It's my understanding that the early aircraft turbine-reaction engines lubricated at total loss. Modern engines seem to have closed lube systems, ie the oil recirculates rather than spews. Ok, assuming this, when did the flying jet engines make this change?

(I do have certs for GE stationary turbine...all expired, just never touched the flying sort)

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I do in fullness of time intend to mate a 40mm pumper and reed plate to a pulse tube in a test stand...but mostly just to see it run, and, oh yes, hear it run! Speaking of oil and smoke, they say the the reeds last way longer if you fuel with 16:1 as one would in a early 2 stroke.
 
I have question for A&P fellas... oil, see below)

A question for y'all airborn jet fellas. It's my understanding that the early aircraft turbine-reaction engines lubricated at total loss. Modern engines seem to have closed lube systems, ie the oil recirculates rather than spews. Ok, assuming this, when did the flying jet engines make this change?


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I do in fullness of time intend to mate a 40mm pumper and reed plate to a pulse tube in a test stand...but mostly just to see it run, and, oh yes, hear it run! Speaking of oil and smoke, they say the the reeds last way longer if you fuel with 16:1 as one would in a early 2 stroke.
Some early piston engines had total loss oil systems. The Le Rhone had the propellor bolted to the crankcase and actually spun the entire engine. The oil was injected into the center to lubricate the crankshaft and rod bearings. The valve components in the cylinder head were lubricated by the oil slinging outward... along with the rest of the plane AND the pilot. It was not uncommon for the pilots to have gastronomic issues because they often used castor oil.
Since turbine engines were developed towards the end of WW2, the engineering was much more sophisticated and I've never heard of a turbine with a total loss oil system.
 
Modern engines seem to have closed lube systems, ie the oil recirculates rather than spews. Ok, assuming this, when did the flying jet engines make this change?
All dry sump. Anyone who knows different is far older than me. Jets in my lifetime are all dry sump. I’ve wrenched on jets as far back as DC-8. Dry sump means oil tank with return.
 
Thanks fellas. I agree with the terminology... btw early Harleys were total loss...with dump lever...never rode one.
The clue I got about the early jets came from a film on the YB49...evidently, if I recall precisely, the jets were installed to replace the piston engines, they flew east to west and ran out of oil...the voice over said early jet ran total loss, iirc. The forced crash, it was said, implied, was inspired by economic and corrupt ambitions... if so, not new, eh? ;)

I have addressed a GE steamer that ran total loss for several hours! Coked front seal and smoked for hours under the lagging, until the turbine house atmosphere became explosive... very fancy! Said house all bolt together steel prefab...and after bang-fire well, alignment bars were not enough! Very disagreeable...and 100% fault of operations. Pencilwhip Department ! Most of the crew, and I myself, pulled a wildcat walk off, mostly out of spite at the low quality operations...bunchfatphaggotz somebody said.

I can well imagine a total loss first or second generation jet engine. Thinking 1946 and a bit. Nice bearing don't need much oil, said a fella I worked for who both ran at Bonnie in the 40's and also was an engineer on the Saturn turbopumps... and it's the way I'd do it... I'll do some reading, just curious. Best! 40N
 
Jet engines were designed in the late 30's - early 40's. We were well beyond the total loss oil systems by that point.
The spool bearings are only a small part of a jet. The accessory drive gearbox alone has upwards of a few dozen gears, bushings and bearings. We'd been designing engines with internal oil systems for several decades at that point. Why would they revert back to a stone age total loss system? They didn't.
The first YB49 had to shut down 4 of it's 8 engines due to oil starvation on a long cross country. It was not however, a total loss system. They ran dry due to neglect on the part of the ground crew who neglected to refill the oil tanks. It didn't crash, the lack of oil was discovered on it's post flight inspection.... it being safely tucked away on the ramp.
"Corrupt ambitions?" No, negligence due to lack of published procedures was the cause.

Modern jet engines aren't oil tight like the recips we're used to. On the JT-8D's and CFM-56's I worked on, it wasn't unusual to add a gallon of oil to an engine after a 3-4 hr flight..... and be within published allowable loss limits.
 
On the JT-8D's and CFM-56's I worked on, it wasn't unusual to add a gallon of oil to an engine after a 3-4 hr flight..... and be within published allowable loss limits.
Absolutely! 1 to 1.5 gallons was typical. They’re getting far better than that now. I once took a 757 with RB211 engines on on a month long South America tour. I poured one quart of oil the entire trip. Half went in each engine. That was back in 2010. That’s a huge improvement over the RB211-22B that the L1011 had. I’d greet that airplane with a case of oil.
 
Even the early JT-8D's could be built oil tight. I once took a B727 (3 engines) on a 2 week "road trip." I threw 4 cases of MobileJet 254 in the fwd hold. 2 weeks wound up being 3. I ended with 3 cases and a few qts still in there. An outlier... but they could hold their oil when properly looked after.
 
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