Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys

Now THIS is really something and check out the cross-wind landing this guy pulled off.


I have seen a B36 up close at Offutt AFB in Nebraska and it is gigantic. They had the rudder off the aircraft for some reason and it looked to be about 6' thick at the root - and that was just the rudder.

Very impressive all around.
 
Now THIS is really something and check out the cross-wind landing this guy pulled off.


I have seen a B36 up close at Offutt AFB in Nebraska and it is gigantic. They had the rudder off the aircraft for some reason and it looked to be about 6' thick at the root - and that was just the rudder.

Very impressive all around.
The fact that it's an EV makes it much less exciting. meh Great landing for sure!
 
Hmm... this seems to have suffered the same fate as the V-bombers, being forced into a role it was never designed for.
It just looks deadly.
 
There's a lot of complexity to that engine. The fact that it was reliable says a lot for the quality of manufacturing.
When I started my mechanical apprenticeship, the old bloke I was working with was employed by RR pre-war as a fairly junior bod himself. Come the start of the war, he was seconded to the RAF and found himself in charge of Merlin rebuilds on BoB airfields. If he rebuilt a Merlin, the warranty applied; if the RAF bods rebuilt one, there was no factory guarantee. A 20mm cannon shell through the block disabled all warranties, apparently.
The stories he used to tell...

If you look at that video, you'll see the early Merlins had a one-piece casting for block and head, per bank. The rather uncertain nature of casting and war production meant that some castings were flawed and as a result glycol coolant got into the exhaust stream, causing a thick stream of smoke over the cockpit. This wasn't a problem in flight, but obviously necessitated a quick return to base or the nearest friendly airfield.
The problems started when trying to land a Spit with this thick stream of vapour blocking out the pilot's view.
The RAF lost several pilots due to that, and as a result RR started making the blocks and cylinder heads seperately.

When the first Packard Merlins arrived at RR, all the chief technical bods started stripping one down, not expecting the quality to be up to their standards.
Hah... there was much egg on face when they realised all the tolerances were BETTER than they could achieve at their own factory. Up to that point all the UK made Merlins were hand-finished, and every sealing surface was individually mated to its neighbouring part. Packard's machining meant that wasn't necessary and parts were truly swappable for the first time.
 
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When I started my mechanical apprenticeship, the old bloke I was working with was employed by RR pre-war as a fairly junior bod himself. Come the start of the war, he was seconded to the RAF and found himself in charge of Merlin rebuilds on BoB airfields. If he rebuilt a Merlin, the warranty applied; if the RAF bods rebuilt one, there was no factory guarantee. A 20mm cannon shell through the block disabled all warranties, apparently.
The stories he used to tell...

If you look at that video, you'll see the early Merlins had a one-piece casting for block and head, per bank. The rather uncertain nature of casting and war production meant that some castings were flawed and as a result glycol coolant got into the exhaust stream, causing a thick stream of smoke over the cockpit. This wasn't a problem in flight, but obviously necessitated a quick return to base or the nearest friendly airfield.
The problems started when trying to land a Spit with this thick stream of vapour blocking out the pilot's view.
The RAF lost several pilots due to that, and as a result RR started making the blocks and cylinder heads seperately.

When the first Packard Merlins arrived at RR, all the chief technical bods started stripping one down, not expecting the quality to be up to their standards.
Hah... there was much egg on face when they realised all the tolerances were BETTER than they could achieve at their own factory. Up to that point all the UK made Merlins were hand-finished, and every sealing surface was individually mated to its neighbouring part. Packard's machining meant that wasn't necessary and parts were truly swappaple for the first time.

Too true @Grimly. Apparently, it took Packard quite a bit of work to sort out Merlin production and work out the fits, allowances and tolerances for real serial production (as you say, RR had simply thrown skilled people at the problem and hand-fitted everything). However, once they got it - they really nailed it and had them coming off their line like so many cookies (errr...ummmm....I guess that would be biscuits to you ;) ).

Pete
 
When I started my mechanical apprenticeship, the old bloke I was working with was employed by RR pre-war as a fairly junior bod himself. Come the start of the war, he was seconded to the RAF and found himself in charge of Merlin rebuilds on BoB airfields. If he rebuilt a Merlin, the warranty applied; if the RAF bods rebuilt one, there was no factory guarantee. A 20mm cannon shell through the block disabled all warranties, apparently.
The stories he used to tell...

If you look at that video, you'll see the early Merlins had a one-piece casting for block and head, per bank. The rather uncertain nature of casting and war production meant that some castings were flawed and as a result glycol coolant got into the exhaust stream, causing a thick stream of smoke over the cockpit. This wasn't a problem in flight, but obviously necessitated a quick return to base or the nearest friendly airfield.
The problems started when trying to land a Spit with this thick stream of vapour blocking out the pilot's view.
The RAF lost several pilots due to that, and as a result RR started making the blocks and cylinder heads seperately.

When the first Packard Merlins arrived at RR, all the chief technical bods started stripping one down, not expecting the quality to be up to their standards.
Hah... there was much egg on face when they realised all the tolerances were BETTER than they could achieve at their own factory. Up to that point all the UK made Merlins were hand-finished, and every sealing surface was individually mated to its neighbouring part. Packard's machining meant that wasn't necessary and parts were truly swappaple for the first time.
Wow! Did not know that about the Packard-Merlins. Great post!
 
Just had the brisbane riverfire festival on here, fireworks and low flying jets and choppers. Really awesome stuff.
 

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