I'm bored, Oppo. Let's talk about airplanes.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/19/2020 at 15:02 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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I like how the box is marked “TOP / HEAVY END”

This is a Lockheed Orion 9B, by the way. It looks a bit like this when fully assembled. The one in the crate is CH-168.

Here’s Jimmy Doolittle standing in front of a Lockheed Orion 9.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:06

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That’s a pretty plane.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 03/19/2020 at 15:14

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It is. Pretty much the epitome of the Golden Age. Wiley Post, with passenger Will Rogers, was flying a bastardized Orion with wings he had salvaged from a Lockheed Explorer when they crashed and died. Lockheed refused to do the conversion for him. They had stopped to ask directions, and crashed on takeoff.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:16

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Not enough zip ties, I guess.

PowderHound > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:22

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Any photos of the inside? Does the pilot sit sort of  above the passengers with their legs visible? Do passengers go in there?

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 03/19/2020 at 15:23

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Maybe he should have listened to Lockheed.

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:25

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I love this entire layout, sitting behind a huge radial. I guess it’s not extremely different than flying in DH Otter (pre-engine conversion):

ttyymmnn > PowderHound 03/19/2020 at 15:26

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Six passengers, so they sat behind and below the pilot. I couldn’t find a decent cutaway, but I’m guessing that the pilot sat on top of the fuel tank, which was ahead of the passengers. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:29

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Safety 3rd?

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:29

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I might end up with a cratable (is that a word) plane since I can’t find hangar space in the area. Maybe I should say trailerable instead?

Kiltedpadre > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:30

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Very good looking plane. Until I saw the windows I thought it might have been a P-47 prototype.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:31

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I’ve heard the urban legend about military jeeps for sale in a crate, but brand new surplus swiss Lockheeds would be a new one on me.

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 03/19/2020 at 15:32

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The Northrop Alpha was always my favorite for this configuration, with the pax directly behind the Wasp.

PowderHound > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:32

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That’s pretty much what I was picturing minus the fuel tank being right there in your face

ttyymmnn > Kiltedpadre 03/19/2020 at 15:33

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Everything grew out of something earlier.

ttyymmnn > PowderHound 03/19/2020 at 15:34

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Best if you don’t know.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:34

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If you ever find yourself in Tulsa/Claremore, the Will Rogers Museum there is actually fascinating...

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/19/2020 at 15:35

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I bet it is. Post and Rogers were an interesting pair. Post, of course, would do all the flying, while Rogers sat and worked at his typewriter. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:36

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https://spokane.craigslist.org/avo/d/deer-park-1979-cessna-185f/7093769125.html

https://spokane.craigslist.org/avo/d/spokane-1974-mooney-m20f-airplane/7084670721.html

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:37

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“ Today’s in-flight entertainment is a 9-piece group known as Pratt & Whitney . They’re just getting big, but one day they’ll be a household name! ”

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:38

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How about one of the coolest front profiles ever?

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 03/19/2020 at 15:39

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https://oppositelock.kinja.com/the-apache-and-the-wasp-wingspan-1822961362

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 03/19/2020 at 15:40

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Don’t let BicycleBuck see that.

ttyymmnn > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 15:42

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https://oppositelock.kinja.com/big-cat-1837987990

XJDano > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:45

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Those had to be loud as hell.

ttyymmnn > XJDano 03/19/2020 at 15:47

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I would imagine so.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 15:49

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:)

I’m waiting for the next price crash. A fellow over on Reddit plotted aircraft values versus the stock market value and there’s a clear drop in value after the market tanks. That’s the time to buy.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 15:52

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“My fuselage cross-section is about half that of either engine, because do you even lift”

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/19/2020 at 15:52

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Never skip fuselage day.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Ash78, voting early and often 03/19/2020 at 15:55

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“They’ve got some high-pressure trumpets blowing red-hot and the drums beat nine to the bar!”

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/19/2020 at 16:01

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With that kind of cross section, how fast was it?

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 16:06

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Or another of my favorites, maybe my absolute favorite civilian plane. The Baron is such a dream to fly. In a lot of ways, it’s like my old E60 550: feels like a business jet inside, sounds like NASCAR on the outside. When my dad flew to Maine and met us for Christmas, he had such a tailwind he was cruising at 310 MPH at ground level.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/19/2020 at 16:11

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Very. 20mph faster than a Mustang. Packing 4x 20mm cannons and 4x .50 cal MGs, too. It was a deadly plane.

phenotyp > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/19/2020 at 16:13

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It’s like a T-rex.

phenotyp > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/19/2020 at 16:17

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ABout 450MPH, with a range of about 1200 miles.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 16:22

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It’s a GD sexual planosaurus.

ttyymmnn > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 16:54

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I’ve seen that routine, and it’s amazing. Also, this:

I’ve seen Matt Younkin a couple of times. It’s a great show. Here are a couple of my shots from Central Texas Air Show 2019 .

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 17:16

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That’s awesome. I feel pretty lucky that I got to see Bob Hoover at Oshkosh a few times.

ttyymmnn > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 17:29

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Oshkosh remains on my bucket list.

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 17:45

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Let’s talk about aerobatic flying.

I’m taking some of this quarantined time to dig through digital archives, and found these pics I took of flying the Skybolt with my pops back in 2009. We were practicing snap rolls and hammerheads, which is about the limit of my talent and experience .

That thing is bonkers, off the ground in like 200 feet of runway. rolls 720 degrees at full deflection (which is like 1" of stick travel)... and on a hot Midwest day, you really feel like an ant under a magnifying glass.

Watching this, I’m REALLY glad he went with a canopy. Open cockpits are great for Stearmans, but I wouldn’t want to do this open-air.

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 17:49

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My dad took me along from ‘89-92. Listened to the Traveling Wilburys like the whole way. I haven’t been able to listen to them since.

ttyymmnn > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 18:18

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I love airplanes, but I’m n0t sure I would have the stomach for this. I’ll very happily watch from the ground, and take all the pictures.

phenotyp > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 18:24

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It’s a pukey business in anything faster than a Stearman. We could do 7 or 8 snap rolls in the Stearman without too much issue, but the Skybolt is an absolute animal.

I love your airshow pics.

ttyymmnn > phenotyp 03/19/2020 at 18:29

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Thanks. If you get really bored, you can take a look at all of my aviation stuff . Sadly, I haven’t squeezed a shutter at the airport in almost a year. Though I did manage an air show last summer. And now that I have downtime, there aren’t (m)any planes in the air. 

As for pukey, I have read that the Blue Angels tell their ride-alongs to eat bananas before the flight, since they taste the same coming back up as they did going down.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/19/2020 at 18:50

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It reminds me of a greyhound, in a way.  There’s not fat, it’s lean, and it’s muscle.

f86sabre > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/19/2020 at 20:28

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Good time to start a cargo airline.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 03/19/2020 at 20:32

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What could have been.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 03/19/2020 at 20:42

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I’ve never seen that before, but it reminds me of some crazy WWII concept. I’ll have to see if I can find it.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 03/21/2020 at 08:02

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Oh, man. The Pond Racer was a grand idea. Bob Pond owned an aviation museum in Minnesota and had money. He wanted to find an alternative to chopping up warbirds for race planes, so he partnered with Rutan and Nissan. The engines were modified Nissan GTP engines. They had issues with cooling, but it was quick.

https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/born-race-180958478/