"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/26/2020 at 09:00 • Filed to: good morning oppo, wingspan
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/26/2020 at 09:00 • Filed to: good morning oppo, wingspan | 3
| 20 |
San Diego Air and Space Museum
What money could buy during the Golden Age.
This Sikorsky S-43 (you’re on your own to ID the car) belonged to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the second child (and first son) born to the ridiculously wealthy Vanderbilt family. Though he spent most of his time doing what rich kids do, which means traveling and spending his dad’s money, he did serve in WWI as the captain of the USS Tarantula , a patrol boat owned by his father and leased to the Navy, where Willie K sailed around NY providing convoy escort or something else that rich people could get away with rather than going to real war.
Vanderbilt and his Mercedes Daytona racer
He did work for his father’s railroad company after the war, but his true passions were yachting and motor racing. Willie K set a world speed record of 92 mph at Daytona in 1904, and created the Vanderbilt Cup, the first major road racing competition in the US. When the road races became too dangerous, he oversaw the construction of the Long Island Motor Parkway, a 45-mile stretch of paved road that could be used for either motoring or racing.
Willie had this to say about his S-43. Like most plane owners and gear heads, he liked to talk about his toys.
“It is an amphibian with retractable wheels that fold into the side of the ship giving the least amount of wind resistance; has a wing span of 86 feet, while the hull is 52 feet long. The ship weighs 9 ¾ tons loaded. We could cruise near sea level at 150 statute miles per hour with 60 percent of power. Twin, 750 horsepower, supercharged Pratt and Whitney engines…capable of delivering 800 horsepower each at the takeoff…”
“The cabin arrangements are very comfortable. The entrance to the ship is through a large hatch aft with a spacious companion-way leading below into a water-tight compartment where the baggage and extra parts are stored in roomy lockers. A wash-room for the passengers is also located here…the main cabin containing four large comfortable armchairs, well upholstered and the only ones of this kind yet installed in a plane. A large full-length sofa and one small chair complete the seating arrangements.
“The cabin is well ventilated, adequately lighted and finished in Flex-wood…a pantry with sink, ice-box and lockers for glass, silver and china; two large clothes lockers and a crew’s wash-room. Then another water-tight door leads into the control space, where instruments reign supreme.
“To a novice the vast display on the instrument board would seem bewildering, perhaps superfluous, but all of them are necessary in a modern ship which leaves nothing to chance in the way of safety appliances, and amongst them we find the automatic pilot that flies the ship for you at the human pilot’s desire. Radio sending and receiving sets, direction finders, both oral and visual and, well, I could go on for an hour, but we must start for we have a long voyage ahead of us.”
( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
Thomas Donohue
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 09:15 |
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That thing had a range of 775 miles. I was expecting less.
It looks.....heavy. Cruising speed of 166mph. Ugh.
Non-stop to Lake Michigan/Chi-Town from New York. Just one refueling stop and you’re in Dallas, New Orleans, or Key West. Not bad.
facw
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 09:23 |
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I think your Vanderbilt family history is a bit off. William K. Vanderbilt was the 3rd child (and second son, Cornelius II was born six years earlier ) born to William Henry Vanderbilt (who was the fourth (of 13!) child, and first son born to Cornelius Vanderbilt (who started the business empire).
In any event Vanderbilt tri via I didn’t know until recently:
The Vanderbilt name is Dutch: van der Bilt
CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt (or at least his mom was)
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ttyymmnn
> facw
06/26/2020 at 09:32 |
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Unless I have the wrong Vanderbilt, this is what Wiki has to say about him:
He was born on October 26, 1878, in New York City , the second child and first son of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith . Known as Willie K., he was a brother to Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and Consuelo Vanderbilt . Born to a life of luxury, he was raised in Vanderbilt mansions , traveled to Europe frequently, and sailed the globe on yachts owned by his father.
vondon302
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 09:33 |
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Damn I love me a old float plane.
Btw Bangshift is stealing your shtick.
I wonder if they need a freelancer, you do it better.
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facw
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 09:34 |
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Shit, I missed the III (should have seen that the dates didn’t line up). In any event, yeah William K III would be the g reat g reat g randson of Cornelius.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 10:11 |
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Wiki is never wrong.
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ttyymmnn
> vondon302
06/26/2020 at 10:12 |
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There are plenty of other people doing aviation history stuff, but I appreciate the compliment. Bangshift has a certain voice that I don’t use. I guess I prefer my history to be a little bit drier, though I broke out of that just a little bit with this and other one-off posts.
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ttyymmnn
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/26/2020 at 10:13 |
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Wiki is a good source for basic who, what, where, when, how information. It’s a great place to start.
user314
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 10:26 |
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U.S.S. Tarantula S.P. - 124
Specifications:
Displacement 169.97 t.
Length 128' 9"
Beam 19' 3"
Draft 9'
Speed 14 kts.
Armament: Two 6-pounders and two .30 cal. machine guns.
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Patrol Yacht:
Built in 1912 by the George Lawley and Son Corp., Neponset, MA
Acquired by the Navy 25 April 1917 and commissioned USS Tarantula (SP 124)
Sunk 28 October 1918 about 8 miles southwest of the Fire Island, NY light vessel after a collision with the Royal Holland Lloyd Line steamship
SS Frisia.
Her owner was subsequently paid $75,000 ($1,273,480.13
in current dollars
)
to cover
Tarantula
’s value.
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ttyymmnn
> user314
06/26/2020 at 10:27 |
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“Patrol yacht”
Sounds like a pretty sweet gig.
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user314
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 10:29 |
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Until you ram into a steamship anyway....
jminer
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 10:33 |
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Good morning!
That is a beautiful plane, and man is lending a boat to the Navy some next level rich-guy shit.
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ttyymmnn
> user314
06/26/2020 at 10:38 |
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Well, yeah.....
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ttyymmnn
> jminer
06/26/2020 at 10:40 |
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The Vanderbilts were like Max Level rich guys. I mean, when this is your crib, you might be a rich guy.
SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> ttyymmnn
06/26/2020 at 10:51 |
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This Sikorsky S-43 (you’re on your own to ID the car) belonged to William K. Vanderbilt, III, the second child (and first son) born to the ridiculously wealthy Vanderbilt family.
And distant relative of the always-wealthy Anderson Cooper (who peaked on The Mole many years ago). Best to keep that in mind when he’s asking intensely-obtuse about how tax laws apply to really wealthy people... because he’s truly not “just one of the common folk”, either. He just plays one on TV.
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ttyymmnn
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
06/26/2020 at 10:57 |
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You’re the second person to point out the Cooper-Vanderbilt connection. I remembered when it was mentioned that he was Gloria Vanderbilt’s son, but I don’t watch any of the cable news garbage.
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ttyymmnn
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
06/26/2020 at 10:57 |
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You’re the second person to point out the Cooper-Vanderbilt connection. I remembered when it was mentioned that he was Gloria Vanderbilt’s son, but I don’t watch any of the cable news garbage.
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Thomas Donohue
06/26/2020 at 10:59 |
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With a 6,000 lb payload after 100 gallons of fuel. With that range at that cruise speed, it was burning around 22 gph. At $5/gal that’s $110 per hour just in fuel. To get to New Orleans from New York would cost about $1,300.
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user314
> jminer
06/26/2020 at 11:16 |
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During and just after World War I the USN “acquired” somewhere north of four thousand civilian ships for various purposes (‘Patrol ships’, tankers, troop ships, cargo vessels, etc.). It’s not entirely clear from my readings whether this “acquisition” was entirely voluntary , or if the previous owners were paid for their boats.
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Thomas Donohue
> TheRealBicycleBuck
06/26/2020 at 12:09 |
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Back then gas was 20 cents a gallon (assume AVgas was 30 cents?)
Coincidentally works out to $5.75 / gal in todays money.