#avgeekschoolofknowledge

[sentinelchicken]

In the late-1950s, surplus B-17 Flying Fortresses used in the air-sea rescue role found their way into the hands of civilian fire bomber operations that offered a quantum leap in performance carrying significant loads of fire retardant. Prior to the arrival of the B-17s (and PB4Y-2s), no other civilian fire bomber in use approached the retardant capacity of the converted four-engined bombers. By 1960, the first of about two dozen B-17s were converted with bomb bay retardant tanks. Stripped of non-essential equipment, the B-17 offered a significant increase in power in the typical-high altitude areas that most forest fires were found. Most of the conversions flew on contracts with the US Forest Service. The fire bomber B-17s were retired in the late Sixties as aircraft like the Douglas DC-6 were converted for the role. In addition, the radial engines of the B-17s were increasingly difficult to support with spare parts. One enterprising outfit got around this issue by re-engining their B-17 with four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops that once belonged to Vickers Viscount. As the Dart engines were much lighter than the Wright Cyclone radials, the nacelles had to be extended far forward to maintain the center of gravity with the spinners being nearly in line with the nose. Only one B-17, N1304N, was converted in 1970. Some sources indicate that the aircraft had the nickname "Batmobile" and she was so overpowered, that with both outboard engines shut down and feathered and carrying a full retardant load, she was still faster than a stock B-17. When the pilots made their drop, they had to shut down and feather the outboard engines to keep from overspeeding the airframe. This unique B-17 Flying Fortress was unfortunately lost in the same year it was converted. While fighting a fire near Dubois, WY, the engines lost power due to excessive ingestion of heated air and smoke from the fire and the aircraft failed to pull out of a retardant drop. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #Boeing #B17 #FlyingFortress #N1304N #RollsRoyce #Dart #turboprop #instagramaviation #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/CV9awDrt4Rl/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sentinelchicken]

Not all STOL airliner projects of the late 1960s and early 1970s were jets. In the late 1950s, Charles #Breguet worked on a four engine transport that not only utilized the propwash to "blow" the wing surface and its flaps, but had turboprop engines that were cross linked by a drive shaft to minimize impacts from engine failure. The ultimate development over a series of prototypes resulted in the #Breguet941.⁣ ⁣ The increase in air travel in the 1960s meant that STOL airliners were one way of increasing airport capacity. Some airports even had STOL runways (LGA and DFW, for example). City center "STOLport" facilities were envisaged as helping offload airport traffic.⁣ ⁣ McDonnell Aircraft obtained a license to market and build the aircraft for the US market as the McDonnell 188. Both #American #Airlines and #Eastern Air Lines tested the concept on a very limited basis particularly in the US Northeast corridor. ⁣ ⁣ The #McDonnell188 had four abreast seating with accommodation for 57 passengers using less than 1000 feet of runway to fly 500 miles. The fuselage was square section, so it was not pressurized. McDonnell did have plans for a pressurized version, the McDonnell 188E. ⁣ ⁣ The 188 was much smaller than the previous STOL airliner concepts I've posted, seating only 1/3 to 1/2 as many passengers as the previous designs I talked about. But it would have been ready for production before its jet STOL competitors. ⁣ ⁣ Passenger appeal wasn't great and the innovative cross shaft system added weight and maintenance complexity which in turn raised seat-mile costs. No orders resulted and the aircraft ended up with the French Air Force which withdrew them from use in 1974 due to the aircraft being maintenance intensive.⁣ ⁣ Now I've got one more jet design and one more turboprop design to discuss, but keep in mind that these concepts were the focus of considerable effort by many companies at the same time the #BAe146 began development as the Hawker Siddeley HS.146. ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #instaplane ⁣ ⁣ #McDonnellDouglas⁣ ⁣ #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight⁣ #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/CfIijbmLRZ-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sentinelchicken]

The first production commercial aircraft to use carbon brakes was Concorde, but the second production commercial aircraft to have carbon brakes was the British Aerospace BAe-146 which first flew in September 1981. Previously seen only high performance military aircraft, carbon brakes on the 146 was really the first widespread commercial aircraft use given the minuscule production numbers of Concorde. ⁣ ⁣ Comparing conventional steel brakes with carbon brakes for the same aircraft, carbon brakes are 40% lighter with better heat absorption. At the time of the 146’s genesis, carbon brakes are considerably more expensive than steel brakes, so it’s use on a short haul jetliner was unprecedented at the time. ⁣ ⁣ I’ve posted before about our new aviation publishing venture, La Jetee Press, and our inaugural book,“Fighting to be Heard: How the British Aerospace Bae-146 Started the Regional Jet Revolution” by Brian Wiklem. In the next several weeks, I’ll be talking more about the BAe-146, Brian Wiklem’s book, as well as giving you a feel for the mission and passion of La Jetee Press. ⁣ ⁣ Humor me the self promotion, but as a life-long avgeek, this book and our enterprise is an exciting time for me I absolutely have to share with everyone. ⁣ ⁣ You can order Brian’s book at www.lajeteepress.com. ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #LaJeteePress⁣ #HawkerSiddeley #BritishAerospace #BAe #BAe146⁣ ⁣ #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight ⁣ ⁣ #AvGeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek https://www.instagram.com/p/Ced6FSJuXaG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sentinelchicken]

Flight testing of the first version of the spiroid winglet in 1993 resulted in refinements to the design that led to more of an squared arch design with the inboard section moved aft and outboard to bring it closer to the wingtip vortex. ⁣ ⁣ The refined spiroid design was flight tested on a #Dassault #Falcon50 in August 2010. The winglets and structural strengthening needed added 550 pounds to the jet. This Falcon 50 made its first public appearance at the 2010 AirVenture air show at Oskhosh. ⁣ ⁣ Constructed of polished aluminum and approximately six feet in height, the new spiroids not just attenuated the wingtip vortex but attempted to eliminate them. Flight testing showed that a 30% improvement over the blended winglet was potentially possible with further refinements and use of computational fluid dynamics. ⁣ ⁣ So why haven't spiroid winglets caught on? In aircraft design, nothing comes for free as there are always tradeoffs. Winglets in general cause an upward bending moment on the outer wings as they act like wingtip extensions that increase the effective aspect ratio of a wing. As a result, structural reinforcement is sometimes needed to offset the bending. A less capable #winglet might be more desirable as less modification is needed, like going with a blended winglet versus a spiroid. ⁣ ⁣ In addition, as pointed out by friend and fellow #avgeek @jonostrower, there were also challenges with icing requirements. ⁣ ⁣ Spiroids were just past the price point for the airlines as more structural modification would have been needed. The costs and additional weight would have offset the performance gains. All was not lost- the split scimitar winglet benefitted from the work done on the spiroid as a split scimitar can be considered sort of a spiroid with part of the loop cut out! ⁣ ⁣ #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #instaplane #WeirdWings #AviationPartners ⁣ #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight ⁣ ⁣ #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/sentinelchicken/p/CY203Nts13P/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sentinelchicken]

One of the more unusual BAe-146 users was AirPac, a charter #airline based in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Established in 1978, #AirPac started with a Swearingen Metro II and a Cessna 414 on services between Dutch Harbor and Anchorage. The addition of a Fokker F27 allowed for increased cargo operations during the seafood season and extension of charter operations to other airports. Jet operations into Dutch Harbor were the next step. ⁣ ⁣ At the time, Dutch Harbor had a 3950' gravel runway and after much study, the #BAe146 was the best candidate and a single example was acquired. It was the first jet service at Dutch Harbor and the flying time to ANC was cut from 3:00 to 1:15. ⁣ ⁣ In 1984, the Alaska Transport Commission took AirPac to court for operating a supplemental base in Anchorage, a violation of its state taxi charter. Reeve Aleutian Airways filed an amicus brief, hoping to knock AirPac out as a competitor.⁣ ⁣ The case went before the Alaska Supreme Court. ⁣ ⁣ The ATC's case was based on the 146 spending 80% of the time at ANC, all the 146 pilots lived in Anchorage, AirPac used an Anchorage telephone number and had a full time employee at ANC to handle passengers. Since AirPac was an air taxi outfit, it did not have a ticketing counter at the airport, so one of their jobs was to meet passengers and direct them to their AirPac flight. ⁣ ⁣ AirPac responded they had to book flights back to Dutch Harbor to be economically viable and at the time, phone service to Dutch Harbor was unreliable, so an Anchorage phone number was needed. AirPac also argued that not being allowed to market flights back to Dutch Harbor infringed in free speech. ⁣ ⁣ The Alaskan Supreme Court sided with AirPac. ⁣ ⁣ The photo is of AirPac's #BAe-146. The lettering on the main landing gear door is "The Alaska Connection". The second image is the full page on AirPac's BAe-146 from “Fighting to be Heard: How the British Aerospace Bae-146 Started the Regional Jet Revolution” by Brian Wiklem, the inaugural title from our new aviation publishing house, #LaJeteePress (www.lajeteepress.com). ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #BritishAerospace #aviationlovers #flight #AvGeekSchoolofKnowledge https://www.instagram.com/p/CehMW9buxLL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sentinelchicken]

More from my aviation multiverse where the BAe-146 was used by more airlines than what happened on our timeline. This time, it's Ozark. GO GETTERS GO OZARK! ⁣ ⁣ In March 1972, St. Louis-based Ozark Air Lines began to use De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters on passenger services between Springfield, Illinois, and Chicago's lakefront Meigs Field in competition to a similar service started by the commuter airline Air Illinois. Ozark's services only lasted one year due to financial losses primarily due to high crew salaries- Ozark's pilot contract did not have provisions for proportionally lower wages for flying smaller aircraft.⁣ ⁣ It was one of several attempts by local service carriers to fly smaller aircraft to smaller markets (it was also tried by West Coast/Air West, Frontier, and Texas International as well.⁣ ⁣ Suppose Chicago Meigs Field became something like today's London City Airport instead of getting bulldozed in the middle of the night? Suppose Ozark's original Meigs Field services stayed viable and by the 1980s, Ozark used the quiet STOL capabilities of the BAe-146 to fly into Meigs Field? In our alternate history, Ozark would have a fleet of BAe-146s to support services direct into close-in Meigs Field from points throughout Ozark's network. Imagine that sort of Chicago- with commercial air service from O'Hare, Midway *and* Meigs! ⁣ ⁣ Imagine the -200s operating denser routes like STL-CGX, DCA-CGX, LGA-CGX or DTW-CGX with the smaller -100 operating thinner routes like DSM-CGX, IND-CGX, or MCI-CGX. ⁣ ⁣ This illustration depicts both the BAe-146-100 and BAe-146-200 as they might have looked in 1985 in Ozark's final colors before their acquisition by TWA in 1986. ⁣ ⁣ Learn about real world BAe-146s! ⁣ www.lajeteepress.com⁣ "Fighting to be Heard: How the British Aerospace 146 Started the Regional Jet Revolution" by Brian Wiklem! ⁣ GET UP AND GO! GO GETTERS GO BUY THIS BOOK!⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #thechickenworks (follow this tag to see more of my artwork) ⁣ #BritishAerospace #BAe #BAe146 #Ozark #Airlines #aviationlovers #flight ⁣ #Adobe #Illustrator #aviationart #aviationillustration #IllustratorCC ⁣ #Avgeekschoolofknowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/CfF5lH2LUhP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sentinelchicken]

In the early 1970s at the time of the launch of the British Aerospace BAe-146 (back then still Hawker Siddeley), there was considerable interest in STOL airliners in the industry. ⁣ ⁣ This particular design proposal was the Boeing/Aeritalia 751, a joint venture with the Italian aircraft company Aeritalia which at the time of this STOL airliner proposal, had just been formed with the merger of Fiat Aviazone and Aerfer. Aerfer built Italy's first supersonic jet, the Saggitario. Aeritalia merged with Aermacchi in 1990 to create Alenia Aeronautica. ⁣ ⁣ Work on the 751 began in 1970 with 40 Aeritalia engineers assigned to Boeing Renton. Unlike the BAe-146 though, it was a larger aircraft, seating 100-150 passengers. It would have had the capability of carrying 100 passengers 500 miles using runways under 2000 feet long. ⁣ ⁣ The design would have used the jet augmenter wing concept, which takes the concept of blown flaps further by arranging the exit slots in a way that boosts the airflow over the wing by pulling in ambient air and augmenting the airflow over the flaps. NASA tested a jet augmenter wing STOL on a converted DHC-6 Buffalo. ⁣ ⁣ However, the Arab Oil embargo in 1973 and subsequent rise in fuel prices led the 751 being quietly shelved. One of the drawbacks of jet augmenter designs is the added weight of the systems needed to allow STOL performance of the wing. The short range of the 751 also lessened its commercial appeal. ⁣ ⁣ It wasn't all for naught, though. Working with Aeritalia proved beneficial and in 1974, Boeing and Aeritalia signed a risk-sharing agreement to work on a new widebody twin that eventually became the Boeing 767. It was a new approach for Boeing, from the start of the design process, the 767 had to have better operating costs than any other previous design. ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #instaplane ⁣ #BAESystems #BritishAerospace #BAe146 ⁣ ⁣ #Boeing #Aeritalia⁣ ⁣ #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight⁣ #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/CfB_rsVL-0S/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sentinelchicken]

I'd already posted about the only Alaskan BAe-146 operator, AirPac, that routinely operated a 146-100 into Dutch Harbor back when its runway was still gravel. ⁣ ⁣ Routine rough field operations in the 146 was something envisioned from the get go in the 146 program but it was never fully realized except by niche operators. Like, only two. One was AirPac, the other was Australian operator Cobham (formerly National Jet Systems) that used its 146s to support the mining industry in Western Australia. ⁣ ⁣ The top part of this image is from BAe and is a striking photo of a 146-100 during rough field testing. It's likely (thanks to Brian's guidance when I asked him) G-OPSA which was LN2 and was leased to PSA for crew training. Three 146-100s flew with PSA and could be identified as the PSA cheatlines were straight across the nose whereas the 146-200s, the cheatlines curved under the nose. ⁣ ⁣ The lower half of this image and is from Cobham showing one of their 146-200s operating from a gravel strip at a remote mining site in Western Australia. On 4 November 2021, the final Cobham 146 flight touched down in Perth after a fly-in/fly-out charter flight to a mining site at Murrin Murrin for Minara Resources. Their mining operation at Murrin Murrin extracts nickel and cobalt. ⁣ ⁣ Beginning in 1990, Cobham operated a total of 33 BAe-146s in Western #Australia with some of the aircraft fitted out for rough field operations to support the Australian mining industry. At its height, Cobham had 16 146s operating in the region. ⁣ ⁣ Cobham has replaced the BAe-146 with the E190 and Q400 to serve the mining industry, but I'm not aware of any rough field capability for those aircraft unless the runways at the mining sites have been paved. ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #instaplane ⁣ #BAESystems #BritishAerospace #BAe146 ⁣ ⁣ #Cobham #NationalJetSystems⁣ ⁣ #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight⁣ #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce9uOM1vvh3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=