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avbug Certificates/Ratings/Crew Stations: 7. "RE: Round Engines" 09-12-02, 17:14z  I recall reading that one some time ago. It's true, though. I'd argue that round engines do well on airplanes with just one set of wings, however. The great mystery of aviation is why turbine engines are reserved for higher time and more experienced pilots. Turbine engines are simple to operate, require much less skill and planning, and seldom break or malfunction. Turbine engines are generally attached to more expensive airplanes, and a turbine engine is a lot more expensive when something goes wrong...but the odds of an operator damaging the powerplant are significantly lower on the turbine. In the PB4Y-2, if you really wanted to see a pilot sweat, go more than an hour or two without something breaking. The suspense is a real killer. Interestingly enough, the Privateer was more reliable than our C-130A's, though it was ten years older. On our P2V-7's, the R-3350's were a LOT more reliable than the J-34 turbojets on the same wing (radial and turbojet on the same airplane). Personally, I like radials. I like working on them, and flying them. Operating a radial engine once it's running is no more difficult than operating a flat piston engine, though one generally should exercise good judgement in power changes and settings, and the older hydromatic props may through newer pilots for a loop. Starting them is another matter entirely. Engine fires and other such things are always an issue, as is the possibility of a backfire and subsequent damage to the induction system. Radial engine pilots generally have a lot more experience dealing with in-flight failures and emergencies, and soon learn that most of what the flying world considers an emergency, really isn't. Accordingly, pilots with a radial engine background usually don't get too excited when everyone else does; it's just not that big a deal any more. Even today, where pilots learn in horizontally opposed flat piston recips, very poor technique is taught. Power off descents to landing, rapid power changes, and descents with the slipstream driving the propeller, instead of the engine. All very poor pilot techniques. Pilots never learn proper techniques, and then go on to pass these bad habits to the next crop of aviators. By the time these folks get to a turbine cockpit, they're in an airplane that can tolerate their lack of ability, and never know the difference. I've flown with a lot of pilots such as this. Then again, the same may be said for never learning how to manage a tailwheel, and what a rudder is really for... Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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Subject      Author      Message Date     ID      Round Engines    bcline       09-11-02              RE: Round Engines    jerryrosie       09-11-02       1         RE: Round Engines    Emile       09-11-02       2         RE: Round Engines    Ben_Chiu       09-11-02       3         RE: Round Engines    jonahbird       09-11-02       4            RE: Round Engines    bcline       09-11-02       5                 RE: Round Engines    jonahbird       09-12-02       9                      RE: Round Engines    AlanParkinson       09-14-02       12                      RE: Round Engines    Vulcan       09-15-02       13         RE: Round Engines    vgbaron       09-12-02       6            RE: Round Engines    avbug       09-12-02       7                 RE: Round Engines    bcline       09-12-02       8         RE: Round Engines    PaulCroft       09-13-02       10            RE: Round Engines    bcline       09-13-02       11

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