"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Subject: Getting rid of turbines. (grin)
From: "Dudley Henriques"
Date: 12/5/03 7:20 AM Pacific Standard Time

Guess you never rode between two roaring R-2800's high over Germany
with
flak
bursts singing in hamony with the Pratt and Whitney double Wasps?
.Music
to our
ears. .Turbines are for girls. Little girls.(;-))



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Flew a Bearcat with a 2800. It's a great engine. They did manage to
stick
a
4360 in a Corsair. The numbers were quite impressive,
I wish I could have flown it....just once. Just starting the damn
thing
was
a day's work. :-))
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt



Starting it up was a beautiful experience and a sound you never
fofrget..
And
when you come back with a couple of cylinders shot out and it never
missed a
beat, it is an engine that you grow to love with all your heart.

Regards,

I had a friend who flew a Bearcat on the airshow circuit during the
sixties.
He had beautifully hand painted on the lower side of the left cowl,
"Baby,
if you love me, don't EVER leave me" :-)
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship

Funny how a thread like his can bring back memories rarely thought of in
over
60 years. This was a conversation that lasted only 20 seconds, but this
thread
brought it all back. It was announced that we would be losing our B-26
Marauders and they would be replaced with Douglas A-26 Invaders. One guy
said,
" I hope they do as well for us as the Marauders did". The guy answered,
"They got R-2800's. We'll be ok". Of course the Invaders were better
planes.
But it was never the same. Our old smelly, dented battered war weary
Marauders
were personalised. We always flew the same plane with our nose art on it,
Once
we got Invaders, no nose art allowed. We never flew the same plane twice
or
knew in advance which plane we would be flying. It all became cold and
impersonal. After all these years I often think of "Willie the Wolf" But
never
think of those shiny new Invaders with any sense of fondness.. Ah Willie.
One
of a too long list of absent friends. (sigh)

Yeah, it can bring back memories all right, and some of them aren't all that
good, at least for me anyway. My friend with the Bearcat went in doing a
show at Quonset Point in 71 when he lost a wing during a loop recovery.
(investigation verified a crack in the main spar)
So I guess in the end it wasn't the old 2800 that "left him" after all.

You combat people have a special affinity for the machines that took you
into harm's way and returned you back home again. I can tell you that I
don't know one member of the combat aircrew community who, like yourself,
doesn't get that old "nostalgia look" in their eye when talking about the
planes that got them there and back again.
It's interesting to note along these lines that I know one pilot who went
through the entire war flying two different types; first a Jug, then a 51.
He was high enough in grade to have his own bird assigned, which he flew as
often as he could. Both airplanes got him there and back many....many times,
on several occasions, sustaining heavy damage. Every time we get together
with the guys and start talking favorite airplanes, he just sort of clams
up. We finally decided he just refuses to pick one over the other. He
verified this for me one night in a rare moment of shared reflection over
some Jack Daniels. He said picking one over the other made it feel almost
like a personal betrayal. I'm absolutely convinced he meant exactly what he
had said.
It's truly amazing how deep these things actually go. Some of it remains
personal with the people affected all their lives. It's an attachment and
affection that no one, including myself, although completely understanding
of it,could ever hope to fully appreciate.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt