RATTLE IN SEATTLE

Wrist deep in making soup yesterday afternoon I was startled by the sound of an approaching big recip and I was unable to rush outside to see what it was. It was great to hear one again since all the museums moved to Spokane. We always had a B-25, or some other thunder-maker coming over the house on final so this one brought back some good memories. What I heard was "DOC", the B-29, on long final for BOE where it is parked in front of the Museum of Flight for tours and flights. I didn't realize how much I missed hearing and seeing the old stuff. C-152's are about as exciting as boiled strawberries.

 

Okay, a slip of the brain. Not BOE, but BFI. Boeing Field International. Those R 3350's on Doc are a lot louder when they aren't running thru the turbo chargers that have been removed.

 

We live at the north end of Lake Washington in north Edmonds and Doc has flown over three times now at fairly low altitude and the sight and sound brings back many memories. What a great machine! Haven't heard the sound of those big engines for years now. Thinking back of my flight in FIFI when the P-51 " Ho Hun" was 25 feet from us in close formation...and I didn't have a camera. Still a wonderful memory.

 

They are not flying at higher altitudes or hauling heavy bomb loads anymore.

 

I made some rough calculations and I estimate that they saved about 450 pounds per nacelle by eliminating the turbos, support structure, ductwork, and controls.Tremendous amount of ducting to get the supercharged air cooled and to the carburetors. Two turbos per engine and they are big and heavy and require their own oiling system. Lots of maintenance like Taz said.

 

I think that you are correct, Jim. No need for them now. I looked up some data on them and the latest model , the C-23, weighed 245 pounds, earlier models were bout 145-150 pounds. With a bucket wheel spinning at 24k rpm , the maintenance was critical and expensive.