Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: earl1937 on June 10, 2014, 01:01:02 PM
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:airplane: Flying mag used to run a article called, "I learned about flying from that" and it always made an interesting read. This is my article concerning that.
In 69, flying for a cargo outfit, which will remain nameless, we were flying auto parts from Kanas City to Willow Run in Detroit. After we lurched from side to side on taxi way at KC, Captain sort of lined up on runway, pushed his seat back and said, "you got it"! I had a whole 17 hours in the Commando then, but felt like I could handle it OK, so pushed up the throttles and away we went! Warm front laying just South of Detroit, about a 150 miles or so, knew I was in for an interesting trip! After working my way around a few "boomers", seat all the way down, instrument lights as bright as they would go, slow up to 140KIAS and had to plow right through one small cell. By now, I am thinking that this guy ought to be awake, but no, chin on chest, head rolling around in turbulence, but no sign of waking up.
Tuned up ATIS, got the info, called approach and proceeded to shoot the approach to 27, wind, 300 degrees at 15, with gusts to 20-25, so should be interesting but no big deal. (Young, stupid mind, now fully engaged). Opps, blowing snow now has lowered weather to 1600RVR, with indefinite ceiling, some icing on runway! Should I ask for 32(I think that was the number), be more into the wind and etc! Naw, just have to be on my toes! (Now young stupid mind in over drive).
Began to see the rabbit quarter mile out, now runway lights, carrying about a 20degree crab, best I can remember, still no sign of life from captain, did this guy die on me? A lot of aileron and left rudder, keeping it straight, down right side of runway, nice touch down on right gear, then left, gotta get the tail on the ground, uh, oh, forgot to lock the tail wheel and as Columbo says,"quicker than snot", me, the Ford right front fenders, drunk Captain and airplane are headed for the "tullu berries"! Oh, crap, what did they say about this in school? "Our Father, who are in heaven"! Uh, Oh, now sliding sideways, this aren't good Earl! Right gear now in mud, we do a slow right turn, tail starts coming up, but thankfully, settle back down. No problem, just a few "skid" marks in my underwear and the Captain finally wakes up and wants to know what is happening? Oh, nothing I said, just learned to always use the "dang" check list and not fly with drunk Captains!
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Interesting times! ;)
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Oh, nothing I said, just learned to always use the "dang" check list and not fly with drunk Captains!
Definitely a learning experience there. Glad you survived.
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Good read. :aok
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Good stuff, Earl! :aok. Nothing like a taildragger and a cross wind with some slippery thrown in for a challenge. :O
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Good stuff, Earl! :aok. Nothing like a taildragger and a cross wind with some slippery thrown in for a challenge. :O
:airplane: The C-46 was a heck of aircraft and was very easy to fly. There wasn't much worry about turbulence or thunderstorms in the thing, as you just couldn't tear a wing off the thing if you tried! They lost a lot of them flying the hump, but was usually due to flying into a mountain or getting a load of ice they couldn't handle.
(http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l488/05263739/imagesCAZ9JH99.jpg)
Pic of Buffalo freight line C-46, which far as I know, last large cargo hauler to still be using the C-46. You can see from this view, the real ice problem for the 46 was the nose area, not the wings or tail. Ice would, I have been told by many old C-46 pilots, pile up on that big nose, spread back over windshield and really had no way to get rid of it, unless they could find a rain shower. Of course as you descended into to lower altitudes, most the time, I guess it just melted off.