Flight Simulators of Yesteryear

In this photo we see the earliest of  ground simulators ( photo circa 1911 ). A student is seated in a “Tonneau d’apprentissage”, or “Antoinette”, at the École de Pilotage [Antoinette Piloting School] at Mourmelon-le-Grande, France. Two half-sections of a barrel were moved manually which represented the pitch and roll of an airplane. The student pilot was then required to line up a reference bar with the horizon.
Although not a true synthetic simulator, this is a 1917 Breese Penguin. It was used to give student pilots the feel of aircraft controls at near flying speeds without the danger of actual flight. (The Penguin’s wings were too short and its engine too small to allow it to fly.) The “Penguin” was intended to be just as unmanageable as real aircraft, thus they had no brakes or steerable wheels - which made them quite difficult to control.
This is the 1917 “Ruggles Orientator”. It consisted of a seat mounted within a gimbal ring assembly that enabled full rotation of the student pilot in all three axes ( pitch, yaw, and roll ) and a fourth additional vertical movement. All motions were controlled by rudder bars and sticks by the instructor and student pilot which operated electric motors to produce the desired flight attitudes. The goal was to train students to recognize and recover from unusual attitudes that might be encountered in flight.
* Note the position of the student pilot in the far right simulator and the fact that there is no instructor!
The next major advancement in simulators came in 1929. The Link trainer invented by Edwin Albert Link is easily one of the most recognized early simulators. They were produced and used from 1934 through the late 1950’s. Just as the ad above says “Every aviation cadet receives instruction in a Link Trainer”….and that’s not an exaggeration because 10,000 units were produced and thousands of pilots trained in them, especially during WWII.
Known as the “Blue Box” to the student pilots, these trainers kept pace with the increased instrumentation and flight dynamics of aircraft of their period, but retained the electrical and pneumatic design fundamentals pioneered in the first 1929 Link prototype.
There are two major components to the trainer, the first is the trainer itself which is connected via universal joint to the base. Inside the cockpit is a single pilot’s seat, stick and rudder controls, and a full suite of flight instruments.
The base contains several items: a complicated sets of air-driven bellows to simulate 3 axis motion, an air compressor ( powers the motion bellows and some of the aircraft instruments), and a “Telegon Oscillator” which controls the remaining instruments.The second major component is an external instructor’s station, which consists of a large map table, a repeated display of the main flight instruments, and a moving marker known as a “crab.”
The crab moves across the glass surface of the map table, plotting the pilot’s track. The pilot and instructor would communicate with each other via headphones and microphones.
Both the trainer and the instructor’s station are powered from standard 110VAC/240VAC power outlets via a transformer, with the bulk of internal wiring being low voltage. Simulator logic is all analog and is based around vacuum tubes.
The Link trainer is really the beginning of modern flight simulators because they all incorporate many of the innovations that were found in this trainer….3 axis motion, pilot / instructor radio communcation, flight tracking, full cockpit instrumentation, and to some extent aircraft specific duplication ( the instrument layout of the ANT18 Link is that of the AT-6 and SNJ aircraft ). All that would be needed to complete the formula is a visual element.
The first airline to own a full aircraft simulator was Pan American Airways in 1948. Curtiss-Wright developed the simulator for use in training crews flying the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.
No motion or visual systems were installed, but in all other respects the simulator duplicated the appearance and behavior of the Stratocruiser cockpit. Instructors could introduce emergencies or abnormal situations on a fault insertion panel or “trouble box” to train flight crews procedures and coordination in order to solve in-flight problems. In addition, complete routes could be flown, as in real life, using the same navigational aids.
By 1958 it was all beginning to come together. BOAC had contracted Redifon to develop a full motion simulator for the Comet IV aircraft. The simulator was beginning to look more like what is in use today but realistic visual aspects were yet to be used. It wasn’t until 1962 when the first colour system was produced by Redifon, utilizing television technology, that simulators had believable visual references that we are familiar with today.

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WWII Wooden Wonders

DeHavilland Mosquito DH-98
During the war it was thought that if an airplane were built by manufacturers outside of the aircraft industry and out of non strategic materials such as wood, not only could an untapped workforce of cabinet makers and carpenters be utilized, but production could be simplified thereby enabling a faster construction rate of aircraft so vital to the war effort. The Mosquito, also known as “The Wooden Wonder”, “The Timber Terror”, or “Mossie” is the most famous of these wooden aircraft so I thought we should take a look at how it was built, since these techniques are similar to those used in building other aircraft made of wood.
1. Glue is applied to build up a “sandwich” of plywood for the outer aircraft skins.	2. Wood veneers of birch or spruce were layered with balsa wood cores in between. This is done over a mold so that the final shape is held when cured.
3. Pressure is applied by bands for tight bonds.	4. Here the fuselage skin is removed from the mold.
5. Bulkheads are prepared for the inner structure of the aircraft to be joined to the skins later.	6. After the bulkheads have been attached to the fuselage skins, everything is glued and clamped together.
7. The finished fuselage ready to be attached to the wings.	8. Wing ribs are being attached to the wing spar for the internal structure “skeleton” of the wing.
9. Finally, the wing is covered with wood veneers.	10. The fuselage and wings meet and are joined at 4 attachment points. This is a very light yet extremely strong aircraft.
11. The final systems are added as well as the engines and the aircraft is ready for action!	Total Mosquitos built……. 7,781 Max Speed……………. 415 mph Production years…….. 1940-50

More WWII Wooden Aircraft Here are some other aircraft that were constructed mostly out of wood:

ITALY- Ambrosini SAI.207

ITALY- Ambrosini SAI.403

ENGLAND- Avro Anson

ENGLAND- Armstrong Whitworth A.W.41 Albemarle

FRANCE- Caudron C.714

UNITED STATES- Cessna AT-17/UC-78 Bobcat

UNITED STATES- Fairchild PT-19

GERMANY- Focke Wulf TA-154

GERMANY- Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger

GERMANY- Horten HO-229

UNITED STATES- Waco CG-4A

RUSSIA- Yakovlev Yak-1

Don’t forget to check out my online site…

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Mooney Mite M-18

Did you ever wish you could have your own personal “fighter”, an airplane that would fly at speeds of 120-130 m.p.h., sipped 3.5 gallons of gas per hour, and only cost $1995? Well, Al Mooney was sure that you would so he designed a cute little single place airplane called the Mooney M-18 “Mite”. It was certified and produced from 1948 to 1955 with a total of 283 Mites being built. I first saw a Mooney Mite when I was a teenager; it was hanging from the rafters in a barn that was owned by a business customer of my Father. It was one of several other airplanes being stored there and was painted yellow…. I’ll never forget it.

As I recall, the performance of the auto was poor with the 25- h.p. liquid cooled engine so I imagine that the performance of the M-18 Mite might not be spectacular either. As a matter of fact, the performance of the Crosley engine (now called a Mooney CC46M-2, see photo on the left) was inadequate which caused Mooney to exchange the engines in the first 10 production Mites with a more reliable 65-h.p. Lycoming (0-145-B2) engine. Later models also used a Continental (A65-12, or -8) when the Lycoming engine became unavailable. The performance with the new engine increased the cruise speed from 85 m.p.h. to 120 m.p.h., rate of climb increased from barely 300 f.p.m. to 1000 f.p.m. Al Mooney was well on his way to producing a great flying airplane. It did fly well but sadly the sales were not there and production ended in 1955.

This photo is the M-18 prototype with a Crosley engine. It also happens to be the same airplane featured in the ad at the beginning of the article. As you can see it was later converted with the aircraft engine also.

	SPECIFICATIONS
	Wing Span………………………………… Length……………………………………….. Height……………………………………….. Empty Weight…………………………….. Gross Weight……………………………… Fuel (Usable)……………………………… Range (@ 125 mph)………………………. Takeoff Distance………………………….. Landing Distance………………………….. Service Ceiling…………………………….. Vs………………………………………….. Vne………………………………………..	26 ft 10½ in. 17 ft 7¼ in. 6 ft 2½ in. 500 Lbs. 780 Lbs. 11 Gal. 390 Miles. 698 Ft. 240 Ft. 19,400 Ft. 45 MPH. 138 MPH.

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Do You Know Your Corsairs?

The F4U Corsair was designed by Rex Beisel and the design team at Vought in 1938. It featured the biggest and most powerful engine, largest propeller, and perhaps the largest wing of any fighter at that point in history. It was sometimes known as “The Bent Wing Bird”. The Japanese called it “Whistling Death” but what ever you call it, it is just an elegant design.

The prototype XF4U-1 made its maiden flight on May 29, 1940 and it was the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 mph. This was achieved on October 1, 1940 with an official speed of 405 mph. The Corsair had one of the longest production runs of any piston fighter as well.

VARIANTS OF THE F4U CORSAIR

The Corsair models all shared the basic frame as the prototype shown in the photograph below but there were constant modifications made to improve handling and flight characteristics. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some photos of the different variants.

This is the prototype XF4U-1 Corsair.

F4U-1 “birdcage canopy”

F3A1 Brewster Built “birdcage canopy”

Tom’s model shows new canopy for the F4U-1A.	Cowling of F4U-1A.
This is a cowling of a Goodyear built FG-1.	The Corsair was built by three different companies: Chance Vought- F4U designation. 8,148 total. Brewster- F3A designation. 735 total. Goodyear- FG designation. 3,830 total.
The F4U-4. Note the chin scoop and now a 4 bladed propeller. The Goodyear designator is FG-4. Both were armed with 4- 20mm canons.	The 1945 variant F4U-5. The chin scoop is gone and there are 2 cowl “cheeks”.
This is the AU-1 also know as the F4U-6.	The F4U-7. Developed for the French Aeronavale.

This is the only V-354. A tandem trainer that was never put into production.

VOUGHT PRODUCTION:
Built		Variant		Description
2,698		XF4U-1		Initial prototype.
688		F4U-1		“Birdcage” Initial production model.
2,126		F4U-1A		F4U-1 with improved canopy, other changes.
?		F4U-1B		Designation used to identify F4U-1s modified for FAA use.
200		F4U-1C		F4U-1A with quad 20 millimeter cannon.
1,685		F4U-1D		Fighter-bomber variant.
?		F4U-1P		Rare Reconnaissance model.
?		XF4U-2		Night version.
?		F4U-2		32 (12?) night-fighter conversions of F4U-1.
?		F4U-3		Turbocharged Double Wasp, 3 conversions.
?		XF4U-4		New engine and cowling.
2,058		F4U-4		Four bladed prop, other improvements.
297		F4U-4B		F4U-4 with quad cannon. Originally intended for British use.
?		F4U-4C		Armed with 4 20mm cannons.
?		F4U-4E		4N F4U-4 night fighter.
?		F4U-4K		Drone.
9		F4U-4P		Rare reconnaissance version of F4U-4.
?		XF4U-5P		New engine and cowling.
223		F4U-5		1945 introduction. Four cannon, uprated engine, etc.
214		F4U-5N		Radar F4U-5 night fighter.
101		F4U-5NL		Boots on leading edges. Winterized F4U-5 night fighter.
30		F4U-5P		Reconnaissance.
111		AU-1		F4U-6 for Marines. USMC armored close-support “mudfighter”.
97		F4U-7		French Aeronavale Corsair production.
1		V-354		Tandem trainer.
GOODYEAR PRODUCTION:
Built		Variant		Description
?		FG-1		Goodyear land model no folding wings.
?		FG-1A		Goodyear-built F4U-1A.
1,997		FG-1D		Goodyear-built F4U-1D.
12		FG-4		Goodyear-built F4U-4.
?		XF2G		Prototypes (conversions of FG-1) for F2G.
?		FG2-1		Land-based Corsair with Wasp Major.
?		FG2-2		Carrier-based Corsair with Wasp Major, 4 cannon.
?		FG-1E		Goodyear with radar.
?		FG-1K		Goodyear drone.
?		FG-3		Turbosupercharged.
5		F2G-1		P&W 4360 Super Corsair.
5		F2G-2		P&W 4360 Super Corsair.
BREWSTER PRODUCTION:
Built		Variant		Description
305		F3A-1		Brewster-built F4U-1.
430		F3A-1D		Brewster F4U-1D.
TOTAL CORSAIRS PRODUCED: 12,713

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Great Fun at Sebring, Florida LSA Event

We had a great time at the Light Sport Aircraft event in Sebring, Florida this past week and talked with a lot of folks. They were all interesting and reminded us of why we love flying so much!
Many thanks goes out to all who stopped by our booth and chatted with us.
Just for fun I thought I would add a picture of a Bell 47 that Bob Viscio of New Hampshire shared with us, what a great looking helicopter.
Interestingly enough my first introduction to aviation was in a Bell 47 at our local county fair.I took this picture of the Titan P51 early in the morning before the show got under way. They flew later that day and from a distance it looked like the real P51!Be sure to check back soon, other photos are being sent in from folks we talked to as well….

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F4U CORSAIR

Stay tuned for more about Corsairs, meanwhile take a look at this photo of an F4U-1A Corsair model that a viewer built…… nice job Tom!

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Pearl Harbor Day- USS Arizona

I know that we usually focus on airplanes with this blog but I thought since aviation played a huge roll on the attack of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 that I would stop and pay tribute to the gallant Americans that lost their lives that day.

We are so used to seeing the famous footage of Dr. Eric Haakensen aboard the USS Solace that we seldom know what the USS Arizona looked like before December 7th so I thought it would be nice to see her in all her glory before that fateful day…..

USS Arizona This is USS Arizona (BB-39) as she is leaving New York City for her first “shakedown cruise” in 1916. The vessel was the first to be named “Arizona”. This was done specifically to honor the 48th state’s admission into the union, which had happened just the year before the battleship was authorized by Congress. (The Arizona was commissioned in 1916.)

Here is the USS Arizona at sea. Displacement fully loaded: 37,654 tons, maximum speed: 20.7 knots. The above photos show the bow and the port side. (Note the three Vought OS2U Kingfisher aircraft on the stern.)

This is a view of the USS Arizona’s starboard side.

USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor The National Park Service has a great map, illustrated by Zack Anderson, that shows where the Arizona was berthed during the attack. If you take a close look you can also see the vantage point of Dr. Eric Haakensen (aboard the USS Solace) as he filmed the Arizona exploding.

This is a photo from a Japanese aircraft that shows the Arizona in Battleship row under attack in Pearl Harbor.

USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor Today The wreck of Arizona remains at Pearl Harbor, a memorial to the 1,177 men of her crew lost that December morning in 1941. The wreck was designated as a national shrine on May 30, 1962. A memorial was built across the ship’s sunken remains, including a shrine room listing the names of the lost crewmembers on a marble wall. Warships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and other navies routinely salute Arizona when passing through Pearl Harbor. After all these years about a quart of oil still leaks from the hull (as you you can see in the photo) and rises to the surface of the water. Survivors from the crew say that the oil will continue to leak until the last survivor dies. Rest in peace USS Arizona….

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