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Out With The Old, In With The New
Now that we’ve settled into the second week of August, cooler temperatures have begun to alternate with the 100-degree heat, so some flying took place on the nicer mornings. Now it’s the fog season, when taking off at dawn runs the risk of running into ground fog forming as the sun comes up. Keep an eye on the spread between temperature and dew point; if it’s less than three degrees, it might fog in.
Of the few aircraft seen going in and out last week, we saw a nicely-restored Beech T-34 Navy Trainer from the 1950s on the ramp. Jacob Moser was up from Nevada in his Citabria 7ECA and Tom Bowles flew down from Kansas City in his Cessna Turbo Skylane RG. A couple of Piper Archer trainers were in as well.
When it comes to retiring aging Air Force airplanes, it appears that the T-1A Jayhawk is next on the list. Back in 1993, the USAF bought a bunch of Beechjet 400’s from Beech Aircraft, once known as the Mitsubishi 300 before Beech bought the type. They were used to train bombardiers and navigators out of Vance AFB in Oklahoma. Now they are going to use ground-mounted flight simulators to do the job of the Jayhawk jets, which I’m sure will be eminently satisfactory.
Also going away at the end of last month was the Navy’s last C-2A Greyhound ship-to-shore airplane, in service since 1966 shuttling cargo and people back and forth to aircraft carriers. The Grumman C-2A turboprop took over the job of the Grumman Tracker piston-engine COD (carrier onboard delivery) airplane. Now the COD mission will fall to the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, with a checkered safety record and no ability to be stored on a hangar deck.
Are you ready to invest in a four-seat electric airplane? A Colorado oufit called Cosmic Aerospace is now taking $2500 deposits for its proposed Cosmic One, which is supposed to fly in 2028 and start deliveries in 2029. Powered by six “electric propulsors” (whatever that is), it’ll fly at 250 knots, have two hours of endurance and can be recharged in 30 minutes. Step right up, folks, they’re gonna be selling fast…
Last Monday, United Aircraft in Russia flew its Yakovlev MC-21-310 airliner for the first time, an attempt to produce an all-domestic 737-size airplane to avoid the parts and support problems with the Ukraine War sanctions imposed on Western equipment. Based on an earlier Yak design, the new plane has all-Russian engines, landing gear, avionics and other systems. An initial batch of 18 units is being produced for certification.
Also making an first appearance on Friday was the first new U.K.-produced Britten-Norman BN-2B Islander utility plane, a design dating from 1965 as a small-route 10-seat airliner with fixed landing gear and 250-hp piston engines. Built on the Isle of Wight off the English coast, the first of the rejuvenated Islanders is going to the Falkland Islands air service.
In last week’s column, we wanted to know where Lockheed Aircraft Co.’s famous “Skunk Works” secret division got its name. Reader Rodney Rom figured it was from a smelly plastics plant next door to Lockheed’s special-projects division, which was where the P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter was built during WW-2. For next week’s brain-teaser, tell us what kept the Browning .50-caliber machine guns in wartime bomber and fighter planes from overheating during extending firing, at 6600 rounds per minute. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
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