Classic warbirds and other aviation vids.
- Thread starter MikeysZ06
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The Martin PBM Mariner was the Accident-Prone Forerunner Of The 2016 Oshkosh Star Martin Mars
The feature photo depicts a Martin Mariner , beached for a clean up at Banana River, Florida. Surely no bad job for the boys. In this fine picture , you’ll notice the rather impressive dimensions of this aircraft , powered with only 2 radial engines Wright R-2600 ( max 1700 HP each, later upgraded to 1900 HP each). One of the major flaws in this design seems rather obvious, it was an underpowered aircraft. Later the PMB-5 version was upgraded with the use of the R-2800 engines ( max 2100 HP each). But that extra power was partly offset in the Amphibian version PBM-5A against the extra weight of the retractable tricycle landing gear. The depicted PBM-3 had an empty weight of 15 tons and a loaded weight of 25 tons. To get that weight airborne with their max 2 x 1700 HP in a rather high-drag-coefficient airframe ( by its floats and boat keel with a large frontal surface), many a Mariner pilot must have experienced hairy moments on water take offs from limited waters like lakes and rivers, due to its long runs to get airborne.
Moving target…I’m pretty sure some of the Local Twin Otter pilots could land on that. A few years back a couple of them from Kenn Borek Air ,flew from Tierra Del Fuego using extended range tanks to Antarctica to drop chemotherapy drugs for a US female doctor who had diagnosed herself with cancer. This was at the peak of winter with a white out and -60c ambient. They couldn’t land obviously but were able to drop the package with a locator and got the job done. I flew all over the North in all kinds of conditions countless times over the last 30 years with numerous of them and can vouch for their incredible skill. Amazing.
The M.39B Libellula (from Libellulidae, a taxonomic familyof dragonflies) was a Second World War tandem wingexperimental aircraft built by Miles Aircraft, designed to give the pilot the best view possible for landing on aircraft carriers. A scale version of the M.39 design was proposed by Miles to meet Air Ministry specification B.11/41 for a fast bomber.[1] The M.39B was used by Miles to generate data from which the M.39 design was improved, but the M.39 project was cancelled and the M.39B broken up.
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Eight fire boss aircraft worked in unison to collect water to drop on the Bandy Lake fire outside of Norman Wells on June 16. Photo: Nicky Lynn Richards . Fighting these massive fires certainly is a war so these aircraft can legitimately be called War Birds. Only shows 6 in the photo.
