Wreck of A6M2 Zero, on display at the Aviation Heritage Museum near Darwin Airport (Australia).

Tillerman.

Swamp Ghost is no longer a war relic now. It will be just another restoration project. It should have been left where it was and as it was in PNG, the surrounding jungle area should have been protected against theft and vandalism. If they really are aware of the historical significance of this aircraft, the organisations which sponsor the recovery surely could have made a suitable donation instead and assist the local people in setting up a proper ‘heritage site’ or whatever you would like to call it? That’s the only way of letting a historical relic intact. Not by taking it away and transport it over half the globe back to the US because some people think it belongs there. In this case it doesn’t. It belongs in the Papua New Guinean Jungle.

It appears to me they are not really bothered about the historic significance of the whole crash site, I think they just wanted to have another B-17 restoration project which will be worth big bucks when it is finished.

I’ve lost my interest in this aircraft now; I would have loved to taste the local atmosphere and see it lying in its original resting place. If I want to see it now I would have to travel to an air-conditioned hangar or museum building in the US. And that makes an essential difference to me.

In my opinion, this recovery to bring the Swamp Ghost “home”, is an act of severe historical vandalism.

Tillerman.

In RCAF service:
http://www.cl44.com/cl44/images/15932×1.jpg

In ANDES service, RCAF livery:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0751222/L/

In ANDES service, company livery
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0885304/L/

WFU Guayaquil:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0241035/L/

What a beautiful aircraft.

Tillerman.

4 pics:

-The Citroën 11B of 1954 vintage was my most beautiful car ever.
-The Citroën GSA was my most comfortable car ever. That suspension…. ah.
-The Land Rover 90D is my most versatile and tough car ever. Now in temporary
storage due to utterly stupid Dutch tax regulations. Will be on the road again when I find myself a job.
-The Daihatsu Cuore is absolutely the worst car I ever owned (out of a total of around 15). Will go to the scrapper ASAP when I find myself a job 😀 .

Tillerman.

I have this deviant liking for (pictures of) aircraft that are withdrawn from use, set aside, put out to grass, used for parts reclamation etcetera. In general, aircraft which are past their prime, so to speak. The last couple of weeks this one is my wallpaper: Shackleton WR985 as captured by Michael Baldock, borrowed from A.net.

Tillerman.

Don’t worry. It’s nothing abnormal. Probably just aircraft that are spreading some chemtrails 😉 😉 .

Tillerman.

Call me stupid, but it very much looks like the control panel of a 1950’s – ’60’s Atlas Copco Air Start Unit (ASU) we used untill well into the ’80s. It has been a few years since I saw one, so I can be wrong…

The big cutout contained a large pressure meter for the air compressor, the smaller cutout a RPM-dial for the engine. The two levers: the left one is the throttle for the enormous V8 petrol engine, the other one the speed governor for the engine-driven air compressor which delivered air to the aircraft. The temparature meter indicated the temperature of the air delivered to the aircraft.

These jet-starters were mounted on a variety of light trucks like Mercedes, Commer, Volvo etc. Early jets, like the DC-8 and 707, and turbo-props like the Electra, had no Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) and therefore had no means of starting their engines from their own power. While on the ground and to start up their engines they needed help from an external Ground Power Unit (GPU) to provide electrical power and an Air Start Unit (or jet-starter). An ASU consists of a powerful petrol (later diesel) engine which drives a big air-compressor that feeds air under high pressure (40-60 psi if I remember correctly) into the engines. The airflow turns the fanblades and the turbine up to a certain RPM. Then the ignition is switched on, fuel feed switched on and if everything is OK the engine will start turning on its own.

Every time I had to use one of these machines to start up an aircraft was a bit of a challenge.
Those big V8’s were very temperamental and drinked vast amounts of petrol. They needed a long time to warm up to working temperature, and when they were delevering air to the A/C at the max powersetting the big, drum-like exhaust pods were glowing darkish red and the compressor screamed like a siren. When the start-up procedure was completed you had to nudge the throttle back to idle very slowly; cutting the power at once could cause a dangerous backfire and both exhaust pods could explode. And that’s something we don’t want to happen at an airport, don’t we?

As I said, maybe I’m wrong, but it just adds all up: the shape of the panel, the location and size of the cutouts, the two levers, the oil and temparature dials…. Coincidence?

I borrowed a picture from http://www.atlascopco.com/ showing an Atlas Copco ASU mounted on a Volvo truck, air hose connected to SAS DC-8 LN-MOA.

Tillerman.

Their attention to detail borders on the psychotic, you should see their submission standards!

Watch what you’re saying! Don’t make Johan mad! He wil ban you! :diablo:

Tillerman.