Turbine's Ruining Aviation or Why I Miss Flying the DC3

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



Sent to me by and old WWII pilot:

We gotta get rid of turbines, they are ruining aviation. We need to go
back to big round engines. Anybody can start a turbine, you just need to
move a switch from "OFF" to "START," and then remember to move it back
to "ON" after a while. My PC is harder to start. Cranking a round engine
requires skill, finesse and style. On some planes, the pilots are not
even allowed to do it.

Turbines start by whining for a while, then give a small lady-like poot
and start whining louder.

Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click BANG, more
rattles, another BANG, a big macho fart or two, more clicks, a lot of
smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar. We like that. It's a guy
thing. When you start a round engine, your mind is engaged and you can
concentrate on the flight ahead.

Starting a turbine is like flicking on a ceiling fan: Useful, but hardly
exciting. Turbines don't break often enough, leading to aircrew boredom,
complacency and inattention. A round engine at speed looks and sounds
like it's going to blow at any minute. This helps concentrate the mind.
Turbines don't have enough control levers to keep a pilot's attention
There's nothing to fiddle with during the flight.

Turbines smell like a Boy Scout camp full of Coleman lanterns. Round
engines smell like God intended flying machines to smell.

I think I hear the nurse coming down the hall. I gotta go.

[Index of Archives]         [NTSB]     [NASA KSC]     [Yosemite]     [Steve's Art]     [Deep Creek Hot Springs]     [NTSB]     [STB]     [Share Photos]     [Yosemite Campsites]