Warbirds with folding wings question
Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:05 am
I know the Corsair, Skyraider, Sea Fury and TBM have hydralic wing folds and the Wildcat is a manual fold system, but what about the Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat... Just curious as I never seen one of these fold wings at a airshow...
Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:15 am
F7F N805MB did so at Reno, September 2007
Martin
Martin
Re: Warbirds with folding wings question
Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:42 am
MKD1966 wrote:I know the Corsair, Skyraider, Sea Fury and TBM have hydralic wing folds and the Wildcat is a manual fold system, but what about the Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat... Just curious as I never seen one of these fold wings at a airshow...
The F8F is manually folding; that was done to save weight. Don't know about the F6F as I've never worked on one.
?//
Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:51 am
manually folded
Re: ?//
Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:30 am
Jack Cook wrote:manually folded
Once a year?
PeterA
Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:41 am
I went up in the 'cherry picker' and Nelson waltzed it around and did the business with the wing fold.
GHOSTS photoshoot, Crystal Lakes, Montana, July 2004.
PeterA
GHOSTS photoshoot, Crystal Lakes, Montana, July 2004.
PeterA
Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:52 am
Great- a taxiing taildragger blind on three sides!
Robbie
Robbie
Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:47 pm
Hellcat and Bear are manual.
Dan
Re: Warbirds with folding wings question
Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:55 pm
MKD1966 wrote:...but what about the Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat... Just curious as I never seen one of these fold wings at a airshow...
And for an extra point, which of the three had an ~um~ 'extra' wing reduction accessory, soon deleted after some asymmetric troubles in flight?
And Mark - 'Toothbrushholesmanship'.
Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:05 pm
Bearcat - wingtips that snapped off when the plane exceeded its recommended dive speed.
Here pony pony...
Here pony pony...
Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:13 pm
BEARCAT
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Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:51 pm
Regarding the manual wing folding aspect of the Bearcat and Hellcat, how exactly is that done? Is it just a matter of unlocking something and then just pushing on the wing, or are ropes or cables involved or what? How heavy are those wings to push around? How many people are required to fold the wings on the Bearcat and Hellcat? Can it be done with one person?
Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:53 pm
Chris Brame wrote:Bearcat - wingtips that snapped off when the plane exceeded its recommended dive speed.
Here pony pony...
It's been a long time since I read about the shedding wingtips on the Bearcat, but I thought that they actually had explosives on the wingtips, which forced the wingtips off. Also, I thought it was related to G loading not airspeed. That's what I remembered reading, but I could be wrong. Anyone know decisively?
Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:58 pm
Chris Brame wrote:Bearcat - wingtips that snapped off when the plane exceeded its recommended dive speed.
Here pony pony...
I thought it was a 'G' value that determined the snapping off of the outer panels. In other words, if the pilot saw he had to get into a serious dogfight, he could pull x number of G's, lose the wing panels and then pull all the G he could handle. I'm not sure, have to reread Corky's book.
Steve G
Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:20 pm
warbird1 wrote:How many people are required to fold the wings on the Bearcat and Hellcat? Can it be done with one person?
On the F6F, two or three guys on the wing, and a guy in the cockpit working the hydraulic pump and the wing lock selector valve. They're really not that heavy, but have a lot of mass.