Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone know the story about this test ?

P & W T-34 test bed

Ok I worked for Pratt all those years and I was clueless when I seen this pick,guess you learn something every day thanks. I bet thats the Connecticut river too..

Yep..Liberty Belle..too bad they de-modified her. When someone gets serious about resurrecting the
Napier Sabre, it'd be handy to have such a flying test-bed...

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

three more of N5111N







and another testbed.... N6694C

1965 - three-bladed prop



sometime later - four-bladed prop




Martin

_________________
Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

Anyone have any pictures of her at Bradley after the tornado ripped her up?

nooooooo......pleeeze....

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Yes, I would like to see how far Liberty Belle came! I never saw the aftermath, but only read about it.

Naw..You gotta see it too.."brace yourself, Tilly" ...'Scuse me for a bit..I seem to have got something
in my eye..I'll be right back..

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

I'll bet those P & W mech's liked working on those Wright 1820's?

I see that they removed the hydomatics and threw on Curtis Wright electrics.

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If God had wanted man to fly behind a flat motor, Pratt Whitney would've built one.

Actually, this photo is not the Pratt test bed N5111N. It is the 5-engine test bed that Curtiss-Wright used, that's why the coinversion to the Curtiss props. N5111N had Ham Stans!

I hav elots of pics of the B-17 after the tornado, the only problem is they are slides and I haven't scanned them in yet. I'll try to dig out some.

"Liberty Belle" is pretty much a new aircraft. There was two steel beams put into the B-17 when it was converted to a test bed. they ran the length of the fuselage and helped to strengthen it for the massive engine up front. I understand that the aircraft had so much stress cracks in it, that it was just about a new re-build.

Jerry

_________________
"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

That last photo, isn't that the Wright turbo prop conversion??
I have only seen one picture of the B-17 test engine aircraft, with a round-bulb like structure placed on the nose, when the test engine was removed...and that is just a photo of it sitting on the ground...I would like to know if there are any photos of this onfiguration while in flight??

Another conversion of the B-17 I would like to see more pictures of, are of the illfated B-17F that had all four Wrights replaced by the Rolls-Royce Turbo Dart engines....

It seems that this particular "Test" 3350 may not have passed the test?

I asked the same question a while back and I think Jerry O'Neill posted this on WIX for me.





Steve

_________________
"Any excuse is good enough if you're willing to use it!"

two more of N6694C

July 1965



1967 - Gary, that one ?



Martin

_________________
Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss