Warbird Information Exchange

I'd be curious to know if a Yale wing could bee replaced with a T-6 wing and center section. Nobody has probably thought about it yet!

Thanks Albert, you've answered a question I've had for a long time. I wondered if the Soko 522 flew anything like the T-6?
Here is a listing of one for sale. Is that the one you had?

http://www.billaustinaircraft-yacht.com ... ndex.shtml

Les

Buying the best possible airframe available is always great advice. One could argue the merits of the T6 vs. BT-13 vs. Yale or anything else, but it really comes down to personal preference. Ideally buy one of each. Just don't make the mistake of buying something that's not really very nice and/or safe and try to fix it up on the cheap.....it never really works out. If the financial situation is not realistic for quality/safe ownership, flying for the CAF offers an excellent alternative.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."

Les,
Yes, that's it. I'm just having some fun with Eric Downing and John Lohmar regarding the Yale. The Yale is actually a very nice plane. Not as forgiving as a T-6/SNJ, but still a very nice plane. I've often been told that one of the best ways to get ready for a Corsair or a Mustang is to spend ten hours flying a T-6/SNJ from the back seat. If you can master the Yale in a strong crosswind, I guess you can skip the back seat time in the T-6/SNJ.

I'm being a bit hard on the SOKO 522 also. It is what it is. In flight, it's a delight. Of course the problem is gravity. Nobody has left one up there yet and with a ten gallon fuel tank, sooner than later, you have to land the darn thing. That's where things get interesting. If you are lucky, you can get ten to fifteen landings on one set of the original tires and brakes so the best thing to do is just not touch the brakes and only land on grass runways. Providing the grass runway is 5,000' long and 5,000' wide.

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Albert Stix Jr.
"Work is the curse of the drinking class"

The exhaust set-up looks like this French one in north Africa 1942.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Thanks again Albert. The SOKO 522 sounds like a challenge. That could be fun.

Les

I don't know about the French Yale pictured in North Africa, but Canadian Yales had a long Stainless exhaust pipe with a seperate inlet pipe that runs through it to provide heat to the cockpit. Mine has it installed, as pictured below. I thought the 110 Yales that were built for the French were never actually received by the French. My understanding was that the original contract was for 220 airframes. 110 built and delivered to the French were still on the dock when the French fell to the Germans, the Germans assembled and flew them in Squadron strength. The other 110 went to Canada and the majority of them were crashed in training accidents. Ernie Simmons bought the survivors and those were the only ones that ultimately survived. Thats were mine came from.

Did the French have BT-9s? Wouldn't They would be indistiguishable in the picture Jack posted? I'm not sure.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."

Eric,

Some of the NA-64s were used by the French and Jack's picture sure looks like a NA-64 to me. The other French aircraft were NA-57s with fabric on the fuselage, and a slightly different look to the area behind the cowl.

As for the exhaust setup...the aircraft on e-bay is correct for how they were built by North American. You will see that setup on all French, and indeed German NA-64s. It also can be seen on a few RCAF Yales as well. For example:

http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/equip/images/historic_gallery/wallpaper/yale.jpg

However, the longer pipe was soon added by the RCAF to keep the pilots warm, and all RCAF Yales ended up with pipes like yours.

Jim