kalamazookid wrote:
Quote:
Nope, those aren't Rangers. Rangers are inline engines with a vertical orientation. Those aren't the typical cowlings for McKinnon Super Widgeons with the GO-480 engines either, so I'm going to guess that they're McKinnon's earlier GO-435 powered version.
And I have never heard of or seen a turboprop Widgeon. There are a couple of PT6-powered Gooses out there, and one highly modified Goose with Garrett TPE-331's, but I don't thnk that there are any turboprop Widgeons. If you have a photo of one, I'd love to see it.
A Widgeon with a pair of Allison/Rolls Royce 250-B17 series turboprops (installed in the sleek original Ranger cowlings) would be pretty darn cool though!
I guess I was mistaken. Here's the Widgeon I am thinking of. It's powered by Lycoming R-680s.
Are you trying to be funny?
"Lycoming R-680's" are RADIAL engines - big fat round RADIAL engines. That's what the "R" in R-680 stands for. The engines on that Widgeon are about as FLAT as any engine can be without the help of a steamroller.
As tight as those cowlings are, I'd bet that the engines are some variation of Continental IO-470 (260 hp.) There were several different Widgeon conversions that used that engine.
It could also be the relatively new Magnum (Lycoming) 350 hp TIO-540 engine conversion. I believe the engines are TIO-540-J2BD's just like what's in a Piper Navajo Chieftain. Come to think of it, Hamilton's book that I referenced in my earlier post had SCAN 30 s/n 4 listed as N115WB; the fact that the registration has been changed to N350GW might be a clue in favor of the Magnum 350 hp conversion. ("350GW" as in "350" hp "G"rumman "W"idgeon.)
I hung a GO-480 on the right side of N9933H for Pete Soby a long time ago and then several years ago, I read that he had upgraded it to the Magnum TIO-540's. Awesome conversion, especially when you live in Colorado like he has for the last 10 years or so. He was in Pinehurst, NC when I worked on his airplane.
Don't be fooled by the inaccuracies of the FAA registration database, which for N350GW lists the engines as "Lycoming R680" - it also says the airplane is a "Grumman G-44A" and it is not; it is a SCAN 30 (serial number "4" is a clue. Grumman-built Widgeons serial numbers started at 1201 - right after Goose c/n 1200 but before Goose B-1.)
At some point in the past, that airplane may have had Lycoming radials, but it sure as heck does not now. I could have sworn that I had some photos of a Widgeon with the Mansdorf R-680 conversion on file, but I can't put my hands on them right now. The engine nacelles were almost as fat as the fuselage and the drag was tremendous.
Go to YouTube.com and do a search for "Fantasy Island" - "da plane da plane" that Tatoo was shouting about was a Mansdorf Widgeon.
Nice photo, though!
And that's Bob Redner's McKinnon G-21G Turbo Goose (s/n 1226) in the background. I got to fly it around for a little while one afternoon (from the right seat) when he flew into Burlington, NC to visit us at Antilles Seaplanes.
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