JimH wrote:
Same day...same light...it was flown from New Smyrna Beach Florida to Boston...via Waterbury Oxford CT...it had time to build up quite the stripe. This thing has a sound all to its own.
Thanks Jim! I was intrigued by the darker black on the port, and I'm wondering what that has to do with leaning or different combustion on each cylinder bank. Not that it's important.*
CAPFlyer wrote:
Has anyone tested the dive brakes yet to see how effective they are in just straight-and-level flight? I know they were reportedly effective in the dive, but as the Apache isn't a "well covered" subject, it'd be interesting to hear a contemporary account of how the modifications to the P-51 airframe change its handling and how effective those modifications were.
Interesting question. Bear in mind that the brakes are there
only to avoid a slippery airframe getting too fast in a dive, all you'd get from flicking them open in level flight is "yup, there's drag", surely?
I agree data would be interesting, but no-one is going to be replicating A-36 operational profiles of weights, drops, dives or pullouts, which is what matters for the brakes as a tool.**
When going through our A-36 text, I was fascinated in how much data was simply not widely available - it's an interesting type, and sadly another interesting tale eclipsed by that P-51D glamourplane in most sources.
Regards,
*That may not sound even slightly interesting, but trust me, it beats the editing I'm supposed to be doing for thrills...** Though if anyone
does, I'll be in the queue for the Gen.