Airacuda Blower

[Duggy009]

A couple of photo's, anyone know what this unit is exactly.
I presume a blower of some sort, the engines are not turning, and by looking at the apparel the people are wearing its not cold.


Thanks in advance Duggy

[Robbie Stuart]

I am guessing that is for blowing air across the radiator during ground runs, the aircraft had liquid cooled Allison's.
Robbie

[DB2]

According to Wikipedia, the ground cooling was so poor the aircraft had to be towed to the runway, and engines only started once takeoff clearance given

[Stoney]

Don't think I'd like to be a gunner on that A/C

[Tiger Tim]

Don't think I'd like to be a gunner on that A/C

Well yeah, but I bet most of us would run to get in line for a ride.

[Duggy009]

Thanks for the replies, so it's basically a way of keeping the engines cool, when stationary.
I doubt the gunner/loader in the nacelles, had much chance of bailing out & surviving ?
Still an awesome, futuristic looking machine.

[Stoney]

You can have my seat.

[Rick65]

Not a plane I would have wanted to be in in any circumstance.
I read an article on it (somewhere sometime, maybe a relatively recent Classic Wings or Flightpath) and it had an incredible fundamental design issue that made it incredibly unsafe.
A quote from Wiki (cross referenced to a dead link)

"The Airacuda was also saddled with a complex and temperamental electrical system and was the only aircraft ever built to rely on an independent auxiliary power unit (APU) to power both engine fuel pumps, as well as all aircraft electrical systems.[10] Systems usually powered by an aircraft's engines were instead powered by the single generator. The generator, with its own supercharger, was located in the belly of the aircraft. In the event of a failure (and they occurred frequently), the crew was instructed to begin immediate emergency restart procedures as the aircraft basically shut down. When the APU failed, the pilot had "NO fuel pressure, NO vacuum, NO hydraulic pressure, NO gear, NO flaps and NO ENGINES".

[Badman]

According to Wikipedia, the ground cooling was so poor the aircraft had to be towed to the runway, and engines only started once takeoff clearance given

I recall in the early years of Stiletto's racing career (at least in 1984 and 1985) they did the same thing - towed it to the run-up area to minimize the amount of time the engine was running on the ground with no airflow into/over the engine and oil radiators that were re-located into the wings. Stiletto was a P-51 that had no belly scoop with the radiators re-located into the wing gun bays which put them outside the prop arc.

[leo]

The props could be blown off with explosive bolts before bailing out. Still...

[shrike]

The props could be blown off with explosive bolts before bailing out. Still...

And there were passages through the wings, but Pete Bowers described them as cramped and awkward for his wiry 19yo (at the time) self without a parachute or heavy flightsuit

[Clifford Bossie]

Aircuda at Biggs AAF:

[Michel Lemieux]

Hummmm....not a tail dragger....thanks for sharing....you learn something new everyday!!!!

Aircuda at Biggs AAF:

[Stoney]

Don't see how you could get into the wing gun, the wing looks to be to narrow.

[Clifford Bossie]

Hummmm....not a tail dragger....thanks for sharing....you learn something new everyday!!!!

Aircuda at Biggs AAF:

The single XFM-1 and the nine YFM-1 versions were tail draggers. The three YFM-1A Aircudas were tricycle gear. Surprisingly several survived in airworthy condition until 1942.

I first saw a photo when I was about ten and thought it was a really cool looker. I still like it, but realize it is the result of a flawed concept. Oh well, it has a certain Buck Rogers appearance.