Page Updated 02/20/15

VW-1 TRACKER
Feb. 2015

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by: Chris Seal (VW-1 66-68 TE-9, 2)
   

Scuttlebutt from your President

Greeting Shipmates,

Brrrrr!, It's been cold and snowy up here in Illinois the last several months, can't wait until spring arrives. It's been so cold I had to bring my little brass monkey indoors. Memories still linger from attending the Association meeting in Williamsburg, although the weather wasn't cooperative there either. Jane and I really enjoyed reuniting with old and new friends. I hope our next meeting in San Antonio will be a more acceptable location and nicer weather for all our members. I know Sally will put together a great reunion hotel with fun and interesting activities. There has been a realignment of responsibilities since the meeting in Williamsburg. Sally Metzger will retain the Treasurers position along with Meeting Planner. Stephen Davis will retain the Secretaries duties along with membership. This was worked out by your board last month.

We had a nice visit with Pete Wasmund who stopped by for lunch on his way to Chicago to visit relatives over the holidays. I've had several emails from members, your Vice President, Scott Wagner and wife Marie are settled in Rapid City, South Dakota. I hope to visit with them when I travel to Sturgis for the motorcycle rally in August.

In my last newsletter, I failed to recognize losing a long time friend and association member, William "Bill" Kemp also the brother of member John Kemp. Bill and I were classmates in 1962 at Flight Engineer's school in Pax River, Md. Both of us ended up in Newfoundland, Bill in VW-13 and I in VW-11. Condolences to John and Betty.

I received an email from the Reunion planner for the TACOMO Community. TACOMO was a detachment that became part of VW-1 in January 1966. They flew C130's based across the airport from VW-1. There were several Detachments on both coast. When I was in VR-1 at Pax River in 1961, we had one of the first Navy C130's assigned to the squadron. They are having their reunion in Hawaii this year and invited me to attend. Unfortunately I will not be attending. If anyone would like to attend, email me and I will put you in touch with their planner. Their website is http://tacomo.org. I'll have Pete put a link on our website. I for now, wish you a Blessed, Happy and Healthy New Year,

Ralph

NEWS FROM CYBERSPACE AND MAIL CALL

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New member Joined 12/18/14
Welcome Aboard to Danny Morton
Address: 940 Spring Creek Circle, Pensacola, FL 32514
Phone:
e-mail:
Wife: Carol
Danny served in VW-1 from September 1968 to May 1970 as an AMS-3 in the Airframe Shop. He flew with Crew 7.
and one of the more memorable flights were the weather missions for Apollo 11. Return to Hawaii for two weeks.
Flying low over Russian trawlers north of the island. Also member of flying club.

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Up Dates

Richard Bleakney new phone number: 775-440-3638

Change of Address for Arnie Clarkson, 92-1031 Alaa Street, # 17-206 Kapolei, Hi. 96707

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A letter that Steve Davis recieved from MaryAnn Cousineau, just thought you would appreciate reading it.

Steve Davis:
As Dave Cousineau my husband died two years ago I have not been able to attend any function of VW-1 Association and do not see in the future the ability to attend. Please save the mailing and take me (Cousineau MaryAnn) off the list. Thank you for the past many years of enjoying the reunions with Dave as he did. I found out the many stories that he told me and the children were true as I listened to others telling the same story. I will miss the good times but it is not the same without my husband of 51 years David Cousineau.

I again thank the VW-1 for many wonderful memories with my husband and his Navy buddies.

MaryAnn Cousineau

Jim Rice, 1st Radio on Crew 5, wife Mazie passed away about 7:00 Tuesday night, January 20th. She was in hospice care. We are all very sadden and offer our sincere condolences to our friend and Shipmate. May God comfort Jim and his family in this time of great sadness.

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tracker-2-15b.jpgAgana Departure Rain Proof One..     By Christopher Seal, ATCS Ret USN


Willy History Part 1

Since 1943 the Lockheed Constellation had been in USAAF service as the C-69. The use of the Constellation by the U.S. Navy for patrol and airborne early warning duties was first investigated in 1949, when the Navy acquired two Lockheed L-749 Constellations. First flown on 9 June 1949, the PO-1W carried large, long-range radars in massive radomes above and below the fuselage. As the radomes produced considerable more side area, the fins of the PO-1W had to be increased. After the PO-1W, which was redesignated WV-1 in 1952, had proved that it was possible to operate large radars on aircraft, the U.S. Navy ordered the WV-2 based on the L-1049 Super Constellation. The WV-1s were later transferred to the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958—“1959.

The WV-2/EC-121D was initially fitted with a dorsal AN/APS-45 height finder radar and a ventral AN/APS-20 air search radar. These radars were later upgraded to AN/APS-103 and AN/APS-95 radars, although not simultaneously. The crew commonly numbered 18, six officers (two pilots, two navigators, two weapons controllers) and 12 enlisted personnel (two flight engineers, one radio operator, two crew chiefs, five radar operators, two radar technicians). However, when North Korea shot down a Navy EC-121 in 1969, a crew of 31 was on board.

Orders were placed totaling 142 PO-2W Constellations based on the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with deliveries beginning in 1953. The type was redesignated WV-2 in 1954. The WV-2 was familiarly known to its crews as "Willy Victor". In 1962, with standardization of aircraft designations within the Department of Defense, the WV-2 then became the EC-121K. A total of 13 of these were converted to WV-2Q electronic intelligence aircraft (which became EC-121M in 1962), and nine were converted to WV-3 weather reconnaissance aircraft (WC-121N in 1962).[6] The EC-121K was also operated by Training Squadron 86 (VT86) at NAS Glynco, Georgia for training of Student Naval Flight Officers destined to fly both the EC-121 and the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. When NAS Glynco was closed and VT-86 transferred to NAS Pensacola, Florida in 1973, the squadron's last EC-121 was also flown to NAS Pensacola for transfer to the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation where it remains today.[7] A single aircraft became an NC-121K, an electronic warfare variant assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 (VAQ-33) at NAS Key West, Florida. This aircraft was the last EC-121 in operational service, flying until 25 June 1982

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The Prodigious
Wright
R-3350



C y c l o n e - D u p l e x

The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was one of the most powerful radial aircraft engines produced in the United States. It was a twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial engine with 18 cylinders. Power ranged from 2,200 to over 3,700 hp (1,640 to 2,760 kW), depending on the model.

Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design required a long time to mature before finally being used to power the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. After the war, the engine had matured sufficiently to become a major civilian airliner design, notably in its Turbo-Compound forms. The engine is now commonly used on Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman F8F Bearcat Unlimited Class Racers at the Reno Air Races.

In 1927, Wright Aeronautical introduced its famous "Cyclone" engine, which powered a number of designs in the 1930s. After merging with Curtiss to become Curtiss-Wright in 1929, an effort was started to redesign the engine to the 1,000 hp (750 kW) class. The new Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 first ran successfully in 1935, and would become one of the most used aircraft engines in the 1930s and World War II, powering all frontline examples (the -C through -G models) of the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress Allied heavy bomber aircraft to serve in the war, each powerplant assisted by a General Electric-designed turbocharger for maximum power output at high altitudes.

At about the same time Pratt & Whitney had started a development of their equally famous Wasp design into a larger and much more powerful twin-row design that would easily compete with this larger Cyclone. In 1935 Wright decided to follow P&W's lead, and started to develop much larger engines based on the mechanics of the Cyclone. The result were two designs with a somewhat shorter stroke, a 14-cylinder design that would evolve into the Wright R-2600, and a much larger 18-cylinder design that became the R-3350. An even larger twin-row 22-cylinder version, the R-4090, was experimented with as a competitor to the P&W R-4360 but was not produced.

The first R-3350 was run in May 1937. Continued development was slow, both due to the complex nature of the engine, as well as the R-2600 receiving considerably more attention. The R-3350 did not fly until 1941, after the prototype Douglas XB-19 had been redesigned from the Allison V-3420 to the R-3350.

Things changed dramatically in 1940 with the introduction of a new contract by the USAAC to develop a longrange bomber capable of flying from the US to Germany with a 20,000 lb (9000 kg) bomb load. Although smaller than the Bomber D designs that led to the B-19, the new designs required roughly the same amount of power. When preliminary designs were returned in the summer of 1940, three of the four designs were based on the R-3350. Suddenly the engine was seen as the future of army aviation, and serious efforts to get the design into production started.

By 1943 the ultimate development of the new bomber program, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, was flying. The engines remained temperamental, and showed an alarming tendency for the rear cylinders to overheat, partially due to minimal clearance between the cylinder baffles and the cowl. A number of changes were introduced into the Superfortress' production line in order to provide more cooling at low speeds, with the aircraft rushed into operational use in the Pacific in 1944. This proved unwise, as the early B-29 tactics of maximum weights, when combined with the high temperatures of the tropical airfields where B-29s were based, produced overheating problems that were not completely solved, and the engines having an additional tendency to swallow their own valves. Because of a high magnesium content in the potentially combustible crankcase alloy, the resulting engine fires — sometimes burning with as high a core temperature approaching 5,600°F (3,100°C)[1] from the Duplex Cyclone's magnesium engine crankcase alloys — were often so intense the main spar could burn through in seconds, resulting in catastrophic wing failure.[2]

Early versions of the R-3350 had carburetors, though the poorly designed elbow entrance to the supercharger led to serious problems with fuel/air distribution. Near the end of WWII, the system was changed to use direct injection where fuel was injected directly into the combustion chamber. This change improved engine reliability. After the war the engine was redesigned and became a favorite for large aircraft, notably the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7.

Following the war the Turbo-Compound[3] system was developed to deliver better fuel efficiency. In these versions, three power-recovery turbines (PRT) were inserted into the exhaust piping of each group of six cylinders and geared to the engine crankshaft by fluid couplings to deliver more power. The PRTs recovered about 20 percent of the exhaust energy (around 450 hp) that would have otherwise been wasted, but reduced engine reliability (Mechanics tended to call them Parts Recovery Turbines, since increased exhaust heat meant a return of the old habit of the engine eating exhaust valves). The fuel burn for the PRT-equipped aircraft was nearly the same as the older Pratt and Whitney R-2800, while producing more useful horsepower.[4] Effective 15 October 1957 a DA-3/DA-4 engine cost $88,200.[5]

By this point reliability had improved with the mean time between overhauls at 3,500 hours and specific fuel consumption in the order of 0.4 lb/hp/hour (243 g/kWh, giving it a 34% fuel efficiency). Engines in use now are limited to 52 inches of mercury (1,800 hPa) manifold pressure, being 2,880 hp with 100/130 octane fuel (or 100LL) instead of the 59.5 inHg (2,010 hPa) and 3,400 HP possible with 115/145, or better, octane fuels, which are no longer available since many formulations are toxic.

tracker-2-15f. TE9 Malfunction Junction     provided by John Mohelenkamp




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I have had this idea that it would be nice if I could share all my photos from my VW-1 days with all the past members of VW-1. That we could get a depository of VW-1 photos started so all could use a greater selection of photos. I would limited it to just VW-1. Photos of friends, aircraft, port of calls, Guam, Chu Lia, etc. So, I have set up a Shutterfly account at [shutterfly.com] to allow all hands to up load or down load photos from VW-1 The account is under AEWRON ONE, email is aewron1newsletter@gmail.com, and the pass word is TE1145935. If you do up load some photos please do it under a new album and name it with your name and year that you were in the squadron.

I also hope to download some photos for the newsletter so don't stop up loading. If you do not know how to up load just ask your grandchildren.