American Jet and Oxen

[tdecibel]

This is a photo donated as part of a large collection to the Olympic flight Museum in Olympia, WA. The photos used to be displayed in a restaurant at Boeing Field that closed some years ago (I think it may have been Randy's).

Can anyone here shed some light on the oxen?

[Big_Jim]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

That might have been the old Blue Max restaurant. It was over at the airline terminal. There used to be a tri-plane hanging up inside, the chairs at the tables were airline passenger seats and ejection seats. Randy's is still alive and kicking.

Darryl Greenamyer just wanted to do something different that year. At Mojave he had a single horse pull it out for the Championship race. At Reno it was a team of oxen (according to the Ramp Rat Report that year, the oxen were Mustang Ranch rejects). That's Darryl on the other side of the fuselage waving his cowboy hat.

[tdecibel]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

The museum staffer that accepted the donation said the restaurant was next to the museum of flight so that made me think of Randy's, but I just now have a vague recollection of a restaurant that was in a business park to the left of the MOF building that closed a long time ago.

I remember eating at the Blue Max once when I was a kid in the 70s. Most amazing place I had ever been and I harbor some resentment of the fact that the grown-ups in my life never took me back there again. I remember the tri-plane!

The photo is part of a huge collection that seems to show mostly airshows at Paine field, Abbotsford, and Reno in the 1960s/70s. I'll see if I can scan more.

[Leo]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Awww, the buildings in the infield.
I remember the T-6 shadows as they juuuust seemed to clear that one on the right.

[FlyKidChris]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

This is a photo donated as part of a large collection to the Olympic flight Museum in Olympia, WA. The photos used to be displayed in a restaurant at Boeing Field that closed some years ago (I think it may have been Randy's).

Can anyone here shed some light on the oxen?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19817[/ATTACH]

Hmm, no air intakes in the wing roots...

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Hmm, no air intakes in the wing roots...

Good notice my dear friend...

[RichH]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Source: Garber Virtual Tour

(EXTRACTED FROM "SPORT FLYING" BY EDITORS OF FLYING MAGAZINE, SCRIBNER'S SONS)
Armor and armament already removed from N1111L. Greenamyer's team removed large, stock bubble canopy and replaced it with a much smaller one scrounged together out of odd parts--some of them from a P3A.
Original 185-gal bag-type fuselage fuel tank (located between front and rear wing spars beneath pilot) removed, and entire compartment was caulked with integral tank sealant, bringing capacity up to 310 gals. (Part of wing sealed as well, with intention of flying plane in a transcontinental race, but plan never carried out.) Airplane nose-heavy from removal of radio and radar equipment originally placed behind pilot.
First, wings clipped. Easy job since F8F equipped with breakaway wing tips. 42-in outer panel of each wing separately skinned and held to inner portion of wing with bolts designed to fail at a lower load than that at which inner section of main spar would fail. If pilot pulled excessive g-loads in combat, outer wing panels would separate, protecting inner wing from failure. Straps had been installed to cover breakaway seam in skin; these were detached, the bolts undone and wing tips removed, reducing span to about 27.5 feet. Special racing tips designed by Mel Cassidy, Lockheed aerodynamicist, and fabricated in sheet aluminum.
Original Bearcat equipped with slotted flap of fabric and metal construction with hinges protruding below lower surface of each wing. These flap hinges removed, fabric skins stripped off and sheet metal covering of wing extended with hinges protruding below lower surface of each wing. These flap hinges removed, fabric skins stripped off and sheet metal covering of wing extended continuously to trailing edge.
Crude bubble canopy replaced with tiny, smooth, Formula One canopy of molded Plexiglas in which there was barely room for Greenamyer's head to turn from side to side. Integral fuselage tank, which had developed leaks because of relative movement of its parts under flight loads, resealed. An external strap, running most of length of underside of main spar and protruding about a quarter of an inch, faired with balsa wood.
Entire electrical system removed from aircraft. All instruments direct- reading, and a 15-volt dry-cell battery was carried in cockpit to power gear warning lights and radio. Engine started with ground power controlled by external switch panel which was disconnected once engine was running. Electric auxiliary fuel pump replaced with hand wobble pump.
Hydraulic system also went; only main cylinders on landing gear retained; a small (about 5 in diameter and 20 in long) nitrogen bottle installed to activate gear. Charged with nitrogen at 1900 psi, bottle good for 1 raising of gear. Gravity used to lower. Gear made to retract very rapidly--less than 5 seconds--because thought Unlimited races might use race-car start, but proved not to be the case.
Wing root leading-edge air intakes for oil cooler and carburetor sealed with sheet-metal fairings. In order to eliminate aerodynamic drag of oil cooler, was immersed in 24-in boiler filled with ADI (anti-detonant injection) mixture of alcohol and water which was fed into cylinders at manifold pressures exceeding 50 inches. This boiler, which underwent a number of mods and relocations in development of the airplane, originally placed ahead of firewall and vented through small hole in front of the cockpit on left side of fuselage. Boiler, with capacity of 7-10 gallons, boiled off about 35 of the 60-75 gallons of ADI used by airplane in a race. (Use of water boiler for cooling had been one modification incorporated in Bf-209 that had bettered 469 mph 1939.)
-30W engine replaced with R-2800-83A, takeoff rating of 2100 hp. In place of updraft carb of -30W, -83A equipped with downdraft carb. Iintake duct constructed to run up behind engine and over rear row of cylinders--breathed air from under the cowling that had passed over top of the first row. Cowl flaps, located on upper rear edge of cowling, bolted in shut position, leaving only small slot for release of cooling air.
Stock F8F prop replaced with one from Douglas AD-1 Skyraider; had diameter of 13 ft 6 in and weighed 425 lbs. Since prop was some 11 in larger than stock one, and Bearcat was rather critical in prop clearance to start with, N1111L had to be taken off and landed in 3-point position. In level attitude, prop would have hit ground. Engine nose replaced with R-2800-44 type--low prop-speed gearing with a prop/crankshaft ratio of .35:1, giving prop speed of 980 rpm at normal engine speed of 2800 rpm and tip speed of nearly 700 mph at 400 knots.
Originally spinnerless, plane fitted with spinner from P-51H Mustang. At other end, blunt tip of tail cone, from which arrester hook had extended, faired over with what looked like pointed stinger. Stinger later knocked off when plane jumped chocks and broke tie-down chain during full-power run- up. New stinger with sharp, straight upper edge installed in its place.
Spring 66, new boiler made, containing 2 oil coolers in place of 1, and installed in lower part of fuselage behind cockpit. Integral fuel tank, which was leaking again, resealed.
Stainless steel slippers installed on upper and lower surfaces of horizontal tail to close elevator gaps, and aileron gaps sealed with Ceconite. In attempt (later proved ill-advised) to reduce wetted area, upper 28 in of vertical tail clipped off.
-83 supercharger replaced with CB-17 type (used on DC-6, Convair, and other multi-engined craft), boosting maximum power to 2,500 hp--at some expense in reliability, however, because power section was still less beefy -83A type. Low-tension ignition system installed. After-spinner fairing from Constellation inserted behind prop, covering engine nose case and inner lips of cowling, which simply stopped in a smooth contour over cylinder.
At this point, Smirnoff Vodka offered sponsorship to Greenamyer, and plane was at alast painted--white with blunt-nosed blue arrows on fuselage and wings. With painting, entire skin filled and smoothed, and elevator gap seals-- which proved to impair longitudinal stability--were removed.
At 1966 Los Angeles Air Races at Lancaster CA, Greamyer made first assault on piston speed record. Stubby, avocado-shaped Bearcat, deprived of much of its vertical tail area and aspect ratio, tried to fly sideways if Greenamyer took feet off rudder pedals. Speed record attempt abandoned. Having borrowed stock tail assembly from Bill Fornof, owner of a familiar copper-and-black unmodified Bearcat, Greenamyer won Reno '66 with usual ease. Before the 1967 Reno races, equipment for the injection of nitromethane and water was installed. Greenamyer flew plane from Las Vegas to Edwards AFB Aug 68 for another attempt at world record speed. En route, newly installed cockpit canopy split along side and its after-edge rose 7 in upwards; crack stopped, however, sparing Greenamyer inconvenience of having head scooped off as canopy darted backwards. At Edwards, broken canopy replaced with original one, which had been polished back to its transparency (had been sandblasted in storm while parked at Reno) by its maker, and plane was ready for record.
No luck. During preparatory run at 500 mph, a piston blew--probably because of sand damage. Piston and cylinder replaced following week; but rebuilt engine seized during warmup and was ruined.
Greenamyer borrowed R-2800 CA-18 engine from Aircraft Cylinder Inc., Sun Valley CA engine-maintenance firm. Using same -44 nose case and Skyraider prop and essentially same supercharger as -83A engine, went to Reno and won again--this time running only 2 mph faster than Chuck Hall, whose P-51 Mustang turned unusually high 386 mph on final heat.
Conquest I returned to Vegas for the winter.
Bill Fornof wanted his tail back. Greenamyer's crew accordingly spent winter building up old vertical tail to original height and installing enlarged dorsal fin after consultation with Grumman. At last, constructed 3 welded aluminum fuel tanks (after integral fuel tank had badly deteriorated) and installed them in fuselage compartment; thereafter, no trouble with fuel leakage.
Greenamyer acquired pistons and cylinders of CB-17 type and installed them in CA-19 crankcase from borrowed engine; to this power section, attached overhauled blower from old engine--a CB-17 type to start with--and old -44 nose section. In Jul 69 had a complete CB-17 engine with exception of -83 crankcase; that is, he had CB-17 power plus airline reliability. Back at Edwards for new speed record attempt, landing gear doors that previously had been opening a half inch or so at high speeds (because of pressure difference between outside and inside of wing) were fitted with backward-facing airscoops to vent overpressure.
Grumman again consulted on subject of exhaust blast which was directed outward from fuselage, leaving a stain over a wide area of wing trailing edge. To narrow exhause wake, extensions lying flat against sides of the fuselage added to exhaust pipes, and cuff installed to cover exhaust roots where they emerged from beneath cowling. After test flight, was apparent that fuselage sides might suffer from exposure to 600 exhaust, and a stainless steel shield 5 ft long was riveted to fuselage side along exhaust path. Behind it, however, white paint blistered all the way to tail.
16 Aug, plane flown 4 times along Edward's 3-km course--with appropriate official timers--and world record speed of 483.041 mph established. On best run, Greenamyer indicating about 510 mph, turning 3000 rpm, and pulling 75 inches with nitromethane injection.
During record flight, Greenamyer subject to cockpit temperatures of about 200; he suffered burns on his hands traced to exhaust leaks from coupling beneath cowling; hot exhaust was flowing out of cowl-flap slots and into small ventilating louvers on canopy frame. Exhaust stains actually found on inside of frame. Cause of exhaust leak was increased exhaust back pressure caused by extensions; since nothing could be done about it, Greenamyer strapped icepack to his chest on which to cool his hands while flying. Cockpit had never been a hospitable place to start with; ram effect alone raised temperature of 100 desert air to 140 as it entered cockpit, and air was also full of fumes which unaccountably found their way into cockpit from oil- cooler boiler. Greenamyer breathed through oxygen mask while flying the airplane.
In final form, "Conquest I" was tall, fat, stub-winged airplane with empty weight of 5800 pounds, of which 2300 pounds was big DC-6 engine. Power loading racing trim less than 3 lbs/hp; fuel consumption at full power on order of 300 gals/hr. Instrumentation normal with addition of torque pressure gauge reading horsepower directly in form of oil pressure. During record run, Greenamyer read 3200 hp. Greenamyer attributed success to strategy of modifying airframe for min drag while keeping engine more or less stock-- unlike majority of other racers who ran highly tweaked engines in stock or nearly stock airframes. Takeoff power rating of CB-17 engine in DC-6, he points out, is only 3 inches lower that that which he used at Reno with same rpm.

[tdecibel]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Great read!

[Snidely]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

[QUOTE=RichH;112368]Source: Garber Virtual Tour

(EXTRACTED FROM "SPORT FLYING" BY EDITORS OF FLYING MAGAZINE, SCRIBNER'S SONS)
Armor and armament...

Wow, terrific. Thanks.

[ChrisMX105]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Hmm, no air intakes in the wing roots...

And set a 3k speed record slower than Rare Bear has qualified at. Darryl was warned that bad things could happen at speed due to the aerodynamics.

[Big_Jim]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

And set a 3k speed record slower than Rare Bear has qualified at. Darryl was warned that bad things could happen at speed due to the aerodynamics.

Okay, but AT THE TIME that the story was written (1969, I think) that was as cutting-edge as the Unlimiteds got. At the time the speed he ran in the 3km was blistering, and the result of a lot of work from a lot of Skunk-Works brain-trust and they were just tickling the edges of the high-speed issues with the Bearcat wing that Lyle faced in later years with his Bearcat. The year this picture was taken (1975) that airplane had just set a brand new qualifying record at Reno of 435 mph...which some people thought would never be broken.

I've always wondered what a Conquest I circa 2010 would look like and what that same brain-trust could have done with another 40 years worth of on-the-job 'experimenting'. Certainly a lot of 'small' refining over the years would have been present. And I could see a bondo job smoothing the airframe out. I would have liked to see Bruce Boland and Kerch go after the wing and see what could be done. And I wonder if the -2800 would be the limiting factor for speed....although we'll see what #86 can come up with this year.

Greenamyer still amazes me for his flying skills. When he came back into the Sport Class 10 years ago and put on a clinic of how to fly the race course for the other 'so-called' pilots it was astounding. Lapping the field in a heat race is pretty impressive. Photographer Bill Johnson once claimed that Greenamyer would be competitive in a P-26. I tend to put stock in that....a great pilot can find speed in places that others only run into walls.

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Well, we all know by now what made the bear fast...and when it started breaking records....3 blades, baby, 3 blades..


- Please, don't kill me!


Like you Jim, I believe some very neat things could have been seen from Grrenameyer and Conquest 1, in modern times. I remember those first couple races in the Sport as well. Really was something to see!

- Joseph

[Leo]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

Always thought he was an amazing pilot, if not a little, um, unorthodox in his methods with things. To have him in a true Gold unlimited in later years (and speeds) would have been a sight (based on what he wrung out of his sports entries and the amazing line he flew) to see.

435 "never to be beat"... Back in the late 70's-early 80's they seemed to notch it up each year and I think we said just that EVERY year! Heady times.

[ChrisMX105]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

What I said was not in any way meant to make light of any of Darryl's accomplishments. He is one of my Heroes and my one goal this year is to finally meet him. I was merely replying to the comment about him sealing the wing intakes and pointing out that the speeds being run now are significantly higher than they were at that time and I have heard that Grumman reccomended against doing so. I am sure that pilots like Thom can enlighten us further but I believe that the top unlimiteds are approaching critical mach when flogging it down the chute. This is where the aerodynamic changes can make bad things happen and why the class requires proof of engineering and testing.

[ChrisMX105]

Re: American Jet and Oxen

[QUOTE=Idaho_cowpony;112405]Well, we all know by now what made the bear fast...and when it started breaking records....3 blades, baby, 3 blades..

On a side note the 3k record set in 1989 was done with the 4 blade. Other than the imagery and coolness it was never proven that the 3-blade was any faster and the harmonic issues associated with it caused the team to revert to the 4 blade.