Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

[f1-69]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

off the round engine tiff but I happen to be from texass and I plan on bein in the gold race

[Race 29]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

I kinda have to agree with Willie. My Dad flew EC-121 Connies during Vietnam, and he said many many times that they'd come home with an engine shut down (that model of Connie had -3350's, hence the slow nose case). But, this is really the first year I ever remember having this many -3350 powered Sea Furies out with problems. They usually run good all weekend. As far as the -4360's, I think the Buick has proved the reliability of that motor even though Furias has had problems. Is Furias's motor modified more than Dreadnaught's?

Like I said in my last post, I'm a Strega/Mustang fan anyway, but I have to say that I'm rooting for Voodoo this year. She's been my silent favorite for quite a few years now, and like what was said earlier, Bob really has paid his dues, and he's a homeboy (lives close to where I live). He and Will are both great guys. If I had one wish, it would be for everyone to make it through the week unhurt!

Race 29

[Mluvara]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

Evening,

R-3350s were always frail compared to the other round engines. They have a well documented failure history dating back to their first installations on the B-29, where they tended to swallow valves. There were numerous failures that led to major fires. So to say "stock" R-3350 failure fall into a different category is an over simplification. Yes the engine family gave satisfactory service later in their service life, but the time on the wing for a R-3350 was low as they either failed or had a low hourly removal time to try to prevent them failing in service.

I never cared for them when I was in the service as they were always being worked on between flights. They were a maintenance hog the kept me on the flight line many a cold, wet night waiting for the engine boys to fix one or finish a change of one or more.

Willie

Indeed your statement about the reliability of 3350's is much similar to what I have heard from many others who have worked on them throughout their history. In fact, the 2800 and 4360' are revered as much better powerplants.

My statement was simplified in that the race 3350's are a different beast all together, just like the race Merlins. Both are being pushed way past their limits, however Merlins were a much better engine reliability wise and the "race" Merlins are getting overhauled each year.

The 3350 has quite the mass of metal moving around in every direction!

Michael

[WARPT]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

Why? Not a single R-3350 powered Sea Fury to fly (that's right, no Riff Raff either). Yawn. No Texas race pilots in the gold. What!! Not much drama. Rare Bear and Strega ready to go. They will go one and two, someone will have a radiator coolant leak and out. Voodoo and Dreadnought will go three and four, someone will have a radiator coolant leak and out. Everyone else will do nice fly-by passes.
Am I getting jaded?

Yes, it appears that there will be a shortage of round engines in the Unlimiteds this year.
But just 3 or 4 years ago there was a shortage of Merlins in the Unlimited class. I believe I read that the lack of Merlins a few years ago was due to a bad batch of bearings? The Merlins were "making metal" and it kept them out.
Is there something similar (a batch of inferior parts) going on with the 3350s this year?

The 3350s will be back.
And like it was mentioned earlier in this thread....this is the BEST week of the year!
Each time when there seems to be a weak Unlimited Gold field.......it appears that the closer race week gets, the more exciting it becomes. And I find myself thinking....this is going to be the best Reno yet!
I'll be there Monday the 13th! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

[T. Adams]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

There is a lot of missing planes and pilots in all classes, but, and this is a big IF, IF, the top five Gold runners all hold together until Sunday, (Strega, Voodoo, GG, RRIII, and the Bear), it could be one hell of a race. But it's a BIG IF????

That's the only reason I need to spend ten days standing in the dust.

[Warbird5]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

There is a lot of missing planes and pilots in all classes, but, and this is a big IF, IF, the top five Gold runners all hold together until Sunday, (Strega, Voodoo, GG, RRIII, and the Bear), it could be one hell of a race. But it's a BIG IF????

That's the only reason I need to spend ten days standing in the dust.

As Kerch has been reported to have said, and I agree 100 percent. "Wait until Monday".

I will be there to see it all unfold and play out.

Willie
Unlimited Race 2
Crew Dog

[ChrisMX105]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

Afternoon,

I had to comment on the R-3350 powered aircraft that will not show this year.

Although there have been wins put up in the Unlimited Gold by R-3350 powered racers it appears to me that there have been more engine failures of R-3350 racers than wins.

Rear Bear always seems to find a way to have an engine failure. I understand that Sanders are so feed up with removing and rebuilding R-3350s that they are putting a R-2800 on Argonaut! Add Spirit of Texas and the recently reported engine failure Riff Raf had to the list and one can clearly see that the R-3350 is too fragile to be raced. If people continue to race them the only people that will be happy in my estimation are the engine re-builders cause they will be kept busy during the current economic downturn charging 80K a pop rebuilding them!

The R-3350s and R-4360s were designed and built for transport work and from my military days the manuals on the R-4360 were quite clear about operating limitations, especially the duration for the application of take-off power and RPM ranges that continuous operation was prohibited. As we have seen in racing that even with the "slow" nose cases installed the R-3350 is just fragile. That's my two cents....What's your?

Willie

Spirit of Texas was on it's 12th year at Reno with the SAME engine when they had a cylinder start heading south, Stew made the decision to park it to avoid a chance of bending the airframe, Bear ran 489 avg speed on Sunday 2009 with a slightly modified stock powerplant (That was still flyable when it was removed)
Most people do not realize that these guys (Merlins or Radial) are pushing 1930's technology to the equivalent of driving your car at max throttle for 10 minutes every time they run a race, Failures are a part of the sport.

[3350nut]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

i sure hope the 3350s come back. as far as the engs. that were originally on the b-29 you really cant compare the -75s to the -95s. they made quite a few improvements over the years & the o/h shop i work for (anderson) incorporates most if not all of those improvements in every 3350 eng. o/h. thank you, dan stout

[stuntflyr]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

B-29 engines have nothing in common with any other R-3350. They have different cylinders, the case is different, and the layout is so that the front cylinders exhaust forward and the rows are much closer together than the later models.

My dad flew Connies at TWA and reported the same as most airline and military Connie pilots. The failures were one cylinder failed, or a PRT failed and the engine was shutdown as a precautionary. The PRT or cylinder was replaced and said engine soldiered on. Catastrophic failures were not the rule.

The slow nose case allows the 3350 to have the engine rpm INCREASED during racing to increase the power and keep the prop in an efficient rpm range, it is not utilized in air racing as something to increase reliability.

[stuntflyr]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

B-29 engines have nothing in common with any other R-3350. They have different cylinders, the case is different, and the layout is so that the front cylinders exhaust forward and the rows are much closer together than the later models.

My dad flew Connies at TWA and reported the same as most airline and military Connie pilots. The failures were one cylinder failed, or a PRT failed and the engine was shutdown as a precautionary. The PRT or cylinder was replaced and said engine soldiered on. Catastrophic failures were not the rule.

The slow nose case allows the 3350 to have the engine rpm INCREASED during racing to increase the power and keep the prop in an efficient rpm range, it is not utilized in air racing as something to increase reliability.

[BUD_XXX]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

More about 3350's..

Dad flew DC-7's, which use the 3350, all across the Atlantic and Europe, and had more than a couple of engine issues.
Once, ferrying cargo back to the CONUS, an hour out of Shannon, Ireland, lost an inboard engine..cut and feathered the engine, and since they were short of the "point of no return", made a Uturn back to Shannon..and by the time they landed, had only one engine still turning... sorta scary,... yeah....
He also experienced lots of jug failures, and the maintenance crews were always busy with that plane....

[Warbird5]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

More about 3350's..

Dad flew DC-7's, which use the 3350, all across the Atlantic and Europe, and had more than a couple of engine issues.
Once, ferrying cargo back to the CONUS, an hour out of Shannon, Ireland, lost an inboard engine..cut and feathered the engine, and since they were short of the "point of no return", made a Uturn back to Shannon..and by the time they landed, had only one engine still turning... sorta scary,... yeah....
He also experienced lots of jug failures, and the maintenance crews were always busy with that plane....

You have to ask yourself.....With so many pilots and crews of transport type aircraft powered by R-3350s experiencing in-flight shutdowns, given the available maintenance and overhaul programs the government and the airlines had in place at the time, why would anyone expect these engines to have any kind of reliable service life run at the power settings used at Reno without extensive maintenance, to include inspection, and regular removal, tear down and replacement of internal components?

Thirteen years on the wing sounds good, and an argument can be made that the aircraft has had low operating time during this period, but it seems to me that the wear and tear on the engine in those thirteen years of demanding use at Reno followed by occasional relatively normal use is the exception. I'm surprised that the same engine has been installed for that long without removal or major work involved on Spirit of Texas.

Willie

[bulldawg66]

Re: Man Is It Quite In Here Or What?

You have to ask yourself....

Do I feel lucky???

Well, do ya, Punk???