AeroDinosaur focuses on the twilight operations of large obsolete propliners and similar military aircraft that dominated the 1930's through the early 1960's eras. It's mainly about legacy heavy piston aircraft such as the Douglas DC-7, DC-6, Lockheed Super Constellation, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Martin 404 and others, operating in their twilight years from the late 1980's to the present, in freighter, "museum" and private operations. Most of this "full-and-accurate" audio/video footage is rare and otherwise unpublished up to now.
AeroDinosaur is a late follow-on to our earlier production company, Regulus Productions, which successfully produced and marketed "old fashioned" videotape cassettes on the same topic in the early 1990's. All our posts will be of reasonable, otherwise "watchable" quality, with the caveat that the concepts of "Go-Pro" and "High-Def" simply did not exist during the earliest--that is "most"--of our filming.
Like the previous commentor, I started out in B-18's and Dc-3's and I even did a very short stint as a copilot on a DC-6 at Trash Can out of Ypsianti. If I wasn't flying them, I was working on them at the time. I retired from the airlines, but I always was astounded by how little most pilots knew about what it takes to keep modern jets in the air, never mind these mechanical nightmares in the sky. For instance, my father was a B-36 crew chief and post service a mechanic for Capital/United airlines. He loved the DC-7 for the overtime pay. They ran them on transcons racing American for schedule reliability. It might be an old man story but he told me that after every trip, 5 or 6 jugs would have to be changed, He said he paid a good chunk of our house off on the overtime. Just a story as I have no idea if it's true, but it was fun to listen to. Almost forgot, love your videos, Thanks for taking the time to make them.
The long range DC-7C Seven Seas variant that was capable of going non-stop trans-Atlantic was a technical marvel for its time. It never saw any success because only two years later they were rendered completely obsolete by commercial jets. You can tell the difference between them and the other variants and the DC-6 by their four bladed props.
I grew up in Miami and spent many hours around “corrosion corner “ often getting rides on check flights in the back of the empty fuselages as a young kid I retired as a 777 captain but will never forget my time as a DC 6 engineer
Thanks for checking us out! Always glad to hear from Corrosion Corner crews that actually lived it (I just visited). Good that you broke out and worked your way up to the 777-- I understand that some worked up to the heavies there but others didn't. And then there were the retired pilots from majors like you who turned right around and flew propliners again at Corrosion Corner--but I'm sure all that was history by the time you retired. I flew with some older pilots down there that did just that. You might like our DC-6 West Indies Odyssey series on this AeroDinosaur channel. Thanks again. J.A. Reed
Thanks for checking us out and for the nice compliment! That DC-7C hulk you saw at Gran Canaria has been there for years--I had no idea it was still there. I believe the leisure airline called Spantax was its last operator. JA Reed.
Agreed! There is no aircraft in the world that can equal the stubbornness of the beautiful DC-3. Happily, it will outlive me as well! Thanks for watching! J.A. Reed
My hubby flew in the right seat of N8407 last Sept with Bill Thacker. He really enjoyed it! Will do it again for 2024 on the Tri-motor, also do the DC-3 too.
I have not ridden on N8407 yet but am going to! It's been down for maintenance for a year or two, but I think it's now back up and running (or close to it). I too would like to catch the DC-3. Thanks for checking us out! J.A. Reed
I got to fly on a United DC6B from upstate NY to DC in the late 60's Probably one of the last prop routes as United was using them on their secondary routes probably waiting for new jets to replace them.
Looks like you came close to making history. United's very last DC6B trip was a "puddle jump" operation from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, with stops at Ely NV, Elko NV, and Reno NV on February 28, 1970. Thanks for checking us out! J.A. Reed
I love the models! What an incredible cool collection and theme; I want to have a shelf like that too! Am I correct in that some of them are 1/72 and some are 1/144 scale? I sure would love to see a whole video on the models! Thanks for the videos; very interesting detail on the engines. My friend's dad was a B-24 pilot with the 448th BG flying out of Seething; he flew thirty missions from May '44 to Sept. '44, some of them to Berlin. Seven months after he'd completed his tour, his plane - or the plane that he had flown most of the time - the 'Miss B-Hav'n' was shot down by rocket-firing Me-262's, in the same attack that got 'Red Bow' and 'Trouble-in-Mind'. 'Red Bow' is that famous picture of the 448th Liberator going down with the tail blown off and trailing debris. The Me-262 then streaked on through the 446th chased by two Mustangs!
I'm glad you like the models, I do too! I built them over a 50-year period. You are correct, mostly 1/72 and 1/144, but some 1/48. We regularly feature them as "props" in our videos and will continue to do so. Your idea of a special feature dedicated to the models is a good one, so we'll think about putting something together. Glad you like our videos too, and thanks for the background on your dad's friend. When I was growing up my dad had a close friend who flew PB4Y-1s over the Bay of Biscay during WWII hunting for U-Boats. His plane was shot up by a Ju-88 but he got it back safely--luckily not a scratch on any of the crew. J.A. Reed
After WWII the Navy did take several PB4Y-2's out of service and stored them. Some were placed back into service after the start of the Korean War. My father was in the last PB4Y-2 squadron to carry the Bat glide bombs in the Korean War. They also delivered PB4Y-2's from California to Taiwan (Formosa) for the CIA, to use as spy planes over Red China. The spy planes were manned by Taiwanese crews and several were shot down by the Chinese. The Taiwanese squadron was called, the Black Bat Squadron. My father's squadron started training with the P2V in the Summer of 1954, but since he was nearing his discharge, he wasn't involved with the P2V, as they were training his replacement.
Thanks a lot for sharing- your interesting story about your dad and his PB4Y-2 squadron with the last Bat bombs. Also, I have an interesting book on the Black Bat Squadron and their aircraft lineage, by Chris Pocock/Clarence Fu, Schiffer Military Histories (2010) ISBN 978-0-7643-3513-6. If you don't have it already you will find it very interesting--I have re-read it several times over the last decade. Your dad was part of a brave group for sure. J.A. Reed
@@AeroDinosaur Thanks. I will get a copy of the book. I live near the National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. They have a large aviation book shop. I'll call them and see if they have it. When my father was still with us, the museum actually had a Bat glide bomb display and we went there together and he pointed it out to me. They change the displays all of the time though, so it may not be shown right now. The Navy offered my father a promotion if he renewed his enlistment. He declined, but on his 25th birthday in 1954, they gave him another promotion anyway. He went to St. Louis and got a copy of his Navy record and gave it to me. He used his GI Bill to get an engineering degree and became a civilian research scientist for the US Navy. He mostly designed RADAR systems and worked on designing one of the two RADAR systems for Skylab and worked on designing the RADAR system for AWACS. I still have his AWACS flight coveralls and AWACS patches.
You mentioned that your DC-7C could be in Tshikapa City in the Congo. Google Earth and a satellite view in Google Maps does show a 4 engine airliner at the airport parked in the off ramp area,. Perhaps this is your plane.
Yes, we sparked a lot of discussion on that Tshikapa City hulk visible from Google Earth, and even heard from one of the crewmen who had flown our DC-7C between the Congo and Angola. At first everyone thought it was our plane, but after careful inspection, everyone agreed that image was an abandoned Vickers Viscount turboprop. There are some people still trying to track down the final resting place (more probably, the "destruction place") of the DC-7C N869TA. Thanks for checking us out, and please let us know if you hear anything! J.A. Reed.
Watching Piston era propliners here is like a trip back to the time when Jets were still a thing of the future. Even after the first jetliners were introduced on international routes to Australia and further up into the Pacific, provincial routes were stiil serviced by DC - 3 Skyliners. Our house on the flight path to the civil airport at Rongatai, was a busy stretch of air space. Now that's all changed. The air routes are the same, aircraft flight frequency has increased to an almost unbroken line, and the drone from the piston engines has been replaced by a hushed exhaust noise from the four jet engines.😂
Yes, it was almost the same story here in the US--and where I live in the middle of the US in St. Louis. DC-3s and even TWA L-749 Connies until 1967, long after the 727-100s and DC-9s appeared! Thank you for watching! J.A. Reed
Unlike you I was never in SE Asia, but I undersand there were A-1s in and out of Udorn back then. I hear it was a primary recovery base for damaged A-1s and other combat aircraft such as the A-26A. J.A. Reed
Well done video! I was disappointed to not see the Caribou on which I worked for many years... N6080, which was s/n 2! Coming of age during the end of the piston powered freight dog era was of course bittersweet. I am grateful for having the opportunity to use the skills that my instructors at Spartan said I'd never use after passing my tests!
Thanks for checking us out and for your complement! Sorry I missed N6080 s/n 2! I know a few other Spartan grads, most likely from your era, who for a short time did skin their knuckles on round engines, but not for long! Thanks again. J.A. Reed.
Very well done! Super historical account of the evolution of the Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp D and aircraft it powered. Can’t wait until AeroDinosaur’s release of his next Poor Man’s Hangar Tour episode.
My brothers and I used to bicycle to the Rotterdam airport in the mid-seventies to watch the BAF Carvairs coming and going! Such a striking profile, real standouts on the ramp. Great video by the way👋👋
Thanks for watching and for your compliment! I saw two Carvairs over my neighborhood in the midwest US, one in 1995 and the other in 2005, but never on the ramp. Came into St. Louis all the time in the early and mid-1990s serving the auto assembly components industry here. Warmest wishes to you! J.A. Reed
Thank you for posting. I am also enjoying reading your book. I would love to see more content on turboprops...Viscounts, L-188 Electras, Vanguards, and Britannias/CL-44s.
Thanks a million for watching and getting our book. I agree with you about covering 1st generation turboprops--they have a special place in my heart for sure and I have a lot of very personal memories, especially the L-188 and CL-44. You will see the L-188 is discussed in several places in my book. I just don't have the immediate "rights" to video footage of them!. I get a lot of inquiries about that--will do my best to see if I can get a series going on early turboprops. J.A. Reed
I vividly remember DC-7B Super Snoopy! But I only wished I could be there. I actually talked to Clay Lacy about Super Snoopy when he was at an airshow near St. Louis in 1971. Thanks for watching! J.A. Reed
I just found this channel, and I have to admit that it's great content. Describing the engine and then the range and models of aircraft it was fitted in, the operators and all make for a great understanding. So I didn't know the Canadair C-54M and even when you Google it not that many results show up, but now I know of this transport/civilian airliner which sounds as a Lancaster. Of the DC-4 there is an example brought back from South Africa by the Flying Dutchman Foundation here in the Netherlands, and plans are to return it to airworthy condition. This after the Dutch Dakota Association, the former owner of this plane, announced that they will cease operation of their operational DC-3 airplanes for round trips by the end of this year due to rising cost. So we hope that the plan with the DC-4 will be a success and we can keep on enjoying these radial sounds.
Hi Tom, good to hear from you, thanks for watching and your nice words. I've seen some good RU-vids on your Flying Dutchman Foundation DC-4 when it was with the Dutch Dakota Association. Thanks for the update on it--I always wondered what happened to it. We will keep our fingers crossed! Regards, J.A. Reed
In 1990 I helped return two Carvairs to the air. They were bought by an American company based in Hawaii named Hawaii Pacific. I was on the delivery of the 2nd aircraft in october 1990. It took us about 25 hours flight time spread over 3 days to arrive at Honolulu. We had 3 days on the ground for rest ,maintainance & sightseeing at Pago pago & Christmas Island. I got about 8 hours in the cockpit even though I was only an extra engineer. A flight to remember.
I think I remember reading about those Hawaiian Carvairs. I have a few books on that plane. Pretty bold of you guys to fly those old things over those expanses of the Pacific but I would not pass it up either. I've never ridden on a DC-4 or Carvair. Thanks for watching and for your story! J.A. Reed.
Neat! When I arrived at NAS Whidbey Island as a young sailor in 1972, VP-69 was still flying the P2V. I always enjoyed listening to those R3350 engines rumble and hearing the brakes squeal as they taxied by my line shack.
Yes, that was the timeframe I became aware of the P2V as well. If you were a young sailor in 1972 you are about my age. I just liked watching the P2Vs over my house in St. Louis back then, and off North Island San Diego during our trips over there, and even over Columbia, MO when I was in college there 1973-1977. Thanks for checking us out! Also, most importantly, thanks for your service! J.A. Reed
I'm not absolutely sure, but the wing design was similar. The XB19 was much larger than the DC-4E using early R-3350s vs the R-2180s in the -4E. I'm sure they shared the latest technology of the day, however. Thanks for watching. J.A. Reed
Thanks for checking us out, Cliff. Glad you are enjoying my channel. In my earlier videos, viewers have complained about the music, but I think pure airplane people look beyond that, and we have since stopped that practice anyway. Please let me know what else we can do to improve! J.A. Reed
Hi John, Thanks as always for your remarkable attention to detail, taking us another step in understanding of the Twin Wasp and its variants. Living in Rhodesia, I never got a trip in a DC-4, but in 1961 I got an unexpected ride in an East African Airways DC-4M from Johannesburg back to Salisbury after my Alitalia DC-8 flight from Rome had diverted. I had to wait till 1965 to get my first and only R-2000-powered ride in a BUAF Carvair from Geneva to Lydd-Ferryfield, due to family illness on a car journey across Europe. Two years later, I got a supernumerary ride on a R-1830-powered DC-3 (well, C-47 Dakota) with Morton Air Services (a subsidiary of BUA), and later did 500 hrs P2 on the type. FWIW, Freddie Laker's ATL Carvair first entered service with his Channel Air Bridge in 1962, just before that operator merged with Silver City to form BUAF (British United Air Ferries), part of the BUA (British United Airways) group. It was only after the latter was reorganised in 1968 that BUAF was renamed BAF, as shown in your video.
Hi Chris, great to hear from you again and thanks for watching again, for your compliments, and for your information! I enjoyed our past communication on the DC-7C and your Rhodesian experiences. You've flown in everything (DC4M, Carvair!) that I have not! I suppose that was before mass-market video camera technology--you could have made a killer RU-vid channel, even today. Wow! How did you get all those hours on that P2? J.A. Reed
@@AeroDinosaur It was a long time ago, even by your standards, John! In case of any confusion, it was 500 hrs "P2" (co-pilot time) on the C-47 with Morton's (a subsidiary of British United Airways) out of Gatwick in 1967/8 - mainly newspapers and mail to Germany in the early hours for the BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) and the Channel Islands. The C-47 "Dakota" was my second public-transport type after flying school. Stay well, and keep making these fascinating presentations!
@@chrisscott4896 Looks like I got my designations mixed up! In the 1980s we had several Convair 440s flying Wall Street Journals out of St. Louis. These days it seems funny, if not primitive, to transport tonnage that consists of nothing but "information" with R-1830s or R-2800s --Kind of like Wells Fargo Stage Coaches moving huge boxes of cash! Thanks again, and we will keep the videos coming as long as we can. Still have a lot of material to use! J.A. Reed
Back then in the '30s, what was then considered "long-range" is now "medium-range" or less by today's aircraft technology standards. The big seaplanes had to do a lot of island hopping for fuel. Landplanes got to a point where they could make longer and longer runs nonstop.
Fascinating, what a great channel. I still have a lot to learn it seems, even after a lifetime of interest and learning. Thanks... 80 y/o former PWA employee.
All that is good but I wanted to keep this one simpler and keep the running time down. I've done all that on several other videos available on our channel. I'd advise you to look on our AeroDinosaur video list for our flight deck videos on the DC-7C, DC-6 and B-29 FiFi and you will get blow-by-blow descriptions during each flight on what's going on with inflight power conditions including prop settings, manifold pressure, BMEP, spark timing, as well as critical V airspeeds, etc. similar to the training films. All those involve either the R-3350s or the R-2800s, obviously depending on the video you are watching. J.A. Reed
HARS does the best job in the world of preserving and flying large vintage props, both military and commercial. I did not know they had two flying Caribous--very good news. Thanks for checking us out! J.A. Reed
Let's see how many I can check off. 1st ever plane ride was on a DC-3, then Martin 404 and Convair 340 and finally the Caribou in Vietnam, operated by Aussies. I liked to watch them depart Vinh Long after dropping their cargo and leaving empty. They would get off the ground at about halfway down the 3300 foot PSP strip, suck up the gear, build airspeed and at the end of the strip, haul back on the yoke into a 75 or 80 degree climb until they lost airspeed and levelled off. (Had to avoid ground fire, even though there was never any in the daytime.)
Wow, NEVER heard of the R-2000 before this video! Not to mention the R-2180 as well. I must have never tried to figure out what engine powered the DC-4. However, I guess that my aviation interest has always gravitated more toward fighters and bombers over transport aircraft and airliners. VERY interesting video sir! I just now subscribed. Thank you very much! Idea perhaps- I would love to see a video covering the complete history of U.S. Avgas and what engines used what octanes.
Thanks for watching and glad to be of service, and thanks for subscribing! I too like fighters/bombers just as much, and our collection of available videos we produced features both categories because the technologies between combat aircraft and transports cannot be separated. Also, I like your idea on avgas/engine history--I have put it in my "ideas hopper." J.A. Reed
One of my cherished goals is to reach you guys. I admire you greatly and thank you for your service. My cousin was USAF at Bien Hoa during the same timeframe you were there. J. A. Reed
FANTASTIC PLASTIC MODEL AIRCRAFT COLLECTION. MY FATHER FLEW THE C47, C54, C118, B17G, B25H, ET CETERA IN THE USAF. HE WAS BASED AT ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, WHERE HE FLEW THE LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION. LATER ON, AT MATHER AFB, HE FLEW THE CONVAIR T29D. HARD TO BELIEVE THE VARIETY OF AIRCRAFT. YOUR VIDEO OF THESE AIRCRAFT IS EXCELLENT. REMEMBER ABOUT THE PIMA AIRCRAFT MUSEUM (OUTSIDE), WHERE THEY HAVE THESE PLANES IN REAL LIFE. (THIS IS SOUTH OF TUCSON, ARIZONA) YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. RICK
Glad you like the models. I visited Pima in 1987 and took tons of photos (before many of the aircraft were refurbished or painted), but things have changed a lot for the better since then. Sounds like your Dad had a career I would have wanted--too late for me now! I may have been involved with several propliners over the decades, but by far not enough of them! J.A. Reed
Congratulations to preserve this unforgettable period in time, specially to those who had the chance to live it travelling in those fantastic aircraft!!!
Always glad when I see you have a new video. I know I said it before but in the mid-late 90s I was crabbing and logging around the Gulf of Alaska and The Bering Sea and rode around in Electras operated by Reeve Aleutian Airways and even got to ride around a few times on a Grumman Goose(Akutan to Dutch Harbor or the other way around, often on the same day and often in terrifying weather). Was quite the experience. Thanks for these great videos
Thank you Guapo, I knew I would hear from you again! No, you never told me that story. I've never been on an L-188 Electra, would love to have filmed one, but now it's basically too late! I think I would have preferred nicer weather than you experienced!
@@AeroDinosaur Thought I shared my stories with you before .. guess I’m wrong. Yeah in the heavy turbulence sometimes those wings would flex up and down so much it looked like a bird flapping it’s wings! They always got me there and back though.
My Dad was a passenger on a TCA North Star: he said they had an advanced noise control system: they kept all the noise INSIDE the airplane so that the outside was quiet.
