Boeing 337 Part 1

[Brett_Henderson]

I'm probably gonna start sounding like a payware reviewer

[Anxyous]

Nice! Weird looking plane though

[Brett_Henderson]

It's pretty much a passenger version of a B-29  (I think)..lol

[Hagar]

It's pretty much a passenger version of a B-29  (I think)..lol

It was actually based on the B-50 & by all accounts was a horrible aeroplane. Captain O.P Jones, the legendary chief pilot of BOAC, refused point-blank to fly it & was sacked on the spot. The Stratocruiser was in turn the basis for the Guppy series of transports.

To check the realism of the flight model try landing it on the mainwheels first. This was apparently impossible. It was reputed to have a very strong nose-leg.

[Brett_Henderson]

I can relate to reluctance.. I wouldn't be crazy about climbing into one either... But it was a reasonably succesful (and safe) passenger transport (albeit my research is young).. just not a good design for that kind of service. I won't give THAT much credit to the designers for replicating an ornery airplane.. but it sure is ornery. Not all that easy to fly either.. It's not forgiving, in any sense of the word.

From the few landings I've exectuted.. you'd have to really screw up the approach to be in a position to put the nose-wheel down first. I'm sure I could do it.. but it would be tough. Full flaps and a nose-down attitude would be a pretty dramtic vertical speed. Fine for losing some altitude, but you'd have to really screw up to do that near the ground.

That aside.. this is one heck of a sim model, in many ways.

Edit..  Oops.. you said main wheels..  :-[  my bad..

Yeah.. when you finally get it to stop flying (just at stall speed).. you aren't pitched up at all..   Even "greasing it in" would take a VERY long runway..

[Brett_Henderson]

Ok.. this is weird.

[Hagar]

I finally found what I've been searching for. Interesting comments by the late Wing Commander Tony Spooner DSO DFC on the foibles of the Stratocruiser. http://www.ovi.ch/b377/articles/speedbird/

The robustness of the nosewheel leg was proved on almost every landing, as the Strat, when near the ground, had a mind of its own and we used to arrive (one did not land a Strat; one arrived) with the most appalling thumps. No amount of heaving back on the pole would induce the mainwheels to make contact first. Various explanations were offered for this peculiarity. Some said that the wings, which were essentially those of the B-29, had been mated with the double-bubble fuselage at the incorrect angle of incidence. Others pinned the blame on the pernicious lift-spoilers.

Why build a splendid wing and then fit lift spoilers? The story was that the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA: the FAA-to-be) would not give the type its Certificate of Airworthiness because a wing was apt to drop when the aircraft stalled. The CAA wanted the nose to drop first, and the only swift remedy was to destroy an area of lift near the fuselage. Ironically, after BOAC had operated the type for about nine years it was decided that lift-spoilers were not necessary, and they were removed. I was then flying later types, but those who were still on Strats told me that it was then a much better-behaved aircraft.

As the aircraft also ran on its nosewheel alone for several hundred yards during take-off, this, too, could be quite exciting in a strong crosswind. The huge tail made the aircraft try to weathercock into wind.

I believe the B-52 also has this characteristic.

I also found another very interesting article on the Strat if you have 30 minutes or so to spare. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3901/is_200006/ai_n8911736/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1

Edit. Oops, I see you beat me to it on the first article.

[jankees]

Nice shots, but I've never bought it, too ugly for a start (but that's a question of taste), and never really wanted to fly this with all it's complexity.
But A2A are working on a P-47 with accusim, so I'll give that a try...

[firemonte007]

great looking shots...i have just downloaded this before i saw your shots, but i havent had a chance to take her up yet... i know she's not the prettiest girl at the ball but she does turn some heads

[Brett_Henderson]

Nice shots, but I've never bought it, too ugly for a start (but that's a question of taste), and never really wanted to fly this with all it's complexity.
But A2A are working on a P-47 with accusim, so I'll give that a try...

Yeah.. at first I'd have prefered a Connie, or a DC-6