Bamboo Bomber
The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-gine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap betwe single-gine trainers and larger multi-gine combat aircraft. The commercial version was the Model T-50, from which the military versions were developed.
In 1939, three years after Clyde Cessna retired, the Cessna T-50 made its first flight, becoming the company's first twin-gine airplane, and its first retractable undercarriage airplane. The prototype T-50 first flew on 26 March 1939,
The AT-8, AT-17, C-78, UC-78 and Crane were military versions of the commercial Cessna T-50 light transport. The Cessna Airplane Company first produced the wood and tubular steel, fabric-covered T-50 in 1939 for the civilian market, as a lightweight and lower cost twin for personal use where larger aircraft such as the Beechcraft Model 18 would be too expsive. A low-wing cantilever monoplane, it featured retractable main landing gear and trailing edge wing flaps, both electrically actuated via chain-driv screws. The retracted main landing gear left some of the wheels extded below the gine nacelle for emergcy wheel-up landings. The wing structure was built around laminated spruce spar beams, truss-style spruce and plywood ribs, and plywood wing leading edges and wing tips. The fixed tailwheel is not steerable, but can be locked straight. The Curtiss Reed metal fixed-pitch propellers were soon replaced with Hamilton Standard 2B-20-213 hydraulically-actuated, constant-speed, non-featherable propellers. Power was provided by two 225 hp (168 kW) Jacobs L-4MB gines rated at 245 hp (183 kW) for takeoff. Production began in December 1939.
Bamboo Bomber Preview (czech Model 1/48)
On 19 July 1940, United States Assistant Secretary of War Louis A. Johnson ordered 33 AT-8 trainers, based on the T-50 for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Modifications included cockpit roof windows, more powerful 290 hp (220 kW) Lycoming R-680 gines and military radios. The first AT-8 was delivered to the USAAC in December 1940, and in late 1941, the US Army ordered an additional 450 AT-17s, based on the T-50. Modifications included additional cockpit windows and 245 hp (183 kW) Jacobs R-755-9 gines.
Production for the U.S. Army Air Corps continued under the designation AT-17 reflecting a change in equipmt and gine types. In 1942, the U.S. Army Air Force (the successor to the Air Corps from June 1941) ordered the Bobcat as a light transport as C-78s, which were redesignated as UC-78s on 1 January 1943. By the d of World War II, Cessna had produced more than 4, 600 Bobcats for the U.S. Army, 67 of which were transferred to the United States Navy as JRC-1s. It was giv the nickname the Bamboo Bomber in US service. Few Bobcats were still in service with the United States Air Force wh it was formed in September 1947, and the type was declared obsolete in 1949.
In September 1940, the Royal Canadian Air Force ordered 180 Crane Mk.I trainers, Cessna's largest order to date. Modifications for the RCAF included Hartzell fixed-pitch wood propellers, removable cylinder head baffles, and oil heaters. The first Crane Mk.I was delivered to the RCAF in November 1940, and Cessna th received an additional order from the RCAF for 460 more Crane Mk.Is. An additional 182 AT-17A were received by the RCAF through ld-lease, operated under the designation Crane Mk.IA, bringing the total produced for the RCAF to 822, which were operated under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
Cessna Uc 78b Bamboo Bomber
In addition to military orders, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA, precursor to the FAA) ordered 13 T-50s, and Pan American Airways ordered 14 T-50s. Aircraft operated by the US military and by the RCAF were retired shortly after the d of the war and many were exported worldwide including to Brazil and the Nationalist Chinese.
After the war, surplus AT-17s and UC-78s could be converted with CAA-approved kits to civilian-standard aircraft allowing their certification under the original T-50 approved type certificate.
They were used by small airlines, charter and bush operators, and private pilots. Some were operated on floats. By the 1970s, the number of airworthy aircraft had dwindled as they were made obsolete by more modern types and by the maintance required by their aging wood wing structures and fabric covering. Since th, several have be restored by antique airplane thusiasts.
Cessna T 50 Crane, Twin Engine Five Seat Low Wing Light Transport/training Aircraft, U.s.a
Experimtal T-50 with more powerful 300 hp (220 kW) Jacobs L-6MB gines, and plywood covered tailplane and wings, one built, first flown 2 June 1941.
As per AT-17 but with metal propellers and reduced weight, 223 built. 182 to Canada as Crane Mk.IAs and later conversions to AT-17Fs.Cessna Aircraft built its earliest T-50 twins as civilian aircraft for the commercial light transport market. The airplane, which was first flown in March of 1939, was made of wood and tubular steel and covered in fabric. According to ClassicWarbirds.net, the T-50 was a lightweight and low-cost twin for personal use, where larger aircraft such as the Beech 18 would be too expensive. At the time, it was an attractive aircraft for this market.
But then, Germany invaded Poland. Because civilian aircraft production was suspended during World War II, aircraft companies looked to gain military contracts. Dwane Wallace of Cessna Aircraft secured contracts from two governments—the United States and Canada—and the company set about building the AT-17 Bobcat, the military version of the Cessna T-50.
Cessna T 50 / Uc 78 Bobcat
In his article King of the Tailwheels in the April 2012 issue of Cessna Flyer, Lyn Freeman writes, Metal—especially aluminum—was in scarce supply. Consequently, the new Bobcat was made largely of wood, spawning its nickname, the 'Bamboo Bomber.' Some may also recall that Kirby Grant flew a Bamboo Bomber—the original Songbird—in the first 39 episodes of the 1950s television series Sky King.
During the war, this training aircraft was used mainly to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and twin-engine combat aircraft, according to ClassicWarbirds.net. Freeman provides the details: Army Air Corps pilots who flew the C-47, B-25, B-24, B-17 and B-29 all took their advanced training in the Bobcat.
Bamboo Bomber enthusiast and historian Terry Sullivan has been enchanted by the Cessna T-50 and its military versions, the AT-17 and UC-78, for a long time.
Cessna Uc 78 “bamboo Bomber”, Commemorative Air Force, Scale Model
Sullivan was born in the Midwest but has lived in Louisiana since the mid-1960s. Sullivan's father was in the Army Air Force during World War II and afterward he stayed in the military; the family moved several times.
I came across a picture I had taken with my Brownie box camera—two of these old black-and-white photos [of Bamboo Bombers] taken when we were up in Alaska. It was around 1960, so I must have been 11 or 12 years old.
National Museum Of The United States Air Force™ > Display - Bamboo Bomber title=Cessna UC 78B Bobcat > National Museum Of The United States Air Force™ > Display style=width:100%;text-align:center; onerror=this.onerror=null;this.src='https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbCbCfGqwqDoFpvyIMN2ghFWeIEYllg3_3rwRP3Oi5V7gv74usxAOBwuJx3Xymn2mFCzg&usqp=CAU'; />
Sullivan learned how to fly after college. He's a pilot and an A&P, and his wife, Barbara, is also an aviator. Sullivan's life work was not in aviation, though. He recently retired from the oil and gas industry; Barbara celebrated her own retirement just days before I spoke with Terry.
Cessna Bobcat Uc 78
The couple lives in Bossier City, La. on the final approach path for Barksdale AFB, Runway 15. When we were in the process of buying our house, the realtor said the only thing [about the location] was that 'there's too much airplane noise.' But Barbara and I, veterans of numerous trips to Oshkosh [for EAA AirVenture] and other aviation events, both feel that you can't have too much airplane noise!
I'd venture to say that radial engine noise—particularly that from a fully restored Cessna T-50, is perhaps among one of Sullivan's favorites. Those Jacobs R-755-9s on the Bobcat have a beautiful sound, like 20 Harleys at a stoplight, Sullivan said of the aircraft.
In addition to the Bamboo Bomber, the couple owns a Piper Comanche 250 (a great cross-country airplane, he said), which they've had for about 13 years. We get them and keep them a long time, said Sullivan. That's good, because T-50s are quickly going away.
Cessna Uc 78b Bobcat Bamboo Bomber By Rlkitterman On Deviantart
It's a majestic airplane, Sullivan said, and—though some had nicknamed the UC-78 the Useless 78 for its limited application and performance—a popular one. Between 1939 and 1945 Cessna built more than 5, 400 of these aircraft, and most all of them went to the military.
Today only a fraction of those remain. This shrinking of the fleet can be traced to many factors: the aircraft's size (it can be difficult to hangar); general age and deterioration of the wooden airframes; a drastic change in fashion (even Sky King switched to the Cessna 310); and the hardships of maintenance.
It seemed as if everyone—even the aircraft's maker—turned away from the Bobcat. Daryl Murphy, in his article The Making of the Cessna 310 (Cessna Flyer, August 2004) writes, [Cessna] management insisted that the T-50 was to be ignored and concentration focused on all-metal, horizontal-engine aircraft.
Bamboo Bomber Crash At Ranch
Murphy continued, By 1950, the nation had rid itself of almost everything that reminded it of the war. Cessna had shed every vestige of the T-50 Bobcat, including the prototype and virtually all spare parts. Lest it be criticized for abandoning history and tradition, remember, the company was only 16 years old.
Sullivan explains how they did it. In 1945 and '46, the remaining military planes were sold to the civilian market. The new owners bought a kit
Posting Komentar untuk "Bamboo Bomber"