Aviation Art…

Posted on by March 31, 2016

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Having spent time both over the Indian Ocean, and on it, the detail in this one is amazing and completely correct for the water colors, and the typical clouds…

Comments

Aviation Art… — 12 Comments

  1. Am I missing something, because I don’t see any reason for the splash-landing – wings intact, engine turning, no other apparent damage.

    • Forward momentum against a prop that is spinning with its tips in the water would have bent it at the least if not tear the blades from the hub.

      But the colors, the art itself, etc are exceptionally well done.

      • Absolutely agree about the art, it just seems to have been painted by someone who hasn’t given any thought as to why ‘planes crash, or what happens when they do.

        The image of that aircraft, though makes me wish I were rich enough to own a fleet of WWII warbirds.

    • A propeller will ‘windmill’ due to the airflow, just like a helicopter’s blades will auto-rotate. Twins and multis have props that feather changing the blade pitch so the blade is at 90degrees, this reduces drag so that the remaining engine(s) can bring you home. There is no reason to feather the prop on a single-engine airplane, you’ll only extend the glide a bit and the feathering pump is heavy and expensive, so they’re not fitted. Go to youtube and search for ‘feathering prop’.

      If the plane is out of fuel, the prop would be turning all the way down.

  3. Went in the water in an AD-5N off the runway at Malta. Climbing out and at about 1500 ‘ when the fan stopped! Jerked hard on the shoulder straps as the pilot pushed the nose over to keep speed up and he greased that thing so that it stalled at about 5’ and pancaked to a dead stopl. We both got out and stood on the wings for about two minutes before she headed for the bottom. Helo arrived about 10 mins after that. I do recall that I needed a change of shorts later on! That old saw about being “scared Sh–less” is BS, the old sphincter gets mighty flexible!

  4. All- I don’t know the rest of the story, sorry… Ev- Great story, glad you get to tell it!

    Posted from my iPhone.

  5. The back story is he flew 400 nm at low level over water to make a kill. Using various sources that is all I got. Perhaps he ran out of gas.

  6. Silly question. Why did WWII naval fliers ditch the plane instead of bailing out? Wouldn’t the possibility of being trapped in a sinking plane be greater than that of a parachute not opening?

  7. Al- they were more afraid of jumping than they were ditching. Don’t ask me why… Maybe it was trusting the airplane more than some silk. 🙂