Well first this is a link to the History Page which is interesting to read given we are repeatedly told the airline industry has always been self sufficient.....yeah right.
Anyway, I remember flying them in 1972 on their new Bahamas route. Lockhead 1011 from Chicago to Miami as I recall and a 727 from Miami to Nassau.
http://easternairlines.aero/about/history
CMStPnPWell first this is a link to the History Page which is interesting to read given we are repeatedly told the airline industry has always been self sufficient.....yeah right. Anyway, I remember flying them in 1972 on their new Bahamas route. Lockhead 1011 from Chicago to Miami as I recall and a 727 from Miami to Nassau. http://easternairlines.aero/about/history
Can't keep the dead down forever.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Now if they could bring the late Cap'n Eddie Rickenbacker back as well...
A hero of mine when I was a kid, and nothing I've read about him since those days has changed my opinion of him.
CMStPnP Well first this is a link to the History Page which is interesting to read given we are repeatedly told the airline industry has always been self sufficient.....yeah right. Anyway, I remember flying them in 1972 on their new Bahamas route. Lockhead 1011 from Chicago to Miami as I recall and a 727 from Miami to Nassau. http://easternairlines.aero/about/history
Flew on an Eastern Super Constellation LGA-Bermuda in 1956 just after they took over Colonial.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Braniff's name was revived twice, neither succeeded. Ozark Air Lines was revived as a regional, not sure if it's still flying.
Awesome! As much as I love trains there's sure a lot to be said for four radial engines! Now, if Pan Am was revived...
54light15 Awesome! As much as I love trains there's sure a lot to be said for four radial engines! Now, if Pan Am was revived...
Pat Ryan and Terry Lee were on thier way to the Orient and many adventures with the Dragon Lady.
"...China Clipper calling Alameda...China Clipper calling Alameda..."
schlimm CMStPnP Well first this is a link to the History Page which is interesting to read given we are repeatedly told the airline industry has always been self sufficient.....yeah right. Anyway, I remember flying them in 1972 on their new Bahamas route. Lockhead 1011 from Chicago to Miami as I recall and a 727 from Miami to Nassau. http://easternairlines.aero/about/history Flew on an Eastern Super Constellation LGA-Bermuda in 1956 just after they took over Colonial.
Current registration - N6937C After completed as L1049H N5400V, stored at Lockheed Aircraft, Burbank, CA due to cancelled order, til sold. Info and Photo @ http://www.conniesurvivors.com/N6937C.htm
I rather like the idea of Eastern rising from the ashes.
I'm somewhat less thrilled with the idea of piston power. Having worked on aircraft with up to 28 cylinders per engine I know that they are far more complex and failure prone than anything with a large exhaust pipe and a gutful of discs and blades. Want proof? Just look at the mandatory overhaul intervals, pistons versus turbines.
Chuck (retired USAF maintenance technician)
It's a PR photo of the turboprop, they are using modern jets.....
http://easternairlines.aero/
CMStPnP It's a PR photo of the turboprop, they are using modern jets..... http://easternairlines.aero/
The PR picture shows a Douglas plane, a DC 7B, in an older paint scheme. The engines were not turboprops, rather radial reciprocating engines, from Wright.
Eastern has indeed "risen from the ashes"; I saw a Boeing 737-800 in Eastern livery at BWI. I think it's either a charter airline or one with very limited destinations. I believe I still have my long-expired Ionosphere Club membership card somewhere.
“Things of quality have no fear of time.”
What I don't have is my "junior pilot" badge from Pan Am as well as the booties we had to wear when we toured a 707 on a class trip to Idlewild Airport in 1962. The girls were all junior stewardesses. I still have the coloring book from Pan Am that everyone was given. I did a nice job of coloring the Pan-American Grace (Panagra as I recall) DC-6? in the proper gold hue if I say so myself!
Firelock76 "...China Clipper calling Alameda...China Clipper calling Alameda..."
I can't hear the name Alameda without thinking about that movie.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Eastern (EAL) operated DC-6s, DC-7s, and Constellations L1049 (g?)s in the earl 1960s.
EAL first got rid of the DC-7s and kept the -6s and connies. It all came down to the engines. Although connies and -7s both had R-4360s engine the DC-7 had a much higher engine faiure rate. Old timers claimed it was due to inadequate cooling on the -7s. If you study the cowlings you can see that the -7s are much more streamlined and have been told cowl flaps were inadequate. The PRT ( a type of tubro charger ) often failed on -7s being swallowed into the cylinders.
So EAL started operating the shuttle with -6s and Connies. The -6s had R-2800s which were also on CV-440s. -6s were retired next with Connies staying on shuttle. Since it was so reliable EAL kept one Connie for ferrying jet engines around its system until the airline acquired B-727-QC passenger/freighters.
Another factor for the Connies was they took off at a much lower gross weight and mostly did not need to use the PRTs for takeoff power. Connies also had a sophisticated engine analysis system that could predict certain failures. Remember the USAF and weather service kept them in hurricane hunter service for a long time.
TWA was still operating L-1049Hs in transatlantic service while Pan Am had started using B-707s quickly because it was in a rush to get rid of its DC-7s.
Delta also got rid of its -7s first and kept three DC-6s that were converted into freighters. It retired the -6s when it acquired three L-100s ( civilian version of C-130 ).
Eastern had both the L 1049 and mostly L 1049 Cs. Eastern got 76, operated from 1951-1968. Eastern operated 49 DC-7Bs. They leased 13 DC-6s and DC-6Bs. The OP's picture is a 7, as they had 4-bladed props, while 6's had, at least originally, 3-bladed props.
R-4360's? For the DC-7 try R-3350 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-7 .
And how can the power recovery turbine (PRT) be "swallowed into the cylinders"? Each PRT was driven by the exhaust gas from a group of cylinders, and it was connected mechanically to the propeller shaft through, yes, an automobile automatic transmission torque converter, hence the name power recovery turbine.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
The PRT was supposed to recover unused energy in the exhaust gasses and pass it on to the main crankshaft. Like most turbines, it operated best at a steady RPM and output, at cruise, at altitude.
Problems arose with rapid changes in throttle settings. A too-quick application of power would result in a pressure buildup in the exhaust manifolds, since the fans wouldn't speed up until they responded to the greater volume of exhaust gas. Thus backfiring into the intakes and a few seconds of very rough operation. At the opposite, if the engine was powered down the still-speeding turbines would suck cold fuel-air mix into the exhaust manifold, sometimes resulting in a belch of flame and fan blades out the exhaust, or, more frequently, micro-cracks in the cylinder head around the exhaust port. The C-119 used R3350-PRT engines. Later they were converted to gunships. I can't think of a worse environment for a system averse to abrupt throttle movement.
Quick spotter trick. The R3350 was a two-row 18-cylinder engine - short and relatively fat cowling ahead of the cowl flaps. The R4360 was a 4-row, 28 cylinder engine, slimmer and almost twice as long as the R3350. Compare photos of B-29 and B/KB-50 aircraft.
Chuck (Worked on both, didn't love either)
So they didn't have "waste gates" to dump any excess pressure ahead of the turbines? What about crew training?
OK, OK, in a military and especially a combat environment the pilot may make rapid power changes. The same applies in civilian operations, especially an emergency such as being caught in a downdraft.
But other than that, there are few aviation engines apart from a primary trainer where you can do whatever you want with the throttle, pitch, and mixture controls. It is just like on a steam locomotive, you have to learn the limitations of the machinery and operate the controls accordingly.
Here is bit more awesome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3MBmS3APP0
Was a crew chief on a Marine Corps R5D. Went through many engine starts like this. And some that did not go so well.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
My first airplane flight was on Eastern, Feb. 1966; from O'hare to Jacksonville. Flew a 727. Wonderful trip. One thing, you knew you were going up in the air after takeoff in those. I guess they were challenging to land.
The challenge was caused by the T-tail. I learned much later that if the plane is about to stall, the elevators are useless for lowering the nose because they are in the disturbed air in the wake of the wings (or something like that).
Whisperjet
CMStPnPIt's a PR photo of the turboprop, they are using modern jets.....
Yes, they should have had a L-188 in there somewhere:
Seems like just yesterday they flew the last propeller Air Shuttle with them.
That in turn made me think of the billboard in some nasty part of Philadelphia, visible from the Metroliner windows, that said "You'd Be There By Now On The Air Shuttle". I did NOT appreciate that.
I was in the "Jet Room", to outward appearances a greasy-spoon diner at the local general-aviation terminal with great homemade pies and a lot of aviation lore discussed at the lunch counter.
I asked an airline pilot who was in a position to know something about the L-188 you have pictured, known as the Lockheed Electra.
"I have ridden on a twin-engine turboprop Convair, and that was loud -- is the Electra loud (in the cabin from prop noise)." "Is the Electra loud?" was the answer posed as a stupid question, "you have a twin-engine Convair . . . on each wing!"
Eastern's sole 737-700 was the plane that overran the runway at LGA on the 27th, though its logos were blanked by the campaign chartering it. Rumor is they appear to have floated and touched down with only 2300 feet of runway remaining.
The speed brake actuators were MELed but we'll see if lack of autospoilers had anything to do with the end result.
They also have 4 737-800s and several planes on order but appear to be flying charters only at this time.
Paul MilenkovicI asked an airline pilot who was in a position to know something about the L-188 you have pictured, known as the Lockheed Electra. "I have ridden on a twin-engine turboprop Convair, and that was loud -- is the Electra loud (in the cabin from prop noise)." "Is the Electra loud?" was the answer posed as a stupid question, "you have a twin-engine Convair . . . on each wing!"
If he was an Eastern pilot, he must be pretty old now, or else a very young pilot when he flew Electras. Eastern last flew one in 1977. Perhaps he flew for some freight line later? My memory of flying twice on American to DC in the mid-60s was that it was very quiet compared to piston-engined planes.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.