smws From Estonia, joined Jun 2012, 66 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 9477 times:
Came upon this little gem of an article describing a fascinating flight back in 1958. What a fantastic feat!
Quote: During the months of December 1958 and January and February 1959, two young men flew a mission-modified Cessna 172 around and around over the desert Southwest for 64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes. The world endurance record in a propeller-driven airplane was set in that little Cessna almost 50 years ago.
smws From Estonia, joined Jun 2012, 66 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 9378 times:
Quoting SEPilot (Reply 1):
Interesting, but what is the point? I can think of an awful lot of better ways to spend that much time and money.
Just humans being humans, I guess. The same could be asked for the Baumgartner jump earlier this year. Even if the point might be a bit silly or nonexistent, I'm still pleased that people like that exist and will exist in the future
rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 6140 posts, RR: 25 Reply 3, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 8807 times:
As asked of the mountain climber "Because it was there"
Why did Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager fly around the world non-stop.
I first became aware of long time endurance flights when stationed in Meridian, MS - the local airport is named after the Key Brothers - who flew 52,000+ miles in 653 hrs 34 min (27 days). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Keys
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5929 posts, RR: 4 Reply 4, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 8676 times:
Let's see:
IIRC, the Continental O-300A used in this particular 172 has, at best, a 1,500 Hour factory recommended TBO. I guess you are skipping the startup wear that piston engines normally endure during a startup
Wonder how they changed the oil? No way they could have done it without some sort of setup to allow an oil change in flight,. especially on 1950's vintage aviation oil.
I have seen the system they used to get jerry cans of avgas on board during the flight...that would get extremely old after a while.
Wonder what kind of equipment failures they had during that time?
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
qqflyboy From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 2198 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 8622 times:
I never knew that little airplane at LAS had any historical significance. I used to live in Vegas and commuted out of LAS for six years. I saw that airplane every time I was there, but just thought it was decorative. How cool! Thanks for sharing!
The views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect my employer’s views.
bobloblaw From United States of America, joined Jan 2012, 1356 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 8515 times:
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 6471 posts, RR: 27 Reply 7, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 8383 times:
Quoting bobloblaw (Reply 6): How did they do inflight refueling?
From the link in the original post:
Quote: A Ford truck, donated by Cashman Auto in Las Vegas, was outfitted with a fuel pump, tank, and other paraphernalia required to support the aircraft in flight. When fuel was required, a rendezvous would be arranged on a stretch of straight road in the desert near Blythe, California. An electric winch lowered a hook, the fuel pump hose was picked up, and Timm or Cook inserted it into the belly tank. It took a little more than three minutes to fill the belly tank.
The total fuel capacity of the airplane was 142 gallons. Plans called for refueling twice daily. Sometimes weather or the inevitable glitches upset the schedule, and a new rendezvous was worked out by radio. This activity was repeated more than 128 times.
Last time I passed by the very aircraft at McCarren airport there were a number of explanatory placards in place.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !
United_fan From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 7157 posts, RR: 8 Reply 8, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 8319 times:
Quoting KELPkid (Reply 4): Wonder how they changed the oil? No way they could have done it without some sort of setup to allow an oil change in flight,. especially on 1950's vintage aviation oil.
""Through-firewall plumbing was installed so that the engine oil and oil filters could be changed without shutting off the engine""
'Empathy was yesterday...Today, you're wasting my Mother-F'ing time' - Heat.
IIRC, the Continental O-300A used in this particular 172 has, at best, a 1,500 Hour factory recommended TBO. I guess you are skipping the startup wear that piston engines normally endure during a startup
Wonder how they changed the oil? No way they could have done it without some sort of setup to allow an oil change in flight,. especially on 1950's vintage aviation oil.
Wonder what kind of equipment failures they had during that time?
They said they arranged the oil lines to be checked and oil added from the cockpit, so it would be simple to drain a small amount overboard while adding fresh oil. Never do a complete change, just a slight replenishment along the way.
At the end, they had lost the generator, tachometer, autopilot, cabin heater, landing and taxi lights, belly tank fuel gauge, electrical fuel pump to transfer fuel from the belly tank to the wings, and winch used to haul the fuel line and supplies up.
Quoting bobloblaw (Reply 6): How did they do inflight refueling?
AirlineCritic From Finland, joined Mar 2009, 611 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (4 months 2 weeks 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2213 times:
I had not heard about this before, and frankly I had no idea that someone could do it for such a long time. Great achievement! Thanks for posting the link.
I am most amazed that all the engine parts and other necessary components could function for such a long time.
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