hammerogod (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@raginroadrunner Heh...yes.I live 30 miles north of the Mexican border.There are PLENTY of place I could land and hide a Porter.The whole area between Lordsburg and Las Cruces is just one big landing strip.South of Carlsbad is that way too.And Arizona is ALL landing strip (don't tell 'em I said that).

raginroadrunner (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

The really amazing airplane is the DeHavilland Dash 7. Flown by Rocky Mountain Airways to the ski resorts in Colorado out of Denver, these planes and air crews do things in blinding snowstorms that makes me break out in a cold sweat. We call them the..."White Knuckle Specials"...dam...these guys are good...

raginroadrunner (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@hammerogod...and these abilities of this ship can be used in a less than desirable fashion....our Border Patrol has enough to worry about.

hammerogod (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@raginroadrunner Yeah....Pilatus sorta redefined the meaning of STOL.The "Porters" (the PC-6 anyway) were sold with a proviso that they could take off within a distance of 640 feet (195 m) on any ground, in almost any Met conditions.Now that is how the aluminum should be thrown into the air.Watching a C-182 take off after watching a PC-6 take off is like watching a parking lot.

hammerogod (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@gefferzz Also:I am NOT an expert on Turbo Props.I know that Geared Turbines work on a marginally different set of principles than Free Turbines.Even though most of the internal components do the same job, less the gearbox.Most, if not all, Turbines are not comfortable at low RPMs.The Allison T56 is what I am most familiar with and those things didn't even start until they reached 9,000+ RPM..and they operate at about 14,000 RPM (3,750 shp) (war emergency power was about 16,000 RPM)

hammerogod (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@gefferzz I am not sure about all turbine engine aircraft but on the ones I have worked with (including P3 Orions) the engine is pretty much at or near full RPM when it is taken out of ground idle.The forward motion is controlled by the Prop Pitch, not by the Engine RPM.If you fly on an ATR 42 notice that the engines are fully wound up before any forward motion starts.Then the Prop Pitch is thrown in, and the paddles grab some air.The P3 would snap your neck on a full pitch takeoff.

raginroadrunner (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@hammerogod..it used to be illegal to own and fly one in the US....why??? very short take off and landing..and I mean ..."Short"...get the picture???

raginroadrunner (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Imagine an airliner the size of a 747 with one engine in the nose for power...why not??... this plane has it???

ichbintharaka (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@codzomzyeah that's awesome

codzomz (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ichbintharaka I know! Don't you love the crescendo on measure :20? ;-)