Saw a Grumman Today

AKBill

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Saw a Grumman in Juneau today. It left before I could take a picture so a pic from the web. Neat looking cargo plane. Like the tail. Saw it on approach and could not figure what it was.



I think this is the piston version...:rolleyes:
 
Cool! Wonder what the backstory or engineering reason is for the tail design on that
 
Good documentary on the Smithsonian Channel on it. Not a glamorous plane but fulfills an important role nonetheless. It’s days are numbered (CV-22). Not sure why but the seats in the back face to the rear.
 
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Not sure why but the seats in the back face to the rear.
I would think crash protection. Facing the rear the back is supported by the seat, and the body does not lunge forward on impact. Just my thoughts.
 
I would think crash protection. Facing the rear the back is supported by the seat, and the body does not lunge forward on impact. Just my thoughts.

Yeah, body can absorb more forces in that axis. Think most people prefer facing forward so most planes are set up that way.

I can tell you in the C-2 it makes for a fairly comfortable trap but the cat shot slams your head forward...to the rear. ;)
 


I think this is the piston version...:rolleyes:

I think this is a picture of the C-2 Greyhound's predecessor, the C1 Trader, which was a derivative of the Grumman Tracker (S-2). A bunch of the latter ended up as firefighters, converted by Conair Aviation into what they called the "Firecat", or the turbine version "Turbo Trackers".

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Cool! Wonder what the backstory or engineering reason is for the tail design on that

If I had to make a wild guess I would say max overhead clearance available to house the C-2 below deck on a carrier.
 
If I had to make a wild guess I would say max overhead clearance available to house the C-2 below deck on a carrier.
Epic. Makes perfect sense. Thanks
 
The C-2 and the E-2 Hawkeye are identical except the C-2 has a more chubby fuselage to be able to carry things. The C-2 is going to be replaced by the V-22 eventually, much to the chagrin of the end users.
 
Yeah, body can absorb more forces in that axis. Think most people prefer facing forward so most planes are set up that way.

I can tell you in the C-2 it makes for a fairly comfortable trap but the cat shot slams your head forward...to the rear. ;)
And when you remember to hold your neck still you forget that your shins are about to smash into the bottom of the seat in front of you! Got on and off a carrier a few times in one, but had one less landing than takeoff (parachute ops). Good stuff.
 

Not that Thud. The Navy guys referred to the airplane by the sound it makes when it hits the deck. It was actually a C-1 and we landed on the Lexington while underway on her last sail. The mission was to get deck qualified to slingload a Navy TBD bomber from the former NAS Beeville onto the Lexington. From there, the WWII airplanes and other relics were taken to San Diego to the Museum there.

Maybe it wasn't exactly "Thud." Maybe it was "Thump." I think that airplane is still on the deck of the Lex as a museum piece.

Here it is:

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We have a bunch of these flying around in our area... there are three or four squadrons based out of Pt.Mugu NAS

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I see Grumman LLVs flying low-level almost every day.
 
Good documentary on the Smithsonian Channel on it. Not a glamorous plane but fulfills an important role nonetheless. It’s days are numbered (CV-22). Not sure why but the seats in the back face to the rear.

Yeah, I saw that the other day...followed pilots in their training from simulated landings to actually landing on a carrier deck for the first time. Very interesting!

Look at how beefy that nose gear is to take those catapult launches.
 
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