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Old 27th Dec 2016, 19:10
  #126 (permalink)  
tonytales
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Ft. Collins, Colorado USA
Age: 89
Posts: 216
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Re Lolder's remark re EAL Electra's having an APU:
No, except for the one L-188 they tried an APU on, none of EAL's had an APU and that one was long gone by 1964. For off-line charters, we did have a stripped down portable GT unit that could be shipped in the baggage. It had to be removed and set up on a baggage cart. I personally never saw it.
More usable, there was also a long ground air starter hose with a coupling at each end. If you had a jet needing a start and had a second aircraft with running engines you connected them by the hose. The coupling that went into the running aircraft had a forked fitting protruding out of it. It held the flappers of the aircraft check valve installed at the ground connection open. Turn on pneumatics and you supplied the other aircraft.
Best description of a B747 with an inop APU was that it was as helpless as a whale on a beach. It required external AC power and two huffer units to get it going.
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