Lincoln Backwards
Tim Inder and GO85HITE win the 'Yea of the Day' for good lateral thinking about taxying a Lincon backwards.
Here are a few Lincoln stories from the past including the need to taxy backwards.
Incidently the first time I taxied backwards using reverse pitch was in a Beverley with a rear CG. I used brakes to stop and soon found what a No No that is. Quick reaction with power on the 2 engines with forward pitch prevented a crumpled rear end.
From memoirs.
I enjoyed the challenge of flying the Lincolns at Central Flying School circa 1954. Compared with the modern jet aircraft they really were technological monstrosities. We had a few of both the normal Lincoln and a long nosed Australian developed maritime version.
On one instructor training flight in a Lincoln with Lyall Klaffer in the left seat we were down wind in a landing pattern when No 3 engine instruments went crazy. Undercarriage was down and a quick look at the engine nacelle just close beside me showed lots of black oil pouring down over the wheel hanging below the engine. The propeller was quickly feathered and I told Klaffer to make it a smooth landing as the whole engine nacelle was moving around as though it was about to fall off. He did a good job. The nacelle continued to move around unduly as we taxied in and I considered whether it would not be prudent to close down clear of the runway and have the aircraft towed in. We made it by going very carefully and soon found that a broken connecting rod had punched its way through the engine block, taking out both front engine mounts in the process.
On another occasion, I was doing an Instrument Rating Examiner renewal on an RAF exchange pilot from one of the Lincoln Squadrons at Amberley. He was wearing a hood to prevent him seeing outside and was flying on limited instruments. One requirement was an ability to recover from unusual attitudes and finding attitudes which might be unusual to Squadron pilots was always difficult. I took control of the aircraft and applied lots of power while pulling the aircraft into about a 60 degree nose up attitude. With the speed quite low I then pulled the throttles on the left engines which caused the aircraft to go into a rapidly rolling wingover. At this time I handed control back to the poor pilot who was quite unaccustomed to such goings on with a Lincoln. He juggled the power to be symmetric but we continued to roll in an incipient spin until we were almost inverted with the nose dropping though the horizon. I took over again and pulled the nose down further to gain speed whilst rolling back right side up.
Fortunately, the whole manoeuvre was relatively smooth and did not involve negative g, as we discovered later that there was an unsecured bomb winch lying in the rear fuselage.
Then there was the time I was converting a pilot to fly Lincolns. We had landed and wished to taxi back to the other end of the runway for another takeoff. The pilot made too wide a turn and almost too late I notice that we are about to run over an electric flare light on the edge of the runway. By the time I grabbed for the brakes and stopped the aircraft the main wheel was about three feet from the light. To proceed further would flatten the light and run the risk of damage to the tyre. It looked as though the only thing to do was to call the tower to have a tractor come out with a tow bar to move us back away from the light. I could see that if I could move the main wheel backwards a few feet, we could then proceed safely. But how to do this in an aircraft having only engines which were at all times trying to move us forward. No reverse pitch on these propellers. But I had an idea. The brakes could be applied independently to each main wheel. It was the right wheel that was close to the light so I locked up the brakes on the left main wheel and ran up the power on the No 1 left engine outboard of that wheel. With a lot of power on that engine the aircraft started to swing around the locked wheel and at the same time rolling the right wheel backwards.
Having moved the right wheel backwards I then locked its brakes and repeated the exercise using the outer right engine and soon had plenty of room to continue the turn without hitting the light. I cancelled the call for tractor assistance and left all concerned wondering how on earth I had moved a Lincoln backwards.
Of course, the procedure was a big strain on the main undercarriage struts as the locked wheel would be twisted around on the spot and the screwing tyre would tend to dig into soft ground but I did use the technique on several occasions to demonstrate to experienced disbelieving Lincoln pilots just how to taxi backwards.