PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Anyone flown the Wessex?
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Old 7th Mar 2006, 20:39
  #95 (permalink)  
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Join Date: Apr 2000
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Lowlevelhell - they were good workhorses but underpowered - the engines were good but the weak link was the coupling gearbox and the angled driveshaft up to the MRGB - the max Tq was limited by those components not the engines. The RR gnomes were good engines but the Military ones don't have a manual throttle option if the electric fuel computer freezes or runs away so any computer malfunction results in a frozen power or an engine shutdown.
It is not very good at altitude and soon runs out of TR authority at moderate DA.
It's still the queen of the skies and that undercarriage gives a comfy landing even when you cock it up.
If the ones you are flying are ex 72 Sqn (NI) you can bet they have seen a hard life.
crab@SAAvn.co.uk is offline