T-6 Texan / Harvard

[aseanaero]

Anyone flown the T6 ?

We have a T6 sitting on the airfield here that hasn't flown for 4 years and I have volunteered to help supply parts etc get it back in the air. We will be using Indo Air Force mechanics with T6 experience to do the maintenance.

There's a good chance I'll be allowed to fly it. I did one flight in the back of Chris Sperou's T6 in Adelaide in the early 90's and it came across as a bit of a beast when landing :bored:

I have 180 hrs tailwheel time, 150hrs Pilatus PC6 and 30hrs Pitts S2A which was my initial tail wheel and took 4.5hrs to solo the Pitts with no previous tailwheel time. Would 3 to 5 hours of circuits in the T6 be enough ?

The T6 hasn't flown due to the difficulty and EXPENSE of getting avgas. Avgas is running between US$2.50 up to US$4 per LITRE here now with mogas at US$1 per litre.

I said that the R-1340 can be flown on 75% mogas / 25% avgas blend which they didn't know and got them all excited. Do some of the T6s in Oz run on straight mogas ?

Impressions, memories advice and comments on the T6 all welcome

[TexanPilot]

I have a fair few hours on the Texan. A great machine, can be a bit of a hand full in crosswinds but if you stay ahead of it you should be ok. A beautiful aircraft to aerobat (really nice half cubans).

With your tailwheel time you should be ok as long as you find someone who knows what they are doing to do your training.

Good luck with it, once you fly it you will be addicted :ok:

[aseanaero]

Hi TexanPilot

Were you running avgas , mogas or mogas/avgas blend ?

What's the fuel consumption ... and oil consumption per hour ?

[TexanPilot]

Always ran on Avgas (usually 100-130),

Fuel burn depends on power setting and the engine itself, can be anywhere from 80-120 lts per hour.

[tinpis]

The person who is going to check you in this machine cant supply you with this information?:uhoh:

[aseanaero]

After 10 yrs up here I've learnt to ask 'independent sources' also ... I don't want to be paying for more fuel than the aircraft can physically burn.

I mate of mine filled had is tanks filled up in his 402C and was billed for 100 litres more than the aircraft's total tank capacity ...

Starting to collect quite a bit of materials , pilot notes etc. but it doesn't hurt to ask as well

[ozaggie]

Should run fine on Premium unleaded And burn about 130 lts/hr @ 28", 2000rpm. We ran AT301's on straight super petrol with no problems, but you would need to consider the lack of lead in the current fuel and use about 25% Avgas. If you did your tailwheel solo in a Pitts, this thing will feel like a great big pussycat. But remember, the rules of gravity and inertia cannot be defeated. :cool:

[aseanaero]

Thanks ozaggie,

I need to check but I think leaded super can still be purchased at the pump here.

Probably better to run a blend of mogas/avgas anyway due to vapor pressure considerations.

I checked on petersen's autofuel STC website in the US and they recommended a blended fuel for the R-1340

[Engineer_aus]

Don't forget that you will get cracking and valves fouling if you dont get it correct.

[tinpis]

Pack it up, whack it in a container and send it down here.
You should know, but theres a chance yer dealing with a bunch of bangsats anyway.
BTW last time I was poking around in Surabaya I sniffed out a couple of P-51D's
Not Telling :=