Load coal into aircraft.

[John Hill]

A snap from the archives..

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/12327259983_d0a4f6a740.jpg

Coal being loaded into a Dragon Rapide for air dropping to huts on the Milford (walking) Track.

This aircraft had a serious accident soon after this photograph ASN Aircraft accident 15-JUN-1965 de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide ZK-AKS (http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=64565) and as far as I can determine is currently under restoration at Croydon Aircraft Company, Mandeville NZ.

BTW, if you are wondering about dropping sacks of coal from aircraft the trick is to 1/3rd fill and sack and sew across then drop that into a larger sack and sew the top. The inner bag breaks but the outer does not (usually).

[India Four Two]

Fascinating.

Same thing on a bigger scale:
http://images.wisconsinhistory.org/700003070016/0307000282-l.jpg

Fassberg, West Germany during the Berlin Airlift

[John Hill]

Yeabut didnt they land to unload the coal?

[India Four Two]

True, but I'm sure the Rapide would have landed if there were suitable strips on the Milford Track. ;)

[Simplythebeast]

And heres me thinking they flew on Avgas. :)

[Tu.114]

It has indeed been tried to fly a fighter on coal pellets.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Lippisch_P-13A.JPG/300px-Lippisch_P-13A.JPG

A rotating basket filled with coal granules was to be heated and the vapours used to fuel a ram jet. A bit like a wood gas generator for aircraft, this was likely one of the more creative ideas to circumvent the fuel oil shortage in late WW2.

It seems that at least the engine was run a few times on a test stand.

[brakedwell]

I believe some of the Bristol Proteus engines used for back up power generation were fuelled by coal dust

[RedhillPhil]

Didn't Rudolph Diesel's engine originally run on coal dust but the high internal wear cause him to re-assess the engine to run on oil instead?