Zurakowski Cartwheel

[henry crun]

A long time ago I saw a black and white film of this manoeuvre being performed, I think it was at a Farnborough display.

Does anyone know if a digital version is available ?

[hoggsnortrupert]

Janusz Zurakowski

Try the following sites.
www.forces.gc.ca/aete/biojanusz
www. zurakowskiavroarrow.homestead.com/biography
/wywiad.
www.militaryairshows.co.uk/609sqn
Try www.polartcenter.com/cgi-bin/shop
Book: Janusz Zurakowski, legend of the skies.
by Bill Zuk, with Janusz Zurakowski
Arn't politics a bitch, read up on the history of the Arrow.
There is lots of reference to films and such, but some of it is in Polish.
Chr's
HSnort

[henry crun]

Thanks for the links hoggsnortrupert, unfortunately I get Not Found on a couple of them.

If you are interested in the Arrow try the revised edition of "Avro Arrow" by R. Organ, R.Page, D.Watson, and L.Wilkinson. ISBN 1-55046-0471.

It is about A4 size, 180 pages containing many excellent photos and diagrams, and tells the story from evolution to extinction.

[spekesoftly]

And yet another book - "The Avro Arrow Story", also by Bill Zuk, ISBN 1-55153-978-0

[Bof]

I recall seeing Zura in action at Farnborough, but I thought it was called the Zurakowski fin sling! It was an F8, but it was known as the PV Meteor (Private Venture). Basically, I think they just hung a load of ordinance outboard of the drop tanks which gave a boosted couple when Zura put the boot in and chopped one donk which allowed the aircraft to carry on rotating through 360 degrees as it dropped into a stall turn. The word at the time was that you couldn't do it in an ordinary F8 without the outboard stores.
Great stuff though, before all this fly-by-wire gimmickry.

[Cornish Jack]

IIRC, the man himself used to say that the requirement for completing the manoeuvre was the F8 ... because, at that time it was the only meatbox with a bang-seat!!

[rodthesod]

Originally Posted by hoggsnortrupert

Try the following sites.
www.forces.gc.ca/aete/biojanusz
www. zurakowskiavroarrow.homestead.com/biography
/wywiad.
www.militaryairshows.co.uk/609sqn
Try www.polartcenter.com/cgi-bin/shop
Book: Janusz Zurakowski, legend of the skies.
by Bill Zuk, with Janusz Zurakowski
Arn't politics a bitch, read up on the history of the Arrow.
There is lots of reference to films and such, but some of it is in Polish.
Chr's
HSnort

HSnort,

Afraid I can't get the links to produce a video. I remember Canberra crewroom discussions as to whether a PR9 would do it; I thought about it in a B2 but settled for a stall turn.

Wasn't Zurakowski's aircraft a flying testbed for re-heat Avon's. I heard that he discovered the manoeuvre whilst investigating (at a safe height) what would happen if he lost re-heat on one during a rotational take-off?

Regards,

rts

[henry crun]

rodthesod: that's a new one on me, reheat Avons in a Meatbox !

I would be happy to be corrected, but it sounds like the product of someone's imagination.
There was a research Sapphire engined Meteor that held some climb records at one point, but to the best of my knowledge, never one with Avons.

The aircraft that Zura did the cartwheel in was, as Bof pointed out, a pretty standard Mk8, but with a load of rockets slung under the wings towards the tips.

[Conan the Librarian]

I would be happy to be corrected, but it sounds like the product of someone's imagination.
There was a research Sapphire engined Meteor that held some climb records at one point, but to the best of my knowledge, never one with Avons.

But there was one with Trents! Now think of that for a while...

Conan

[henry crun]

I am well aware of that Conan, but I was referring only to the suggestion of reheated Avons.

Further to that question, were they available when Zura performed the Cartwheel in 1951 ?

[Kieron Kirk]

The only RR Avon engined Meteor was RA491, a Mk.4 which flew with RA2/RA3 at Farnborough in 1949/1950. The Avon installation did not feature re-heat.

The a/c used by Jan Zurakowski at Farnborough in 1951 was the GAF(ground attack fighter) or "Reaper". A Mk.8 fitted with 100 gal. wing tip tanks, the "cartwheel" was flown with 24 95lb. R.Ps.

[Conan the Librarian]

1946 actually Henry.

Conan

[hoggsnortrupert]

Janusz Zurakowski;

RTS: Thought I said "with reference to films, but in polish"
Try this : www.espritdecorps.ca/new
Chr's
HSnort.

[henry crun]

Conan, What little information I have on the early Avon says that development started in 1945 and the first prototypes were built in 1947.

I cannot find anything on the date the first reheated version flew but I have a strong feeling it was several years after that.

Are you saying a reheated version was available in 1946 ? if so, can you point me to a reference please ?

[Conan the Librarian]

No, no nooooo... What I was saying, in an attempted light hearted fashion, was that if you wanted big donks on a Meteor, then the version flown with the Trent (now the Trent runs on the A380, but the original was the turboprop as fitted to Meteor) might have lifted a few eyebrows, or even wry smiles, in the context of the thread.

Still pretty sure of 1946 for the Trent Meatbox, though I have a niggling doubt that it was 1947. Somewhere I have a picture of it, though God knows where. Kept and filed well before PC days.

Conan

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

I really can't imagine what it sounded like.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Dammit; forgot:

In March 7th 1945 a Gloster Meteor F I (EE227) was sent to the Rolls-Royce Plant at Hucknall for installation of two R.B.50 "Trent" turboprop engines. EE227 was selected because it was already fitted with an enlarged wing spar so the new engines could be fitted with out to many problems. The RB-50 "Trent" engine was a Rolls-Royce Derwent turbojet engine fitted with a forward drive shaft, a reduction gearbox and a Rotol five-bladed propeller of a diameter of 7' 11''.
Six month later on the 20/10/1945 at the airfield at Church Broughton the Gloster "Trent" took to the air for the first time with Eric Greenwood at the controls, making the first flight of a turboprop powered aircraft in the world. A number of problems were found with the prop wash and directional instability,the "Trent was returned to Hucknall were these were fixed and the aircraft was flying again by March 1946, later smaller Rotol propellers were fitted.

Another view of the "Trent" Meteor in flight

In April 1948 the "Trent" Meteor was transferred to the Navy for testing, as they were interested in the use of turboprop aircraft for deck-operations. On the 22/9/1948 the aircraft was returned to Rolls-Royce, were it was restored to it's original condition, then being returned to RAF Farborough were it was scrapped in June 1949.

Sod all to do with Jan, though. Did he ever do it in a CF100?

[PPRuNe Pop]

Zurakowski's Cartwheel

Anyone know of a video of Zura's show stopper?

Apparently he worked out the manouvre mathmatically before he attempted it but it was indeed a winner for some years at airshows, until he left to join Avro's in Canada to test and develop the CF-100.

[Fareastdriver]

My father told me the way he did it years ago. The Meteor Zurakowski used was a development version that had tip tanks and also rockets mounted on the outer wings. This was to build up a large inertia movement in the yaw axis.
He would pull up to the vertical and at the right time as the speed fell off he would gun one engine to full chat. This coupled with rudder would stall turn the aircraft rapidly in the yaw axis. The inertia from the tip tanks would continue the turning movement at the top of the stall turn so that the aircraft would then achieve a further turn before the airspeed built up in the descent and stabilised the aircraft.
He knew of lots of people who had tried it, and failed, mainly because tip tanks were not common on the Meteor.

[henry crun]

Pop: I have also looked for a video but without success, and you are right about him working it out beforehand.
This is from the book about him, written by Bill Zuk with Janusz Zurakowski.

Zurakowski would often resort to mathematical calculations to explain his theories, but when he tried to Show Jim Heyworth, chief test pilot for Rolls Royce, that he had come up with something different, Heyworth was baffled.
Zura said that he had discovered a new aerobatic manoeuvre and demonstrated the theory of it on paper.
As the complex formulae were laid out in a series of notes in Zura's Hucclecote office, the RR pilot couldn't grasp the idea of a tumblinmg flight path.
Knowing that Zura was a very competent engineer, Heyworth believed there could possibly be something there.
He had little idea that he was being shown the beginnings of the Zurabatic Cartwheel.