Amazing machine work

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curtis cutter
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by curtis cutter »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:34 pm
curtis cutter wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:07 amHere is a PDF link with a facility description.

file:///C:/Users/nwrai/Downloads/052_Jackson_Prairie.pdf
A link pointing to a file ensconced on a hard drive isn't going work over the Internet. :D
I tried to find something to link easily to that described the facility but could not find anything of much value. I had to resort to just a copy and paste on the search. Sorry, maybe someone more technically savvy can help.
Gregg
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Steggy
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by Steggy »

curtis cutter wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:06 pm
BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:34 pm
curtis cutter wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:07 amHere is a PDF link with a facility description.

file:///C:/Users/nwrai/Downloads/052_Jackson_Prairie.pdf
A link pointing to a file ensconced on a hard drive isn't going work over the Internet. :D
I tried to find something to link easily to that described the facility but could not find anything of much value. I had to resort to just a copy and paste on the search. Sorry, maybe someone more technically savvy can help.
You should be able to attach a PDF to a message posted here. PDF is a good choice, as the file structure is portable, meaning can be accessed by any computer that has the Adobe reader installed. Also, unlike some other file formats, e.g., Microsoft Office files, PDF is safe, in that attaching malware to one is an exercise in futility—the Adobe reader will not open a PDF that has been corrupted in any way.
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pete
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by pete »

Thanks for the extra history BDD. And I hadn't known that 1913 date was before there start on aircraft engines.
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GlennW
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by GlennW »

EOsteam wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:27 pmHow many hours do the engines accrue before overhaul? What determines when overhaul is necessary? Also what parts typically require replacement or refurbishment. My aircraft engine is a 6 cylinder horizontally opposed air cooled apparatus and I’m well familiar with its potential failure modes so I’m interested in the Packard/Merlin engines and what wears out and drives the decision to overhaul.
There is no published TBO for the Merlin's used in Fighters, so everything is basically on "condition", which is highly subjective to the "condition" it was in after the last entity deemed it "overhauled" or "airworthy".

I could fill a wheel barrow with documentation published by Rolls-Royce as "repair schemes" for the engines and individual parts, so there isn't a common "failure point".
Glenn

Operating machines is perfectly safe......until you forget how dangerous it really is!
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Steggy
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by Steggy »

pete wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 3:02 pm Thanks for the extra history BDD. And I hadn't known that 1913 date was before there start on aircraft engines.
Pratt's first engine, the "Wasp," military designation R-1340 (R means radial, 1340 is the engine displacement in cubic inches), came off the drawing board in 1925. Rated takeoff power was 600 HP. Amazingly, that engine was in production for nearly 30 years, and new parts for it are still available. It's a popular engine with crop duster and bush pilots because of its performance and dependability.

The Pratt "Double Wasp" (R-2800) was a direct descendant of the original Wasp. Developing 2400 HP at takeoff, the R-2800 was the engine that powered the P-47 Thunderbolt, F4U Corsair (supposedly referred to by Japanese pilots as “whistling death”), B-26 bomber and the Douglas DC-6 airliner. Aviation historians general consider the R-2800 to be the best aero radial ever produced. A fellow I worked with in the 1970s flew Thunderbolts during World War II and said a P-47 pilot's motto when engaging the enemy was “Place your trust in God and Pratt & Whitney”—he understood what that motto meant after having part of a cylinder shot off during a dog fight. As he described it, the engine was smoking and running rough, but he made it back to base. Pratt produced over 125,000 of these engines.

The development of the R-2800 was aided by Pratt's development of a ganged milling saw. Pratt realized that the engine's high (by aero standards) horsepower per cubic inch rating would pose cooling problems at full throttle and that the cylinder heads would need more surface area to radiate heat. So rather than forging the fins as part of the head—the conventional practice at the time, Pratt forged (technically, impact extruded) the head without fins and then used the ganged milling saw to cut the fins out of the solid metal. The saw followed a template so the depth of the fins followed the interior contour of the head to achieve uniformity. The result of this innovation was much closer-spaced and thinner fins, which meant more total fin area.
Last edited by Steggy on Sun Jun 18, 2023 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
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GlennW
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by GlennW »

Moving along...
DSC02206.JPG
Upside down for assembly.
DSC02263.JPG
Glenn

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NP317
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by NP317 »

Gives me the chills to see!
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liveaboard
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by liveaboard »

I was discussing the definition of art with my neighbor the other day as he helped me with some landscaping;
I said art is art when it evokes emotion in the viewer.
[he's a bit of a motor head]
"Oh, like a Ferrari engine!" he said.

Or that motor Glenn is working on.
RSG
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by RSG »

I can't get over the amount of bolts! Does every one need to be torqued?
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GlennW
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by GlennW »

Yessir!

Every threaded item on the engine has a torque value associated with it.
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GlennW
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by GlennW »

Right now it's a straight six.
DSC02269.jpg
DSC02272.jpg
Glenn

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RSG
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Re: Amazing machine work

Post by RSG »

Nuts!

There's no doubt that there is a ton of very detailed machine work involved in a rebuild like this. Must be very satisfying when you complete one!
Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.
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