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ROUND ENGINES
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We gotta get rid of those turbines, they're ruining aviation and our hearing...
A turbine is too simple minded, it has no mystery. The air travels
through it in a straight line and doesn't pick up any of the
pungent fragrance of engine oil or pilot sweat.
Anybody can start a turbine. You just need to move a switch
from "OFF" to "START" and then remember to move it back to "ON"
after a while. My PC is harder to start.
Cranking a round engine requires skill, finesse and style.
You have to seduce it into starting. It's like waking up a horny
mistress. On some planes, the pilots aren't even allowed to do
it...
Turbines start by whining for a while, then give a lady-like
poof and start whining a little louder.
Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click,
BANG, more rattles, another BANG, a big macho FART or two, more
clicks, a lot more smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar. We like that. It's a GUY thing... When you start a round engine,
your mind is engaged and you can concentrate on the flight
ahead. Starting a turbine is like flicking on a ceiling fan:
Useful, but, hardly exciting.
When you have started his round engine successfully your Crew
Chief looks up at you like he'd let you kiss his girl, too!
Turbines don't break or catch fire often enough, which leads
to aircrew boredom, complacency and inattention. A round engine
at speed looks and sounds like it's going to blow any minute.
This helps concentrate the mind!
Turbines don't have enough control levers or gauges to keep a
pilot's attention. There's nothing to fiddle with during long
flights.
Turbines smell like a Boy Scout camp full of Coleman Lamps.
Round engines smell like God intended machines to smell.
Contributed by Jeff Hathorn
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