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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2019 22:08:23 GMT 12
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cfg
Sergeant
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Post by cfg on Nov 21, 2019 14:16:17 GMT 12
Hi Jim -
Sorry for not responding sooner! I sent you a personal message. My Dad is in the YouTube above.
Looking for a picture of your Dad with my Dad now ...
Carlos
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cfg
Sergeant
Posts: 19
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Post by cfg on Nov 21, 2019 14:32:00 GMT 12
HI Carlos, I just happened to be reminiscing with my brother last about my dad Capt. Bat Masterson, who was the chief engineering test pilot on the Transland Ag-2 in Torrance, California in the late '50's. I was excited to come across this site and joined right away. I had no idea that this plane still existed. It's especially funny that I just happen to be going to New Zealand next week and will try to look up Hallet Griffin. I have quite a few b & white photos of the plane and a few of the people involved. Your dad may be in one of the photos. I also have his log books from the period that show the test flights. I'd be happy to get copies of any of this to you if you're interested. In the meantime I have to start looking for the owner of the plane in New Zealnd as I'll be there next week and have limited time there to visit, if able. Hope to here from you. Excited about this. Jim Hi Jim -
I hope you see this in time to show Mr. Griffin. I love that you have the log books. George Wing only trusted your Dad in the Ag-2.
My Dad says this was taken after the first test flight :
Here is another. My Dad is the one in the glasses :
The above image shows up at 15:37 in the video :
Carlos
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 21, 2019 16:36:39 GMT 12
I was surprised to see he's wearing a parachute in an ag aircraft. How high would the test flight have been?
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Post by FlyingKiwi on Nov 21, 2019 18:50:13 GMT 12
I guess there would have been stall testing, probably spinning in later test flights etc. Got to cover the whole operational envelope even in an aeroplane that is going to spend its whole life down in the weeds!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 21, 2019 19:02:20 GMT 12
I guess so.
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cfg
Sergeant
Posts: 19
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Post by cfg on Nov 22, 2019 6:54:54 GMT 12
Hi Dave - I asked my Dad about the parachute. That picture was from the first flight. However, Captain Masterson had a parachute for all of the test flights. He would fly the plane to it's design limits. The Ag-2 was built and flown out of Torrance Airport : The airport is less than 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, so some of the flight testing was done over the ocean. You can see Captain Masterson and a technician who is recording flight data in this shot taken from a chase plane :  The boom on the left wing measures pressure. For the best data you need to be at least 1 chord ahead of the wing. Dad said it's a "free stream pitot tube".
Carlos
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 22, 2019 9:44:36 GMT 12
Thanks Carlos. Yes that makes sense.
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Post by Deane B on Nov 22, 2019 20:17:54 GMT 12
I was surprised to see he's wearing a parachute in an ag aircraft. How high would the test flight have been? Dave its pretty standard when doing initial tests. Remember the first Cresco crashed during test flying in the late 1970's The pilot survived because he was able to bail out. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 22, 2019 20:21:05 GMT 12
I thought the first Cresco crashed through a fence? Do you mean the Turbo Fletcher? Of did the Cresco crash twice?
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Post by isc on Nov 22, 2019 21:47:11 GMT 12
In 1965(I think) when Rural used the PL-11 CKE Don Erceg the pilot was required to get a parachute rating. Working in hill country the Airtruck had a problem getting enough altitude to do any work, maybe the parachute was just a quick way down from the cockpit, that was quite a long way.
isc
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Post by madmac on Nov 22, 2019 22:11:08 GMT 12
I thought the first Cresco crashed through a fence? Do you mean the Turbo Fletcher? Of did the Cresco crash twice? The prototype Cresco suffered flutter related damage in the form of shedding the outter wings panels and tail before the pilot bailed out. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 23, 2019 8:45:46 GMT 12
OK it must have had two accidents then because it went through a fence on its first test flight, I think at Whitehall, Cambridge, from memory, and designer Pat Monk was onboard with the pilot, as I remember it.
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cfg
Sergeant
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Post by cfg on Feb 29, 2024 17:23:08 GMT 12
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Post by oj on Feb 29, 2024 19:32:44 GMT 12
Very well written publicity for this aircraft. I wanted to rush out and buy one right away!
How successful was it and how many were built?
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Post by The Red Baron on Mar 3, 2024 16:13:53 GMT 12
They made 3 of them,so it would appear it wasn't very successful.
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Post by Mustang51 on Mar 4, 2024 11:03:42 GMT 12
Not the prettiest bird in the tree......
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cfg
Sergeant
Posts: 19
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Post by cfg on Mar 11, 2024 16:14:27 GMT 12
They made 3 of them,so it would appear it wasn't very successful. Yes, it was $25,000, so I like to call it the Cadillac of crop dusters. When the Grumman Ag Cat and others came along, it never had a chance. I tried to find the retail price of the Ag Cat in 1960, but I came up empty. |
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cfg
Sergeant
Posts: 19
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Post by cfg on Mar 11, 2024 16:26:08 GMT 12
Not the prettiest bird in the tree...... Yes, I like to think of it as form follows function. My Dad said the Ag-2 needed to be able to turn on a dime in order to crisscross farms. He described that with a Stearman, the pilot needed more skill in order to make the turn without stalling because it was not explicitly *designed* to do that. I think the Ag-2 was more able to do something closer to a flat turn. I am NOT an aerodynamicist, so I don't claim to be able to describe the details, but I think you know what I am getting at. |
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Post by The Red Baron on Mar 11, 2024 20:22:52 GMT 12
Ag Cat was $15,000 in 1960,Piper Pawnee was $8,995.
It would have been interesting if Waitomo Aviation NZ had talked to Transland,they could have had a ready made ag plane to produce in NZ instead of trying to design and build the Airtruk from scratch.
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