Round Engine Question

[BrianB]

Are there any Wright radial engines in ACTIVE military service anywhere in the world? A friend of mine who still works at Curtiss Wright told me last night that after many years of inactivity they have started to receive "Request For Quotes" for engine components from the US Government... probably for FMS (foreign military sales). I think that T-28's are the most likely source of the activity, but are there any other R1820 or R3350 equipped airframes serving in the military?

[Randy Haskin]

Since the request is the "US Government", that could mean anything from US Customs to US Forest Service, not just the DoD.

So...could be for fire bombers (P-2s, maybe...cuz they're 3350 powered) or something like that instead of FMS aircraft.

[BrianB]

Since the request is the "US Government", that could mean anything from US Customs to US Forest Service, not just the DoD.

So...could be for fire bombers (P-2s, maybe...cuz they're 3350 powered) or something like that instead of FMS aircraft.

I believe that all of the fire bombers are privately owned but operate under contract to the US Gov..... Hawkins and Powers, etc., so they would not have access to the DoD procurement process. US Customs does not have any radials that I know of and I thing that the California Dept of Forestry has retired or re-engined their radial engine S-2 Trackers. Another possibility could be US military base flying clubs. I think that a few Navy clubs had T-28's.