Neptune

[Neal Nurmi]

I want to see more Neptune pictures. I seem to notice something new each time some turn up. I'd never noticed how much the -3350s tilt down -- not a thrust line for a fast airplane. It's really striking in Sledge's last photo. When the Navy ones were hunting, what would be a long range cruise speed, and at what range of altitudes?

[Mick G]

I'm gonna show my ignorance, here (or maybe my rapidly depleting memory banks), but what is the origin of the white over grey with red lightning bolt color scheme? Is it a Hawkins and Power thing, Canadian military, or what. As well as many Neptunes there were a bunch of C-119s up in Greybull after they were banned from dropping. I seem to remember them being ex-Canadian and I remember something with that lightning bolt. I'm afraid I'm not much of a markings guy...

Believe that's the old Royal Canadian Air Force Livery, much like the Canadair North Star was seen in.

[sledge39]

.
"Tanker 127" at Hemet 1980,.. R-2600s replacing the R-1830s

[Neal Nurmi]

Still my favorite firebomber...

[Neal Nurmi]

This was September 2007, also at Stead.


_D7N6651 by Neal Nurmi, on Flickr

[sledge39]

.
...more lightening bolts...

01 "Tanker 05" N96278 SBD 29 Aug 1999

02 "Tanker 12" N96264 HMT 28 Oct 1993

03 "Tanker 136" N5216R HMT 31 July 1977

04 "Tanker 135" N48076 HMT 31 July 1977

[JohnB]

It's fun to see the aircraft with the original-style cockpit contours...as opposed to the later (P2V-6 & 7, IIRC) "bubble" style seen on bomber 03 in sledge's post above.

What is the history of the airframe...I'm a guessing a P2V-5...ex-Canadian?

[Neal Nurmi]

That Tanker 136 scheme is what I recall of that field full of C-119s, I think. I have to dig up those slides from long ago.

This outfit from Montana really had clean good looking airplanes, considering what they were doing with them. Taking off heavy at Stead's density altitude really looked like a struggle.

_D7N6603 by Neal Nurmi, on Flickr


_D7N6661 by Neal Nurmi, on Flickr

[lucky52]

Which jet engine was mounted on top of the C-119 ? Thanks.

[airtj]

Which jet engine was mounted on top of the C-119 ? Thanks.

Westinghouse J-34

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Fairchi ... ing_Boxcar

[lucky52]

Thanks

[Hooligan2]

Lovely pics, thank you! Only ever saw the odd Dutch Navy P-2 airborne; apart from airshows, they would very occasionally grumble NE across southern England, I assume from a foray out into the Atlantic (saw the odd Atlantique as well). I really miss the sound of radials at altitude...

Last edited by Hooligan2 on Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

[sandiego89]

I'm gonna show my ignorance, here (or maybe my rapidly depleting memory banks), but what is the origin of the white over grey with red lightning bolt color scheme? Is it a Hawkins and Power thing, Canadian military, or what. As well as many Neptunes there were a bunch of C-119s up in Greybull after they were banned from dropping. I seem to remember them being ex-Canadian and I remember something with that lightning bolt. I'm afraid I'm not much of a markings guy...

Quite a few ex-Canadian aircraft had later lives as fire bombers, including the C-119's that flew with Hawkins and Powers in essentially their RCAF scheme, and several ex-Canadian P2V Neptune's which went through several operators as air tankers. The lightning bolt cheat line is very much common on Canadian military types. It seems some Neptune's retained essentially their Canadian schemes, and some P2V's were painted in something close to the Canadian scheme (like P2V 147957 at Pima which is preserved as a fire bomber in a 1975 Black Hills aviation scheme, much like the "Canadian" scheme, but I do not believe that example never flew with RCAF). So I'd suggest that some fire bombers retained their RCAF scheme, and some P2Vs form US sources were later painted in something close to the Canadian scheme, perhaps for fleet consistency. The color and lighting bolt is indeed a sharp look.

The Pima P2V: https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/lockheed-p2v-7/

[sledge39]

.
AeroUnion operated some P2V-7/SP2H with the MAD housing retained and tip tanks and jets removed..

01 T-03 N703AU HMT 6 Aug 1989

02 T-01 N701AU SBD 25 July 1999

03 T-16 N716AU SBD 29 Aug 1999





Just for reference,

Stock P2H (1963)
source, Wikimedia Commons-public domain

[Neal Nurmi]

I found some stuff from Greybull in 1991. Seems like they had the same late models with MAD boom and and high top cabin, but kept the jets and gave the aircraft a much more attractive paint scheme.

The Neptune seems downright petite in that company. It sits a lot higher when it's empty, too.


Greybull Aug 1991 1 156 by Neal Nurmi, on Flickr



Greybull Aug 1991 154 2 by Neal Nurmi, on Flickr