Aicraft I.D.

[racer42 0]

OK saw this today over the inner marker at San Antonio International Airport( still inside 410 .)
It was a twin turbine (I think) with 3 vertical stabilizers like on an old Connie, but it's fuselage looked more like a Swearingen or Fairchild Merlin. About the same size too. Tricycle gear. What is it? Never seen one before and of course I don't have pictures...it was doing about 90kts and I was doing 70mph.hmmmm? Surely someone has seen such a plane.

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[WFFC 1]

Are you sure it wasn't over Groom Lake?

[racer42 0]

Now that you mention it was nearly silent.........

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[vleisie 0]

Only possibility I can think of straight away is the C-2A Greyhound, but its got 4 vertical stabilizers and is a twin turboprop.

[WFFC 1]

one of these maybe?

[vleisie 0]

Yes, but now that I think about it it doesn't look anything like a merlin.

[Guest]

Perhaps it was this?

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[racer42 0]

Nope that's not it. Too big

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[racer42 0]

Way to military and waaaay to big.

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[racer42 0]

Nope. But that's a cool looking airplane.

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[riggerrob 558]

Maybe it was a Twin Beech converted to turboprop power.
A Westwind maybe?
The Volpar conversions have some extra vertical fins on the fuselage.

[Amazon 7]

Quote

It was a twin turbine (I think) with 3 vertical stabilizers like on an old Connie

The very first airplane I ever flew on was a Constellation. I still think it was one of the most graceful designs that ever has flown. The flowing lines and the triple tail make it an all time classic. There are only a very few left flying.

Amazon

[Guest]

The "Save-a-Connie" has been at the WFFC in years past, but I wasn't there when it was.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[Amazon 7]

Is it a Jump Ship.. I might go to WFFC.. just to get on one again... and not land in it this time. Mom took me to Europe when I was little( yeah right .....as if she was ever little Mark is thinkin to himself) but I remember the pretty airplane.


Amazon

[377 20]

Three tails and twin turboprops almost has to be an ex US Army Mohawk OV 1. Its not an especially big plane, only carries two pilots in that bubble cockpit. A nice one is for sale for a mere $199K at

www.courtesyaircraft.com/n134GM.htm

Westwind and Volpar turbo Twin Beeches don't have three tails. Lockheed Lodestar conversions such as the Howard 250 and 500 also only have twin tails and are radial engined, not turbine. Connies are four engined, and although a few turbprop versions were converted by the military, none of those survive.
A Navy Greyhound has four tails, not three. Soooo... if your facts are correct I cant see another plane present in the US which fits the bill other than the Mohawk.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[racer42 0]

This is the puzzler of it all. I am familiar with all those aircraft and this ain't one of them. It's definitely not a Mohawk. It looked to me to be a rather modern looking conversion of some type. Since I live about a mile from the airport, I may contact some of the FBOs or just cruise by slowly. I'm not sure if this is a good idea nowadays, hangin around airport perimeters with a camera. Hopefully I won't end up as a headline in the papers

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[377 20]

I am dying to know what you find out. Some radar versions of the Grumman S 2 Tracker had 2 extra tailfins on the horizontal stab. to augment directional stability robbed by the big top radome, but you know planes and a Tracker sure doesnt look like a Metro. There is a French plane (made by Dassault?) that has two props and three fins, but none in the US. There is the UK made Airspeed Ambassador, but none still airworthy. What a puzzler.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[377 20]

Its a DUMOD Liner, a Beech 18 conversion. Very rare. Has 3 vertical stabilizers, like a Connie.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Dbriggs 0]

The S-2s are bad mofos. espscially the S-2Ts. which are S-2A models retrofitted with prat turbo props for CDF. Those are one solid airplane. Fast as well.

[377 20]

Saw 3 S2 CDF turboprop conversions dropping phoschex on the Geysers fire in CA last week. Looked like new planes, all shiny and fresh paint. Miss those old Wright 1820 powered Trackers though. Unmistakable sound. The turboprops are a lot more reliable, but the range went down a bit as they are not as fuel efficient as the radials they replaced. Its fun to jump at Santa Rosa CA. You are jumping right at the airport and during the summer see lots of air tanker action. I once waved to an S 2 in the pattern while under canopy and got a big wing waggle in return. he definitely saw me, or it could be a she. One of the CDF Tracker pilots is female.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Dbriggs 0]

i belive there is only one s-2a model left in california, the rest are now all turbo props. the last time we had one of the round engine s-2s down in hemet the plane flew down here and was parked(i believe due to a malfuntioning mag in the number 2 engine). the only other time the plane flew was to go back home. there is nothing like the rounds that once powered the s-2s but for firefighting purposes i personally would not want to be with anything other than a turbo prop, unless it was a DC-4. the maint. dept for the s-2s is awesome. those planes are kept in perfect shape and the pilots flying them are fun to watch. there is a female tanker pilot who flies tanker 71 i believe which is based out of the Ramona airtanker base in Ramona CA

[377 20]

The S2, like all Grumman planes, is built like a brick. I have a maint manual. They have a 50s technology flight G load recorder. It has several spring biased G activated switches hooked up to increment electromechanical counters located in the fuselage. One peek and you can see how many times its has exceeded different G limits. Never heard of one coming apart, even with the abuses of air tanker flying. Saw an S 2 drop a Navy chute exhibition team into SF Bay about 10 years ago. I think it was after the STOOFS had been retired so it might have been a warbird S2. R&A Enterprises in Santa Clara bought a HUGE lot of S 2E (Aussie version) spares and scrapped 99% of it about five years ago. There were all sorts of things ranging from magnetos to ASW black boxes. I got a couple of cool control heads for torpedo and depth charge launching.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.