spot the Porter

[Tony P]

10409496_679002415504488_5441901375056485544_n.jpg (38.52 KiB) Viewed 4041 times

[Nillus]

Pretty much in the slot as far as I can tell...
2 x whites & 2 x reds.
Nice work.

[Adam the Akrodude]

Dat's a gas - man!

That is one aeroplane I'd love a go of. Remember of involved at Barwon Heads involved with meat bombing. We were there having a aerobatics practice weekend and kept well away from the drops. Watching that Porter do it's turnarounds was something else - beating the jumpers to the ground. The driver would set the prop to "Beta" I think he said, on decent (is that right Eric, Salty, Stu?) - like almost a reverse pitch it seemed and he would descend on a 45 deg down line (a official aerobatic manoeuvre) right down to final without any flap, using the prop alone - seemed so hairy! It was like watching X-15 approach - the whole high key, low key thing. It was the closest thing to helicopter flying - without the fling wing.
Surely using the engine/prop that way must put a lot of load on it?

[Nillus]

Never did the turboprop thing...Ericg's the man for that stuff.
Beta does sound familiar from a BGT course 30 years ago, but not in flight.

[Tony P]

ATC - "Porter ABC - traffic is a couple of beavers at your 10 O'clock"

I'l leave it up to you guys for a response!

[Capt NG]

Hi Adam, BETA range from what I can remember is where power lever movements directly control prop pitch angle, accomplished usually by pulling the prop levers over a gate or some other mechanism. Examples are going into reverse or if you have to reverse on the ground. Used mostly in ground ops. Different turboprop engines have different designs however.

Think of it in two ranges.. Alpha range where the set the prop speed with the prop levers and the CSU keeps the RPM and in beta the pilot schedules everything himself.. Dunno how they would do it in a Porter, but generalising you select beta by moving the power lever below flight idle range..I think from memory beta mode is locked in flight or you have to pull it over a mechanical gate... I haven't flown a turboprop in 15 years sorry

[Adam the Akrodude]

Hi Adam, BETA range from what I can remember is where power lever movements directly control prop pitch angle, accomplished usually by pulling the prop levers over a gate or some other mechanism. Examples are going into reverse or if you have to reverse on the ground. Used mostly in ground ops. Different turboprop engines have different designs however.

Think of it in two ranges.. Alpha range where the set the prop speed with the prop levers and the CSU keeps the RPM and in beta the pilot schedules everything himself.. Dunno how they would do it in a Porter, but generalising you select beta by moving the power lever below flight idle range..I think from memory beta mode is locked in flight or you have to pull it over a mechanical gate... I haven't flown a turboprop in 15 years sorry

It was such a strange thing to watch - seeing a aeroplane descend at such a steep angle and yet so slowly. We all thought he was going to crash, yet he kept doing this all day long - a bit like watching a 4WD descend down a steep hill with traction control on!