Still a Warrior of Sorts

[apophenia]

Cannot / Canso

After almost two decades of RCAF service, Canso 11060 (c/n CV-369) was sold off for civilian use. [1] By mid-1965 - after waterbomber conversion plans by Fairey Aviation of Canada through, she was left sitting abandoned in the weeds at Pat Bay airport on Vancouver Island.

Neglected and robbed for parts, Canso CV-360 languished at YYJ until 1971. Then, an anonymous donor stepped forward to purchase the old flying boat for restoration. The new operators would be 'The Don't Make a Wave Committee' which was then in the process of being renamed as Greenpeace.

Re-registered as CF-PAX, the partially-stripped airframe was fitted with new turbine engines to become a 'PBY-T'. [2] This conversion - although quite distinct from the Avalon 'Turbo-Canso' project - fitted twin Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops in place of the original piston engines. The Dart Mk 514 engines and their exhaust systems came from a Hawker Siddeley HS.748 while the cowlings came from an ex-Air Canada Vickers Viscount.

Dubbed 'The Spirit of Amchitka', Greenpeace employed CF-PAX on its intial 'Save the Whales' campaigns. The prototype turboprop conversion proved difficult to source parts and support for once away from Vancouver Island. In the late 1970s, Greenpeace trading in its unique 'PBY-T' for a slower, but easier-to-support piston-engined Catalina - N423RS (c/n 1785).

_________________________________________

[1] Canso 11060 was delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force under Lend-Lease in April 1944. Serving the RCAF until May of 1961, upon retirement, the amphibian went to Canspec Air Transport of Calgary as CF-NJD.

[2] Canso CV-369 had actually been a PBV-1A built in Montreal by Canadian Vickers to a US Navy contract.

[Robomog]

That is stunning !

Love the paint scheme 

Mog
>^-.-^<

[The Big Gimper]

CF-PAX! 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Cannot / Canso

After almost two decades of RCAF service, Canso 11060 (c/n CV-369) was sold off for civilian use. [1] By mid-1965 - after waterbomber conversion plans by Fairey Aviation of Canada through, she was left sitting abandoned in the weeds at Pat Bay airport on Vancouver Island.

Neglected and robbed for parts, Canso CV-360 languished at YYJ until 1971. Then, an anonymous donor stepped forward to purchase the old flying boat for restoration. The new operators would be 'The Don't Make a Wave Committee' which was then in the process of being renamed as Greenpeace.

Re-registered as CF-PAX, the partially-stripped airframe was fitted with new turbine engines to become a 'PBY-T'. [2] This conversion - although quite distinct from the Avalon 'Turbo-Canso' project - fitted twin Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops in place of the original piston engines. The Dart Mk 514 engines and their exhaust systems came from a Hawker Siddeley HS.748 while the cowlings came from an ex-Air Canada Vickers Viscount.

Dubbed 'The Spirit of Amchitka', Greenpeace employed CF-PAX on its intial 'Save the Whales' campaigns. The prototype turboprop conversion proved difficult to source parts and support for once away from Vancouver Island. In the late 1970s, Greenpeace trading in its unique 'PBY-T' for a slower, but easier-to-support piston-engined Catalina - N423RS (c/n 1785).

_________________________________________

[1] Canso 11060 was delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force under Lend-Lease in April 1944. Serving the RCAF until May of 1961, upon retirement, the amphibian went to Canspec Air Transport of Calgary as CF-NJD.

[2] Canso CV-369 had actually been a PBV-1A built in Montreal by Canadian Vickers to a US Navy contract.

I have to wonder if the Basler turbo-conversion for the DC-3/Dakota/C-47 might work as well on the Catalina/CANSO?  A more compact design that would possible help with center of gravity issues created with the R/R Dart package sticking out so far forward of the wing. 

[apophenia]

Thanks folks!

'Mog: The rainbow stripes in the paint scheme I pinched from the RW N423RS. But I found the rest of '423's scheme uninspiring ... so I reached back to the Amchitka protest days. This was a big deal, at the time, here in southwestern BC.

Journalists started predicting tsunamis which would wash us all away. Those us in our teens translated those dire warnings into an urging for direct action: Stock up on 'recreational aids' and prophylactics immediately. We were prepared!

I have to wonder if the Basler turbo-conversion for the DC-3/Dakota/C-47 might work as well on the Catalina/CANSO?  A more compact design that would possible help with center of gravity issues created with the R/R Dart package sticking out so far forward of the wing.

Jeff: I've no doubt that the Basler's PT6A-67R turboprops would do the job. At 1,280 shp each (2,560 shp total), they've got a bit more oomph than the original Twin Wasps. Alas, in my arbritrary mid-1970s timeframe, no 'large' PT6A was available (the first PT6A-67 didn't fly until 1984).

If we assume that the Steward-Davis Super Catalina package's Wright R-2600s were ideal for a water bomber conversion, then we would need around 3,400 hp total power. The readily-available Dart fits in there nicely and would be reasonably affordable on the 'gently used' market. The issue, as you say, is its unwieldy length (which Avalon Aviation got around by partly underslinging their engines).

So, if we want around 3,400 hp total power c.1975, I'm thinking that we have two options:
- 1: Appall Greg and nail 4 x 850 shp PT6A-41s onto the Canso centre section; or
- 2: Appall everyone and re-engine with 2 x 1,505 shp PT6T-3 TwinPacs driving single   

For option 1, total output is the ideal 3,400 shp with little or no increase in frontal area (PT6 cowlings being so small compared to the radials).

For option 2, total output theoretically could be 3,600 shp but, more realistically, would be derated to 3,010 shp. And that power would be generated closer to the original thrust lines. TwinPac cowlings would be much bulkier than the individual PT6s, but no more so that the original R-1830s.

To my mind, option 1 is the superior option. AFAIK, the TwinPac has never been considered as turboprop. Based on ​Soloy's Dual Pac, I'm guessing it would've worked ... but 'guess' and 'successful STC application' don't often work well together 

[GTX_Admin]

 

[The Rat]

A PT6 conversion would be awesome, and a good choice. The PT6 is to turboprops what the RR Merlin was to liquid-cooled piston engines; bazillions produced, well-proven, and part supply would be easy.

Hmmm... Spitfire with a PT6? 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Hmmm... Spitfire with a PT6? 

Other potential candidates:

Mosquito

Wyvern

Skyshark 

[Kerick]

Turbo cat sounds very ambitious! Present day PT 6 engines for a fire bomber to take care of small fires and free up the big boys to tackle the big stuff.

[GTX_Admin]

A PT6 conversion would be awesome, and a good choice. The PT6 is to turboprops what the RR Merlin was to liquid-cooled piston engines; bazillions produced, well-proven, and part supply would be easy.

Hmmm... Spitfire with a PT6? 

You would want to use one of the ‘big’ PT6s, probably a -67 or -68 variant given the power comparison.

[GTX_Admin]

Another option would be a RR Dart Spitfire in a similar fashion to the Dart Mustang:



Like Stephen did here:  http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.2925