De Havilland Canada CS2F Tracker (N404DF)

Good Job, Nathan!

type designator S2P

N404DF - Grumman S-2A(AT) Tracker

Love those big radials.....


Excellent pic Nathan !!

5 *****

An old retired Stuef

WEED AIRPORT....The name fits perfectly.

LOVE this field... right next to Eisenhower Freeway 5, a great rest spot when driving or flying private between San Diego & Seattle.

Great pic

I wish these old birds still flew. I miss those loud purring radials.

Used to watch these taking off and landing all day out of NAS Corpus Christi. My grandmothers house was not far from the end of the runway from the airport they were using for touch and gos…

There was a US Navy C1A Trader based at RAF Mildenhall UK. Those engines were awesome. Sounded like a tractor on tick over😂😂

Used to fly these great old birds. That rumbling R-1820 engine sounds, feels, and smells like real flying. Flew the TS-2A in Advanced Flight Training in Corpus Christi, the US-2B at North Island on Coronado, then the C-1 Trader on board the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea. The R-1820 was also in the T-28B and T-28C. Got to carrier qualify in the T-28C. Still remember those first few solo take-offs and landings from the flight deck. I remember one early morning I was strapped in and leaning forward and to the right to crank the engine over for start... I was leaning a bit too far and my helmet was sticking a bit out past the open T-28 canopy. There was a stack fire initially, which finally cleared as the engine roared to life, but the flames singed my eyebrows a bit... Learned to keep my helmet entirely inside the cockpit when starting from then on... Also flew the R-985 in the U-6 DeHaviland Beaver, the R-2000 engines in the DC-4 (C-54), and the R-3350's in the P-2 Neptune. To this day, the sound of a radial engine starting up brings back fond memories...There are some good You-Tube clips of radial engines being started). Just wish I could be reliving the rumbling feel and the smell as well. Back then, the pilot(s) controlled so much related to the engine like... mixtures, mags, fuel pressure (wobble pump in U-6), RPM, manifold pressure, cowl flaps, syncing the props in flight, carb heat, supercharger, etc. We could even add oil to the engines in flight in the C-54. All radials, especially the single-engine type where the engine is directly in front of the pilot, engage most of the senses in a big way, so flying them is a memorable sensory experience.

Bill Frawley - wonderful recollections! Love your descriptions of the radials you've flown. My only real experience with radials was a 5 cyllnder 90hp Lambert in my 1939 Monocoupe!

I drive by this 'STOUF' at Weed several times a year!

Grumman

Sorry guys. I tried to put the correct information. Unfortunately the website changes it.

beautiful shot of aircraft and Mount Shasta in the background.

adelma - I envy your experience in the 1939 Monocoupe with the 90 HP radial! Taildraggers are another of my favorite aviation "buddies," and one with a radial engine is that much better. As my first taildragger instructor told me, "You fly a taildragger from chocks to chocks..." So true!

NAF Misawa had these as the C1-A COD that used to ferry people to the Northern Island of Hokkaido for duty.
Also brought mail to us on the U.S.S. Midway (CV-41)
I took a flight to NAF Atsugi challenging my Pilot that the E-2C could take off on a very short runway. He proved me wrong.
Great R1820s. When starting, they would spit oil down the fuselage, sputter, and then ROAR to life. What a beautiful aircraft.