HOW TO FLY THE B-26 AIRPLANE

[Music] [Applause] here's a b-26 taxiing into position she's got a limit look and she carries it like a lady here she comes now watch this take off a hot ship plenty tricky they've said about the b-26 but look at her get off the ground load and all she's like a fine racehorse fast and sensitive she's especially sensitive in two respects weight and balance but properly loaded a b-26 that is neither nose-heavy tail-heavy nor overloaded can fly rings around just about any bomber in the air the airplane must be loaded so as to keep the cg location within safe limits at all times otherwise she'd never banked like this she does so because every factor has been considered including change in balance caused by fuel consumption expending bombs and ammunition movement of crew and cargo changes if a pilot neglects weight and balance control he'll find that at takeoff or during part of his flight he will not be flying true instead of a balanced center of gravity he will have an off center of gravity causing his plane to become unstable this pilot's coming into a perfect landing looks easy doesn't it it is easy because the plane cg is just where it should be because the pilot knows loading procedure always make sure that your plane is not overloaded and that the cg is not too far forward if it is you may find the takeoff run is greater than the available runway ask wilbur wrong there he knows or the center of gravity may be so far aft that the airplane is tail heavy control will be difficult possibly dangerous you might get off but may be unable to raise the tail to maintain flying speed result the plane stalls and spins in sad sack and when there is too little elevator power left to make the landing flare the landing load on the nose gear may exceed its design strength furthermore an improper center of gravity position may cut down the speed and range of your airplane get a horn the first step in ascertaining the basic cg is to weigh the airplane the pilot is carefully checking the weighing job which is done after the plane has been leveled at three points the nose wheel the right main wheel and the left main wheel at the left main wheel he finds the weight to be thirteen thousand six hundred eighty six pounds he has already checked the weights at the nose wheel and right main and is now ready to determine the total as he goes along he explains the procedure step by step to a young lieutenant just up from two-engine school this three-point weighing gives them a poundage from which they must subtract the weight of the jacks and any residual oil and fuel from this final figure the plane's basic weight they will be able to calculate the basic center of gravity to accomplish this reference must first be made to a suitable balanced datum this is an imaginary vertical line usually near the nose of the plane the b-26 datum line is exactly 15.306 inches behind the tip of the nose the horizontal distance in inches of any item from this line we call its arm a moment ago you saw a b-26 being weighed a figure in pounds was obtained at the nose wheel the right main and left main wheels by multiplying the weight at each of these points by its arm we get a product in inch pounds these inch pounds the result of weight times arm we call a moment well the first step is to add up the net weights at nose wheel right main wheel left main wheel in one column and to the right of this column add up the inch pounds calculated at each station here is how it will look when we're done thus in one column we have totally airplanes basic weight and in the other column the total inch pounds which constitute the basic airplane balance moment to locate our airplane center of gravity we divide the total inch pounds by the airplane's total weight this tells us in inches how far the center of gravity is from the datum line the b-26 airplane has normal forward limits and rearward or aft limits for loading if these limits are exceeded the airplane becomes unsafe to fly this range of cg movement becomes smaller as the total weight increases during loading look in your tech order for the loading limits in inches from the datum line as they apply to different gross weights the loaded ship cg must fall within these limits at takeoff in the air and on landing let's take some typical items of cargo bombs gasoline tools and ammunition for convenience sake we'll refer to these items simply as a b c and d item a for example has both a weight in pounds and a proper loading position in the plane which may be measured in inches from the datum line knowing this we load it into the plane items b c and d are similarly loaded their weight and arm noted we next add the combined weight of our cargo items to the airplane's basic weight the sum of these gives us the ship's new gross weight and in a similar manner we add up the inch pounds of each load item and add the sum of these to the previously determined basic airplane balance moment which gives us our new balance moment let's call our new balance moment k and our new gross weight x by dividing k by x we find our new center of gravity the principle is the same regardless of what items we are loading or taking out of our plane as long as we know our ship's basic weight and balance moment to begin with we can add or subtract the weight and arm of each item of load and then obtain our new total weight and cg location and once this is calculated we again examine the chart in to find if this falls within the forward and at limits for the new total weight a few moments ago on the apron outside the hangar we saw a flight leader of the 332nd bomb group showing a new lieutenant how to weigh his b-26 thus the lieutenant took the first practical step toward keeping his plane properly loaded and balanced suppose we let the captain explain the procedure that follows i have your camp lieutenant here we go sit down now that you know how to weigh your ship i'm gonna introduce you to your load adjuster this little gadget of laminated machine plastic can be a pretty good friend sort of a mathematical wet nurse keep your right side up and healthy kind of a slide rule that's right now when we weighed your ship in out there you got its basic weight and basic center of gravity these are translated into something called the basic index now the basic index represents the upsetting moment of the empty airplane plus minimum fixed equipment before any variable load is added but you don't go on a mission with an empty airplane you've got to carry a load off in limit load now starting with your basic index the hairline is moved every time you figure in a new item of weight each new index as seen under the hairline represents a new upsetting moment of the airplane and the hairline's position with respect to the loading limits shows how the loading is coming along as each new weight is added follow me so far no sir i know weight and balance for the first time's like flying into your first fall but don't worry lieutenant it'll get thicker then it'll lift now let me show you on that model in a way that slide rule you're looking at represents an actual v26 of course this isn't the latest model but the same procedure applies to all b26s when your indicator moves to the left so does the plane's upsetting movement tending to tip the nose down when the load adjuster shows an index to the right that tells you that a tail is getting heavy i suppose the red and yellow sections on top of the rule represent danger signals of some sort you guessed it the best indexes between them smack in the center of the loading range the indicator hairline should fall somewhere near this point for ideal loading and the yellow section the yellow indicates your caution range when the hairline ends up there it is allowable but undesirable because of the tendency toward nose or tail heaviness center slide has scales for items of load that may change for different kinds of flights like bombs ammunition or gasoline yep starting each scale on the slide is a vertical line with an arrow which shows the direction the hairline is to be moved moving it in this direction to a desired point on the scale measures the tail or nose heavy tendency of an item's weight assuming of course that the item is loaded at its designated location incidentally lieutenant you remember what moments are don't you how could i forget let's see uh a moment is the product of a weight multiplied by its arm roger now look here on your load adjuster each scale represents moments or the effective weight placed in a given location every time you set off an item on the adjuster you automatically add in its moment the index scale on the bottom here keeps the total well the uh ceiling's a little higher sir but the takeoff bothers me where do you get your basic index i don't see any scale for the empty airplane well that's easy now when we wage your airplane you got its basic weight in cg location remember well that's all we need to figure out the basic or starting index on the load adjuster for this little operation we use the back of the moving slide you can pull out the slide and turn it over now let's see what was your plane's basic weight i've got it written down here the basic weight came to 23 [Music] 860 pounds basic moment 5 million 702 751 inch pounds now we've got something to start with let's go to your load adjuster move the indicator until the hairline is directly over the arrow at zero index okay i've got it good now move the slide not the indicator but the slide until the basic weight of 23 860 pounds is under the hairline 23 860 pounds she is next move the indicator until the hairline is over the exact moment on this scale figures are of the moment divided by one thousand pounds so instead of five million seven and two thousand seven and fifty one inch pounds it is the figure five thousand seven hundred and three you will look for got it check now take a look at your index scale what gives under the indicator hairline i get 16.8 sir good work and don't forget the basic index of your ship just to make sure that you don't forget it that figure together with 23 860 which is your plane's basic weight is recorded on the card on your little adjuster's carrying case that's the little car in the solenoid window take it out and write down those figures [Applause] okay sir where do we go from here well now we go to let's go get a drink you look confused and i'm a little thirsty come on take a load off your feet i'm gonna put a load on your plane this is a sample list of cargo and crew that might go into a b-26 this is broken down into crew baggage armament bombs gasoline and oil to be distributed to loading stations in the nose pilot's compartment deck turret camera turret and tail we know your basic index to be 16.8 so before we start figuring out the effect of the various loads move the indicator hairline over 16.8 on the index scale here lieutenant suppose you work it out on the adjuster well i'll give you the procedure and check the results first turn over the slide you got it 16.8 16.8 sir now in this theoretical trip you'll be carrying 42 us gallons of oil now move the slide until the vertical starting line of the oil scale is under the hairline then move your indicator left until the hairline is over 42 on us gallons oil scale the index should now read 15.8 our indicators in the red area which shows the plane is still nose heavy we've only started loading with the rest of the cargo we'll level her off our loading list says we're carrying 465 us gallons of gasoline now move the slide until the gasoline scale starting line is under the indicator hairline now move your indicator to the right on the gasoline scale until it's over 465 us gallons in adding this gasoline to your load you have acquired an index reading of 21.4 not so nose heavy 21.4 it is now we move our slide until the vertical starting line of the bombay scale is under the indicator hairline we move the indicator now until the hairline is over hundred and 2 eight on the forward bombay scale this is the weight of twenty rounds of hundred pound bombs with shackles to go in the forward bombay the index reading should be 23.7 but we still have more bombs to load 10 rounds of 100 palm bombs with shackles to go into the rear bay so we move the indicator until the hairline is over 1 219 pounds on the rear bombay scale your index reading should now be 37.4 out of the red got it you can see lieutenant that our oil gasoline and bomb loads have substantially changed the balance of our airplane now we move the slide of the load adjuster until the vertical starting line of the station load scale is under the indicator hairline move the indicator until the hairline is over 39 on the nose station scale this adds 600 rounds of 30 caliber ammunition totaling 39 pounds at the nose station this is marked a on your scale the index reading should be 36.5 i i think sir i'm on to the general procedure next i believe we'd weigh in the loads in each compartment that's right starting with the pilots compartment or station b two pilots at 200 pounds each okay load your two men totaling 400 pounds at the pilot station that brings my index to 30.2 now the crew members at sea the radio and navigator station loads on 380 more pounds bringing the index to 27.1 that's right now your next station load is weighed in on f scale a deck to it in here go a gunner 170 pounds 400 rounds 50 caliber ammunition 120 pounds 600 rounds of 30 caliber ammunition 39 pounds these total 329 pounds all together now the index reads 33.6 you can see that you're progressively leveling your ship by placing the loads toward the tail now the next loads also to go f should do the trick now at camera station g your special emergency equipment is loaded this weighs 235 pounds giving you an index of uh 40.5 finally we load 200 rounds of 50 caliber ammunition weighing 60 pounds in the tail station which is h scale bringing my index to 42.7 but wait a minute don't we have to check the total weight of the plane including the items just added well you certainly do lieutenant but not with the load adjuster we have to add up the total weight separately here i've done it for you what's your final index reading 42.7 you'll notice that the hairline is considerably to the right of the 1200 pounds mark on the rear bomb load scale at the top of the rule i see captain that we have a much wider loading range with no load in the rear bomb bay how come when you load bombs in the rear bay your index moves to the right considerably therefore when you drop them it'll move just as far back to the left and if you don't look out you'll be in the red nose heavy range i see and that yellow section warns me that expending the load will move the index outside the safe limits that's right well how do you like the care and fitting of the v26 had enough you mean there's more plenty the paperwork lieutenant now every pilot keeps a diary a one question sir yep sometimes i'll be carrying gasoline in the bomb base instead of bombs then what your load would then be added up by means of the bomb bay scale marked in pounds you allow six pounds for every us gallon of gas check but uh suppose after loading the cg doesn't fall within the allowable loading range he's afraid of that lieutenant you're catching on take your load adjuster and work out your crew change our final index was 42.7 okay now that your headline indicator is over that mark move the slide until a navigator radio mark on the crew change scale is under the hairline i've got it next move the indicator until the hairline is over the camera mark what index do you get 49.4 well lieutenant that means the navigator at the navigator radio station should move back to the camera station thus placing the index within the non-restricted range and one more thing it's important to know what happens when you use up some of your expendable load supposing you wonder how she balances after burning 215 gallons of gas you start with your last index which was 49.4 then move the slide until the 465 gallons and the gasoline scale is under the hairline the total gallons originally loaded if you've burned 215 you've got 250 left so move the indicator until the hairline is over the 250 gallon mark now read your index 46.8 which is a good enough index and here's your diary lieutenant take order number 01-1-4-0 weight from balanced data b26 number 01-1-4-0 enables you to apply and keep track of your knowledge of weight and balance and here in the front is a summary of weight and balance fundamentals and here's a record sheet of your initial airplane weighing with space for scale readings arm moment and index you can fill it in later and uh here's chart a it's a basic weight checkoff list for all fixed and operating equipment such as machine guns cameras and anything weighing five pounds or more each has a definite location in the airplane at all times when the plane is delivered the manufacturer enters these items in groups according to department location i guess it's my job to keep it up to date right right and when you add an item to or subtract it from the airplane you make note of this transaction on uh chart c this is a permanent running record of the airplane's weight and balance both fixed and operating equipment in place whenever such equipment is added or removed it should be entered on chart a for checking purposes and also on this chart c with weight and moment added to or subtracted from the previous total sort of like double entry bookkeeping eh exactly like chart c will give you the most recent balance to date that is the current weight moment and index of the airplane sometimes there are some structural changes or replacements of major items such as tires engines and armor plate but they should be checked on another chart b and when entering these chart b items on your chart c along with changes of non-structural equipment figure out whether or not your plane's basic index has changed if it has mark the new index on the carrying case identification card of your load adjuster this chart d is an auxiliary record used for supplier cargo items not accounted for elsewhere they generally vary for each flight and have no normal installation location like the uh general's crate of oranges that i loaded at the last minute that's it you compute their weight moment in effect on the cg location in the customary manner and include them on the form of f which is a weight and balance clearance it controls the variable load items of the airplane such as cargo crew gasoline ammunition and bombs it is filled out in duplicate by the crew chief weight and balance officer or pilot and is checked by operations for each flight the non-expendable and the expendable items are separately grouped so that a weight and balance for landing may be determined so i'll be filling out four mips before each flight if you know what's good for you lieutenant with the b-26 the main thing is to keep weight and balance conscious never take any chances don't take chances even when you're in a hurry even when you're on some ds flight to your hometown now she's yours to love honor and keep balance for the duration how would you like to go out and take her upstairs i've been waiting for you to say that all afternoon [Music] you