All language subtitles for B T W S02E04 1080p WEB h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

- I'm Matthew Burchette, and
this is Behind the Wings.

Oh yeah, Baby!

This is the good life right here.

(uplifting music)

(air craft engine roaring)

- [Narrator] This
program was made possible

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More at Arapahoelibraries.org.

- [Narrator] This
episode made possible by:

- [Narrator] The Denver's
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make the smiles a little wider.

They definitely make the
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So your family can
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encounter and outdoor adventure.

Denver, soak it all in.

(uplifting music)

- [Matthew] Now
I say this a lot.

But how cool is this?

(helicopter blades whirling)

This is lieutenant Zach Farrell.

To my right, is Jay Gates,
the amazing Gene Kranz.

You've never seen
aerospace like this.

(Jet engine roaring)

(upbeat music)

(uplifting music)

The beech aircraft
company was founded in 1932

by Walter Beech
in the air capital

of the world, Wichita, Kansas.

Determined to produce
an aircraft for the

business executives of the day,

Beechcraft found success
in their first aircraft,

the Model 17 Staggerwing.

By the late 1930's, Beech
knew that his company

needed a new design and
the Model 18 was born.

First flown in 1937,
the Beechcraft Model 18

became the perfect aircraft
for the private owner

and charter operator.

But with the onset
of World War II,

the U.S military adapted
the versatile Beech 18

for military use.

Thousands of Beech 18s were
used by the United States

military for photo
reconnaissance, light transport

and bombardier and
air crew training.

The four variants used
by the army air forces

included the AT-7 Navigator,

AT-11 Kansan,

C-45 Expeditor,

and the F-2 Expeditor.

In the post war era, the
Beech 18 resumed its role

as a distinguished business
aircraft, and regional air liner.

Over its life span, more
than 9000 of these aircraft

were built, making the
Beech 18 one of the most

widely used light
aircraft in the world.

Let's check out some of
the features of the C-45

at Wings Over the Rockies
Air and Space Museum

with pilot and our long
time volunteer, Jay Gates.

Thank you so much
for being here.

- Glad to be here.

- Tell us a little bit about
how you became a pilot.

- Well, it was by

default in some respects
as my grandfather

was a World War I pilot.

My father was a
World War II pilot,

and I then I joined
he national guard

when I was 18 years old.

So I didn't have too
much of a choice.

- I was about to say,
you didn't have a choice.

You actually fly for the
commemorative air force

and you fly their C-45 now.

How did you get
involved with that?

- I've been involved with the
commemorative air force now

for almost 20 years.

They have a B-17 and several
other kinds of airplanes,

B-25, and I started
flying those airplanes.

And then the guy's up
here in Denver said,

"Hey we need a Beech 18 pilot.

"Would you come over
and help us with that?"

So I've been now with
the Mile High Wing

for about six years.

- So we're just standing
here in front of this

really highly polished,
gorgeous lady.

One of the things that I am
noticing are two pitot tubes

on this thing.

Let's start there.

Two pitot tubes,
what's up with that?

- Well, it's a back up system.

You have a primary and
a secondary so to speak.

Either one is the same.

But one goes to the pilot
side of the instrument panel

and the other one goes
to the co-pilot side

of the instrument panel.

So you have a back up
and their both connected

so if one should block,
you still have air speed

on both sides.

- Is that normal
for every plane?

- In the early days,
they did that a lot.

Today, in modern aircraft,
you may see two pitot tubes,

but one is for back up
computers and the other ones

for the primary computers, okay.

- All right, redundancy is a
good thing when you're flying.

- Especially in an old airplane.

(laughter)

- No kidding.

One thing we've got to talk
about before we go any further;

during World War II, nearly
every single Beech 18

that Beechcraft built went
straight to the army air forces,

the navy, or the marine corp.

And the reason they did that
because they needed them

to train pilots in
many different roles.

And the way to differentiate

some of those
roles is real easy.

It's just by the nose.

Let's check that out.

(uplifting music)

Our model is C-45
which is kind of the

V.I.P transport, cargo
transport version.

But there were two
others that the air force

and the navy and
the marines flew,

and one of them was the
AT-7 which was the navigator

which actually had a nose
very similar to this.

But then there was the
AT-11 which was the Kansan.

What was so cool about that one?

- Well it had a glass nose and
it had a bombadier position.

And believe it had a
norden bombsight in it.

And that actually trained
students to drop bombs

in this airplane or the
airplane AT-11 could drop,

I think, two bombs
and practice bombs.

- That's very cool.

I have heard a statistic that

90% of all the
bombardiers in the U.S

air force trained in one of
these during the World War II.

- It was a very cheap way
to fly and a cheap way

to train people instead
of putting them in a big

bomber or a like a simulating
as they use to as well.

So it was easy to
go out and train.

They put a couple of
bombardier's in here

and the instructor would
instruct them how to do it.

And they would actually fly
the airplane automatically.

- That is really cool.

I kind of wish we
had that version.

It would be so neat.

In fact, in some of the AT-11's,

they even trained gunnery
students and they had a top

turret and even a
tunnel gun back there.

I mean, this was
a really, really

versatile little air craft.

(uplifting music)

All right Jay, so let's talk
about this Pratt and Whitney.

These are, what?

- [Jay] 985-AN-14 B's

built for this airplane.

And there 450 horsepower each.

If you go back to when
they first built these,

they put wasps on
there at 350 horsepower.

So by putting the Pratt
and Whitney's on there,

which really was a little
better engine for this type of,

what they were using it for.

Gave it a little bit more
horsepower and allowed it

to climb up to a higher
altitude as well.

Even today, they use some
of these as crop dusters.

- Oh, no kidding!

That's a stylish
little crop duster.

- Well it is, and it is fully
aerobatic in some respects.

There are some
people who actually

use them in shows and stuff.

- No kidding!

Wow, that's really cool.

Well, let's keep going.

I wanna take a closer look

at this plane 'cause
it's so gorgeous.

(uplifting music)

Whoa, we've got to
check out that tail.

Sorry Jay, I had to stop
you but this is not really

a tail that you see
a lot these days.

- No, it has two vertical stabs.

Two vertical stabilizers
and the idea behind that

again is a little repetition.

During the war, if there was a
problem with one rudder,

you still had another
rudder to work with.

With that also, you eliminate

having one great big huge
vertical stab and a rudder.

- Yeah, kind of like the B-17.

- Correct.

- Now, while we're right
here, I'm noticing that

all the control surfaces
on this aircraft

are fabric covered.

And there's a pretty
specific reason for that.

- Well, again, during the
war, if a bullet went through

one of the control surfaces,
it went clean through.

And if it was metal, it
would disturb the metal

and probably disturb
the air flow over that

particular surface, which
could be difficult to fly.

- Then you induce flutter
and all sorts of bad things.

- Right, and then the mechanics,

it was real easy 'cause
you just slap some.

- [Matthew] Patch right on it.

- [Jay] A patch and that was it.

- [Matthew] Next day,
you're back over Germany.

Well, while we're also here,

that is what they
called the football.

- [Jay] Right.

- [Matthew] and
there's actually antenna

inside that covering.

- It's a loop antenna
and what it is, it's for

A.M frequencies and
it's a directional
finder for the pilots

to navigate to a
particular station.

Example, any of the
radio, A.M radio stations

in the Denver area,
you would turn it

and focus on that frequency

and it would tell you
where that antenna is.

So you would fly directly to it.

- It's like an old,
old, old school G.P.S.

- They called it ADF on
your instrument panel

at the automatic directional finder
instrument and it would point

at that all the time.

So you would just steer to it.

- Oh, that's really cool.

(uplifting music)

- So Jay, this probably
looks a little bit

familiar, doesn't it.

- It does.

It's a more set up for 1942.

- So let's walk through this.

Let's start with the
throttle quadrant.

You've got your two throttles.

Prop pitch.

Mixture.

But then, what is
this down here?

- Well you have the
manifold heat carburetor.

Ice is a problem
for carburetor's,

especially when
it starts getting,

when you're up at altitude.

So what we do is, we introduce
a little bit of heat to

the carburetor to
keep it from forming

and that's what these two do.

Then over on the other side,
you have oil shutter's.

As you get up in altitude,

the oil has a tendency
to cool off a little bit

and you want to keep it
at a certain temperature.

So what you do is you close
off the intake for the

cooling air, so that now
you shut down that cool air

and that keeps the oil warmer.

- Oh, that's very cool.

All of these are your
instruments for engines.

- Yes.

- So, you've got cylinder
temperature, temp, RPM,

manifold pressure and
all that kind of stuff.

But over at your side, what
do people tend to refer to

as a six pack.

- The six pack navigation system

with the artificial horizon,

you have the altimeter,
air speed obviously,

you have turn and bank
on the left hand side.

And then this
particularly air plane

in the early days of the 40's,
the VOR started coming out.

And so this particular
airplane actually has a VOR

gauge in it which would have
been later after the war

in some cases.

- This guy, magneto
switches, I know that.

But this bad boy, that's
like master switch.

- That's the master
ignition switch, okay.

If you had a problem
like you were,

had to make an
emergency landing,

instead of turning off your
engines, you just hit that,

and it's a done deal.

- Everything goes.

- Yeah.

- And then, your two feathering
switches which then actually

takes the blades
of the propellor

and turns them
directly into the wind.

So instead of biting
like this, they just.

- Correct, and basically
with an engine shut down,

you want less drag.

With the propellor windmilling,

it creates a lot, a lot of
drag and right after take off,

in some instances, you
don't really need that drag.

Okay, so you hit the button.

It feathers the engine

and you go through
the process of

completely shutting it
down and then you come back

around and land.

- What's it like
flying this old girl?

- It is a piece of
history, number one.

And it's an honor
to fly a Beech 18.

- Oh, I bet!

- Especially, the one I fly,

which is a navy version, SNB-5.

But flying that airplane,

it's just a dream to fly.

It's very stable.

It'll climb up to altitude.

We fly it over the mountains.

We go to Telluride and Steamboat.

- Oh, wow!

- It's just a really
fun airplane to fly.

- Oh, that's really cool.

You know, it's amazing,
Beechcraft has been in business

since what, 1932 I believe?

- I believe so.

- That's amazing and they are
still making aircraft today.

In fact, our Colorado State
Patrol Aerial Division,

is flying Beechcraft aircraft

and I think we
probably ought to go

check that out.

Even though, it is very
cool to be in here.

- Believe it or not,

it's because of this
particular airplane,

the Beech 18, the
King Air was born.

- No Kidding, oh, well, I'm out!

I got to go check that out.

From Wings Over the Rockie
Space and Air Museum,

we're heading down to
Centennial airport to visit the

Colorado State Patrol's
Aviation section.

As one of the many units
to the state patrol,

the aviation section
is responsible for

transportation of
government personnel

and assisting in
traffic enforcement.

If you've ever seen the
road signs that say,

speed enforced by aircraft,
that's the state patrol

making Colorado roads
safer by tracking speeders

and alerting officers
on the ground.

The entire state of Colorado
is patrolled with just

five aircraft, including
three Cessna 182's,

a Cessna 340 and this souped
up Beechcraft King Air

that we're going to
check out with pilot

and good friend of
mine, Phil Curry!

You are like a king
air aficionado.

Are you not?

- I am, I'll claim that with
7,000 hours in the airplane.

- Wow, that's a ton of hours.

Now, here's something that

a lot of people don't know
and it's kind of a big deal.

You are the first
civilian employee of the

Colarado State Patrol's
Aviation Section in

their 53 accident
free year history.

- That is correct.

They were looking for somebody

with a ton of hours,
which I just mentioned.

- Yeah.

- And a lot of experience.

Plus, I think some military
background too, helped.

Yeah, I am the first
true civilian pilot

to fly for the Colorado state.

- That is really
cool, that's amazing.

That's a lot of time!

- It's an honor, it's
a very big honor.

- Oh, yeah, no kidding!

Well thank you for your service.

Speaking of service,
what is the King Air do

for the Aviation Section?

- This King Air
is a King Air 200.

We use this for air pull
missions which in any state

agency can use this
airplane to transport their

employees within the state.

- So we were talking earlier
and one of the things you

mentioned is that you have
flown organ's in this thing.

Transplant missions.

- As part of the University
of Colorado Health,

that hospital, they had
a kidney transplant team

that we fly regularly to
most places within the state.

- That's really great.

- But we do fly out Billings,
Montana is one of the

other places that we go to.

- That's a worthwhile mission.

- And that's a very rewarding
flight to say the least.

- I bet.

Well, let's take a walk
around this aircraft.

Maybe we start at the engines
and kind of go from there.

- Yup, start at the front.

- All right cool.

So Phil, tell us a little
bit about the plane.

Like, what's the wing
span of this monstrosity?

This is not a small plane.

- It's not a small plane.

We're standing at the front of

44 feet of length, about
50 feet of wingspan

and about 15 and a half
feet of tail light.

- [Matthew] That is a tall tail.

- [Phil] Tall tail is right.

- [Matthew] With some big
hanger doors to go with it.

- [Phil] Yup.

- [Matthew] And then these
guys, you've got two of these

monster engines on this thing
and they are turbo props.

- Turbo props, right.

- Which means what?

- The jet engine powering a
gear box, powering the prop.

- Okay.

- Our engines have 850 shaft
horsepower, two of them.

So we have 1700 horsepower
on a 12,500 pound airplane

which is pretty good
power to weight ratio.

- What's your top speed?

- About 300 knots, no wind,

so that's 350 miles per
hour this plane will go.

- [Matthew] Whoa.

- [Phil] Even up to 30,000 feet.

So it's pretty good
deal with this airplane.

- [Matthew] No kidding, I
can see why there so popular.

- Yup, and one other feature
about this, it's a jet engine,

turbo prop like you said.

It reverse flows on the airflow.

Most jet engines down the
intake, out the tail pipe.

- Right.

- Right straight
out the tail pipe.

This engine actually makes
180 degree turn on the air.

Comes back to the
front of the engine,

here where the exhaust
ports are, and exhausts.

- That's crazy.

- And the other thing
we would point out,

that no mechanical
connection to that power

turbine right now.

- So I could literally just
hold on to this thing while

you started the engines?

- You could hold it for
awhile until it develops its

850 shaft horsepower,
and you're not

going to hold that anymore.

- Yeah, let's not try that.

- Yeah.

(uplifting music)

- [Matthew] This is
pretty schmancy in here.

- [Phil] Pretty cool huh?

- [Matthew] It is really nice.

Now you said that you flied

the governor and other state
officials but the King Air

as a whole, is really
versatile air plane.

So what are some of the other
roles that this guy fulfills?

- It really is, the
government fly's them.

Embassy's overseas use them
for transport just like

we do with the state.

But there's also some few
special mission airplanes

that are out there
that the military uses.

The fire crew use a couple
of models of the King Air

for fire support, fire
spotting, here in Colorado,

quite a bit.

- Oh, yeah.

- [Jay] If you see a King
Air down low over the tree's

in the mountains,
there's usually a

leaker or tanker behind him.

- [Matthew] Yup.

- But, as King Air go to,
as I was talking about how

stout and safety
these airplanes are,

coming back in from
Craig to Denver,

took a lightning strike

at 25,000 feet from this
side, the right side

of the airplane, to that side.

The bolt actually hit the prop,

arched over to the
aileron on that side.

Two big burn holes
in the aileron

and a big chip our of the prop

with a glass cockpit
similar to this.

Not even a flicker.

That tells you how well grounded

that airplane is 'cause
it should have fried

about anything else.

It should have fried everything.

Uneventful landing.

New engine, new aileron
and we're good to go!

- Back in the air.
- Back in the air.

- That's amazing, all
right, before we go flying,

'cause we're burning some
really nice blue skies,

I just want to show you
something really cool.

Look at this.

How cool is that?!

I'm more enthralled with
this than anything else!

I'm a simple man.

All right, let's go fly!

- You didn't pick it, but
you are in the governor seat

more often than not.

That's the seat that
he really likes to sit in.

- [Matthew] Oh really?

- [Phil] I think the
reason why he tends

to sit where I'm sitting,
he can sort of see

what's going on up front.

But you are in that seat
of honor I should say.

- Well, and there you go.

(uplifting music)

(man on radio speaking faintly)

- Gears coming up.

- [Matthew] Get up and go.

- [Curry] That should does it.

- [Matthew] Oh wow, that's
a heck of a climb rate.

- [Radio Chatter]

- Yeah baby.

- These things perform
unbelievably well
at these altitudes.

- No kidding.

So of all the Beechcraft
products that you've flown,

which is your favorite?

- I'd think any of
the King Air series

is my favorite by far.

You know, I'm sort of
biased by flying them

for the last 20 something years.

But we're talking about

before the engines,
the air frame,

one of the safest
airplanes in the sky.

The performance
for us, state patrol

or anybody flying in the
mountains is phenomenal.

- [Matthew] You know 34
or 35,000 foot ceiling,

I mean, getting over

our 14er mountains is
no big deal.

Having those twins out there,
just, that kind of gives you

a nice sense of security.

- You know, I'm sort
of biased with that,

only because of the mountains.

There's a lot of very
good single engine

turbine airplanes around
but you'll like to have two

when you go to that
side, to the west.

- [Matthew] Yeah, no kidding.

(airplane traffic communication)

- That's.. NORAD.

- Oh, okay.

- What's the mountain.

- Cheyenne Mountain, that's
NORAD, that's a no go.

Let me scroll over there,
we should highlight it,

it's really cool too.

- Air restrict.

- Yup.

Flying there, you'll find some

F-16 buddies hanging around you.

(laughing)

(beep)

- [Narrator] Previously
on Behind the Wings.

- [Matthew] That is really cool!

- Whoa, whoa, uh oh.

- [Man] He's going
to bottle nose.

He's dispensing flares.

- [Matthew] He's popping
flares, we are in trouble now.

- [Man] That is a signal that
we're in serious trouble.

We are going to follow
this guy before he decides

he needs to escalate
even further.

- [Matthew] Yeah,
that's not good.

(beep)

- You've been flying how
long did you say?

- About, my first flight
was when I was 10.

So that was about 55 years ago.

- Wow.

(airplane traffic communicator)

- [Curry] I'll wait on that one.

- [Matthew] Yeah, we got
to get into the pattern.

(air traffic communication)

We're actually flying
here so, we got to

(air traffic communication)

Between the chatter on
the radio, I learned that

in Phil's flight career,

he's flown many of the
Beechcraft products,

including the Bonanza,
the T-34C Mentor,

and of course the
classic Beech 18.

While the original flight
plan was to circle around

Pike's Peak and fly
over downtown Denver,

the skies were a bit too
bumpy for our camera crew

who were getting sick
in the back seat.

But closing in on Colorado
Springs, we took the

opportunity for a
touch and go landing.

- There's the Spring's airport.

- 12 o'clock out there.

- [Curry] See we're lining
up right on the run way.

- [Matthew] That's so cool.

- There is
three to your right.

The other one is way over
on the left side.

We're clear for that option.

So we'll do a touch and go.

As we get closer
to the runway I'm

getting below the glide
slope but I know that's it.

Plenty of runway
to land on that's for sure.

- [Matthew] So is that why
we're showing three red?

- [Curry] Four red,
right below the vasity

which you could see
where it would take you,

the black marks on the runway.

A little late but we're fine.

(air craft radio communication)

- [Curry] We are
clear for the option.

Okay, I'll reset the flaps.

Prim and off we go.

Look at that, 8,000
feet remaining.

Easy 8,000 feet remaining.

(laughing)

- [Matthew] Man this
thing's got some pick up.

- And off we go again.

- [Matthew] Oh, yeah baby!

- Turn the light's off.

- [Matthew] That's another
one I can put into my book.

My first touch and go.

- Is it?

- [Matthew] Yeah,

- [Jay] Oh, cool.

- [Matthew] Got
to do it with you.

- [Curry] Yeah, what an honor.

(uplifting music)

It's one of the most widely used

light aircraft in the world.

Having been flown
by both military

and civilian
personnel for decades.

From exploring the
C-45 Expeditor at

Wings Over the Rockies
Air and Space Museum,

to visiting the Colorado
State Patrol's Hangar

at Centennial airport.

And even taking a flight in a
souped up Beechcraft King Air

over the Colorado front range.

We've taken you Behind the Wings
of the Beechcraft Model 18.

(upbeat music)

- [Matthew] Better?

(beep)

(yawn) Sorry.

(beep)

Give us a little bit,
sorry, okay, hold on.

I've got to get my brain going.

(beep)

So cool.

(beep)

Jay, thank you so much for.

(laughter)

I always forget to say I'm
going to shake your hand

'cause then people are
looking at me like.

Oh, right.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Little learners
can read, write, talk, sing

and play at Arapahoe Libraries.

Make a play date.

Join us story time.

Built a master piece and
present a puppet show

all in one morning.

More at arapahoelibraries.org.

- [Narrator] Duo Denver's
300 days of sunshine

make the smiles a little wider.

They definitely make the
energy here stronger.

So you can enjoy the blue skies
and mountain view sunsets.

Denver: soak it all in.