enginehistory.org

jwilcox · Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 09:37 Post subject: military use

A month of bad weather and poor health has kept me from doing anything with the R 2600. The weather is still bad but thankfully the health thing is improving. In the mean time I've been trying to do some research on the engine and TBM it came from. The airframe # is 91289 and has 3803.2 hrs logged. the engine R 2600-20 is # 437707 with 218.5 SOH. Canadian civil regestration was C-GFPN and it shows 3 owners since military service, Helmet Valley, Hillcrest and then FPL. I have found photos of the airplane when it was #74 with Helmet Valley and Tanker #17 with FPL. What I would really like to know is it's history before civilian use, where and when it was manufactured, military use/time. Also I think I'm correct that there were probably no TBMs or for that matter 2600s manufactured after 1945, would that be a correct asumption? I have looked for hours on the net and can't really confirm when production stopped.
Any help is appreciated. Jerry

ckuhns · Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 36

Jerry, Yes you are correct no R-2600s were made after 1945. R-2600s were made in two Wright Aeronautical plants, Paterson, NJ and Lockland Ohio a Cincinnati suburb. There was no licensed production of R-2600s. The CAA 5e9 is the FAA type Certificate for your R-2600-20. You can go to the FAA web site and view the type data for R-2600s. Carl

jwilcox · Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 18:13 Post subject: R 2600

Hi Carl, thanks for the info. I'm not surprised that there was no 2600 production after 45, the P&W 2800 and Wright's 3350 eclipsed the 2600, at least that's what it seems like to me. It soldiered on until just a few years ago in the Avenger's here in eastern Canada.

avasko · Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 37 Location: Ft Collins, CO USA

After WW2 over, the B-25 with its R-2600 engines were used in large numbers for training. I also saw many TBM's at Floyd Bennet Field (NAS NY) being flown by the Naval Reserve. That, I think, were the only remaining users of the R-2600 excepting for a few Martin Mariners. Result was a lot of surplus R-2600 engines when all of these were retired.
A aircraft mod company in Dothan, Alabama refitted a DC-4 with R-2600. It was reputed to really pep up the old lady a bit with its extra 200 or so extra horsepower per engine. It was too late though. I saw it at Newark Airport about 1966, I think, when it was on a sales tour. Very neat installation, new cowling for the Wrights larger diameter but hardly noticeable (except it wasn't all scratched up, beaten and dented by years of abuse by careless mechanics). By then no one was interested.
I was ask to involve myself in re-engining DC-4 with RR Darts. Also stretching the airframe. This was in 1990's and no one was going to spend money on clapped out DC-4 airframes.