Category Archives: R-985

A Look at the Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior Beechcraft D18S Twin Beech

Aviation, Aviation History, R-985

On January 15, 1937, the Beechcraft Model 18 made its first demonstration flight at the factory in Wichita, Kansas, and it continued in production for thirty-two years. This low-wing, all-metal, twin-engine monoplane was originally intended as a six-to-eight-passenger executive or feeder airline transport. As the years passed, however, the Model 18 was adapted to many uses and, in all, thirty-two different versions were produced.

This post is from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

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Inside the Wasp Shop with the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team & Covington Aircraft

Air Shows, Aviation, Company, News, PT6A, R-1340, R-985

Gene McNeely started flying airshows in 1986 and has been a stalwart presence on the AeroShell aerobatic team, flying a Wasp-powered North American T-6. He can only guess at his total flying time behind the engine: “I would say 15,000 hours…probably more than that.” He does remember exactly how he got there, though. “I got out of the Navy and…started cropdusting, and the first engine I sat behind was the [Pratt &Whitney] R-985, which we’d adapted to the Stearman,” he recalls.

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The R-985 Powered de Havilland Beaver: Arguably the Best Bush Plane Ever Built

Aviation, Pratt & Whitney Canada, R-985, radial engine

With a big, nine-cylinder Pratt & Whitney strapped to the front, this 5,100-pound workhorse boasts a useful load of around 2,000 pounds, and it’s built to operate out of short and rough airstrips.

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A Look at Bush-Planes: The P&W R-985 Powered Bellanca CH-300 “Pacemaker”

Aviation, Aviation History, R-985

The Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker was a six-seat utility aircraft, built primarily in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a development of the Bellanca CH-200, fitted with a more powerful engine and, like the CH-200, soon became renowned for its long-distance endurance.

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Vought’s R-985 Powered Kingfisher Floatplane Was Slow, But It Saved Many WWII Crews

Aviation, Aviation History, R-985

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Despite Its Slow Speed, The OS2U Rescued, Spotted, and Observed Its Way Across World War II.

Vought’s OS2U Kingfisher first took flight on March 1st 1938. This observation floatplane, conceived as a replacement for the Curtiss SOC Seagull biplane floatplane, operated from American Navy battleships, cruisers, and even a few destroyers via catapult and from shore bases around the world during World War II. In so doing the slow but steady Kingfisher earned the sobriquet “Eyes of the Fleet.” While the every single one of the 1,519 OS2Us Vought and the Naval Aircraft Factory built was so slow it had trouble getting out of its own way, some elements of its design and the methods used to build them were radically advanced and would be seen on tens of thousands of subsequent aircraft. Continue reading Vought’s R-985 Powered Kingfisher Floatplane Was Slow, But It Saved Many WWII Crews →