HomeWelcomeUpdatesCompanyAircraftPeopleProjectsEquipmentOperationsPhoto AlbumGuest BookSearchAdastrianaQuestions

ADASTRA AND THE GRUMMAN TRACKER

Although the "Flights of Fancy" page hints at an Adastra dalliance with the Grumman Tracker, it recently emerged that things progressed considerably farther than mere "hangar talk".

Former Adastra Operations Manager, Mike Wood, recalls that he and Lionel Van Praag went to Nowra to inspect a Tracker to assess its suitability for survey operations. Because the Tracker is normally associated with low level operations, it might be assumed that Adastra viewed the type as a possible aeromagnetic survey aircraft, but such was not the case. Preliminary discussions with Adastra's chief engineer, Jack McDonald, suggested that the Tracker could be fitted with two-stage superchargers which would make it suitable for photo survey operations up to 25,000 feet. Furthermore, the fact that the Tracker was a sturdy airframe powered by the already familiar Wright R-1820 Cyclone must have made it an attractive proposition. Given that it was readily available and comparitively inexpensive, its acquisition by Adastra might have seemed a certainty but the study never progressed owing to a fundamental problem. Because it was designed for landing on carrier decks, the Tracker was fitted with high pressure tyres which would have rendered it unsuitable for operations from most of the airfields that Adastra was likely to visit, few airports possessing the required pavement strength. The seemingly obvious solution of fitting fatter, low pressure tyres was examined but eliminated because the Tracker's wheel wells would not accommodate them. This brought to an end Adastra's brief flirtation with the Grumman Tracker.



(Source: Interview with Mike Wood on 9th December 2003)