@ProvingMars That testifies to the amazing power of a T-56. All you need is some fuel flex tubing and you could stay inverted in that baby :)

@sheepsblood I am sure he caught some flak. But, probably not as much as the LCDR who put an E-2 through a loop (in a dive). I did not see that one, but heard enough about it. But, I was at the ceremony recognizing his 10,000 flight hours. I think he may have started in P-3s or EP-3s. Well over a year in the air.

@ProvingMars I wonder if he ever got slack for that one.
That is a maintainer's nightmare pilot. He's always breaking stuff.

@sheepsblood
The oddest thing I saw done in an E-2 was on a detachment to GITMO. A young Lt. gets the bird off the deck as soon as possible, retracts the gear, then drops to about 8 ft off the runway @ full throtle. At the end of the runway, he yanks back on the yoke and goes almost verticle. ???? You don't suppose he wanted to be a fighter pilot, do you?

@ProvingMars
Hey, I always wondered why my P-3's T56-A-14 never got the 6 bladed props slapped on! :)
That would have been one weird looking P-3.
E-2's are some kick azz airplanes. The T56 I swear was a lot of power on that little bird. When I saw them buzz by, it was like a prop driven F-18 racing by so fast and agile.

The original E-2C had a crew of 5. 2 pilots, 3 'backenders' (equipment operators/controlers.)
When I was working on the E-2C, I was told the Japanese Defense Force wanted a fourth 'backender', so they had the had the '60's era computer pulled out and replaced with '80's era computer. That provided the space and weight reduction necessary to place a fourth, cramped crew station.
It left me wondering why we didn't do the same.

Awesome!