Traron Squadron

A turbine is too simple minded, it has no mystery. The air travels through it in a straight line and doesn't pick up any of the pungent fragrance of burned engine oil or pilot sweat.

Anybody can start a turbine. You just need to move a switch from "OFF" to "START" and then remember to move it back to "ON" after a while.

Big deal, My PC is harder to start.

Cranking a round engine requires skill, finesse and style. You have to seduce it into starting. On some planes, the pilots aren't allowed to start them....

Turbines start by whining for a while, then give little poof and then start whining a little louder.

Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click, BANG, more rattles, another BANG, a big macho BELCH or two, more clicks, a lot more smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar.

We like that. It's a GUY thing...

When you start a round engine, your mind is engaged. Starting a turbine is like flicking on a ceiling fan: Useful, but, hardly exciting.

When you have started his round engine successfully your Crew Chief looks up at you like he'd just let you kiss his girl!

Turbines don't break or catch fire often enough, which leads to aircrew boredom, complacency and inattention. A round engine at speed looks and sounds like it's going to blow up any minute. This helps concentrate the mind!

Turbines don't have enough control levers or gauges to keep a pilot's attention. There's nothing to fiddle around with during long flights. not enough going on to scare you with all that clatter and banging during the middle of the night over that dark ocean down below. .

Turbines smell like a Girl Scout camp full of Coleman Lamps. Round engines smell like God intended machines to smell, burned oil.

Ice and snow in the intakes, plus the thrill of ice banging off the props, if you've flown them you'll know what I mean. Would love to do it all over again.