History of the Howard 500 Origins
(Excerpt from A History of the Howard 500 by Dave Cummings)
Along comes the Howard 500
A newer version of the R2800 was being used on the DC-6 aircraft and Dee thought it would be very well suited to the 500. The P&W R2800/CB-17 engine rated at 2500 hp with two stage supercharger and water injected ADI was a perfect choice for the plane. Light weight, at 2390 lbs it put out more hp/lb than most other engines on the market. It was the newest thing out there, having been developed in 1954 -‘56 and readily available in 1957 it was produced until 1967.
Dee bought about 30 something PV-1 aircraft from the Canadian and South African Air Forces in order to get the parts he needed to get the 500 in the air as soon as he could. From these planes he would take most of the accessories, engine mounts, tail wheel assemblies, wheels, hydraulic systems and various other small parts. He was faced with building jigs for both the wings and fuselage, but had bought originals from Lockheed in Burbank to use as patterns. While the jigs were being built, improvements on the design of the 350 were being done. The wing needed to be redesigned because the PV-1 wing just ran out of lift and speed at about 20,000ft. The new plane would also need huge wet fuel cells built into it to give the high end CB’s the endurance necessary.
The biggest improvement would be that of a remarkable pressurization system, one that would allow complete cabin comfort at 20,000 ft and beyond. The heart of the system would be based on the Garret Air Research engine driven compressor that the early Convair 580 and P-3 Orion aircraft were using. Howard was certainly a believer of the, “lets not reinvent the wheel” philosophy. This way he could get the job done fast and inexpensively. He was like the Japanese with their reverse engineering. He took what was being used successfully and made it better. He was able to pump his new fuselage up to an incredible 7 to 1 differential. This meant at 20,000 ft you could easily have a cabin of less than 2000 ft.
As Dee sat across the street at his favorite lunch place Jims Café with Ed Swearingen, he thought up ideas and drew them out on napkins. He said, “were going to have to accommodate this new engine and get a handle on the weight and balance for the plane, we need a bigger lever”. He promptly went back to the office and asked his top engineer how much of an extension the Howard 350 would need to be stretched to give it what he was looking for. He estimated that 4 ft would do it, so 4 ft it was, now the new plane would be 4ft longer. To prove it, with the least expense of time and money he took one of his PV1’s and cut it in two. The modified conversion flew weeks later and proved to be a whole new plane. They were very pleased with the performance changes.
The new 500 would incorporate dramatic changes that most believed to be simple conversions to the then PV-1. This is however not true. The most important fact about the Howard 500 is that it is a new aircraft, carefully designed by Dee and his staff. Those that say that it is a conversion know very little about what they are saying or what Howard did. While it is true that the 500 is somewhat of a “highbred” in that it used many parts from other planes. Again this kept cost down and saved time. For example, the propellers are Constellation blades and the spider or hub comes from an F4U Corsair, a # 60 spline 4 bladed propeller. The Landing gear, straight off a PV-2 (the PV-1 gear was just to light for the increased wt of the 500) but with some huge mods such as how it attaches to the airframe.
Concerning the airframe, how could it be that one could simply put glue on an existing PV-1 structure and get it approved as a pressurized plane certified under the then CAR 4B (transport category) certification? That is not only absurd but impossible. You must design around the fact that you are going to pressurize the aircraft. The 500 has a fuselage former every 6 inches. The PV-1 has them about every 20 inches or more much like a DC-3. The designs were indeed similar and one lead to the other, many parts from the PV-1 interchange, but not without some modification. Dee modified almost every part that came from the Ventura.
As a pilot/mechanic for 8 yrs on this particular aircraft and nearly 1500 hours in it as captain I can tell you that there are very few, if any parts that are a direct interchange. I have had to learn the hard way what mods to make on the parts I repair or exchange. It is definitely an on going learning process to be certain. I can see his point of view, or the evolution of each piece as I mess with them or repair them. We all tend to come up with ideas on how to improve a product when we use it for any given length of time. That is exactly what he did with the Model 350 as it lent itself to the design changes found in the 500. (Dave Cummings)
By late 1958 Howard had finalized the design of the 500. Certifying it was another thing as the now defunct CAA gave way to the ever changing FAA. This dynamic institution was trying to figure out how to harness the huge leaps and bounds in aviation that the world had witnessed due to the advancements that WWII and the Korean wars’ provided.
The construction of the Howard 500, proceeded with out too many changes in the airframe design, but went through many system, electrical, and hydraulic alterations. It seemed like, as the FAA transport category certification requirements changed, so did the plane and it was tough to keep up with the two. Some of the design features that were required to meet the FAA requirements included; a rudder boost and elevator boost system to aid the pilot in holding the plane controllable during single engine demos. They deemed that 180lbs of pressure was just a tad too much for the average pilot. Next the plane needed a yaw limiting system and compressor disconnect in the event the left engine were to fail. An elaborate AC electrical system provided everything from heated windshields to hot food in the galley. The brakes and gear system are both backed up with nitrogen systems. There are quite a few ways to get the gear down in the 500 and it is one of the fastest deploying gear I have ever seen, in fact you really need to be extra careful when performing a static gear swing as the momentum of the huge gear and wheels will sweep the plane right off the jacks. But in flight it sure is a comforting feeling to see the gear there every time and in record fashion.
The first flight of the Howard 500 took place about may of 1960 and as recounted by Dee Howard, “When we stepped out of the plane I told ‘Rusty’ (Elton Rust his test pilot) ‘I think I might need to go see the doctor, my face is hurting something fierce’, Rusty replied, “ Do you think it has anything to do with that huge smile you’ve had plastered from ear to ear since we pushed the throttles forward and raised the gear?”, “All I could do was laugh some more” responded Howard.
According to “Cisco” (Bulmaro Alarcon) Dee’s shop and field supervisor from 1955 to 1992, Howard built nearly 60 conversions of the 250 and 350 combined. The 500 was built from 1958 to 1963 and only 16 were produced. Cisco was there for the entire Super Ventura and 500 programs.
... for more of this story, see the Docs folder in your copy of the FSX native Howard 500 folder.
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