[TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 63, Issue 58

[ries]

I used to see a little bit of it in the seventies, at scrap yards- but  
I sure havent seen any for sale since.
Somewhere in the USA, there is probably an old junker sitting on a  
pile of it.
But it would not be an easy thing to find these days.
It was about 8 feet long, and, maybe a foot wide, and it did interlock  
into continuous sheets, end to end and side to side.
It was stamped from about 14 gage at the thickest. Not designed to  
last 60 years in humid environments- it was a quick, and cheap  
solution to temporary roads.
The pieces I saw were painted, but not galvanized, mild steel.

Oops- I am wrong- you CAN still buy it.
Here-

http://www.calumetindustries.com/index.php?s=psp

along with a great history of it, and pics.

Google is an amazing thing, isnt it?

Ries


On Apr 29, 2009, at 8:44 AM, Cindy and James wrote:

This was my father-in-law's reply to the question of PSP.  JA


James
PSP has hooks that hook into the piece adjacent to it.  It is laid like
bricks so that ends butt and joints are staggered.  It has holes punched
in it for weight reduction and the punch was the type that carried lots
of metal through to the back side which helped stiffen the plank. As I
recall they were about eight feet long.  (I never carried one or
examined them except from the cockpit.)  They were laid over soft ground
so aircraft could land and take-off.  Kolie field on Guadalcanal  was
all PSP even the taxi strips and the revetment areas.  If an aircraft
got off the PSP it would sink until the wing tip started to take the
weight.  It was a big project to get them back on the PSP. Usually, Jack
ed them up and laid PSP under the wheels back to the PSP they run off
of. The runways up the Solomon Chain were coral - just dump spread and
roll.  The CB"s built them in less than a week.  Bouganville was PSP and
I believe Buka was also but I never landed there.
PSP would roll up like a wave in front of a B-24.  It made Take-off and
landing different.  T.O was longer and Landing shorter. Believe me, at
night with a heavy load and no lights it made take-off a very sporting
event.  The runway was none too long and when it was hard to see the end
it makes for worry when you are approaching the grass and you can't make
it out very clearly.  There more than one pair of tire marks in the
overrun and not all of the aircraft went on to the target. It is a hard
way to start a mission when you lose and aircraft at home prior to
departure.
PSP was available on civilian/surplus market after the war.  There must
be some of it somewhere that could be purchased if cost was not a  
factor.
My two cents worth
Jim J
USAF Retired.
>
> I've seen two over lapping layers of heavy expanded metal raised edge
> wired together for this purpose but the substrate must not be too
> loose. A guy I used to work with (Now Deceased) was a WW2 vet who said
> they used this method for emergency airfields on some pacific islands.
> I don't remember if this was a landing surface or a base layer he
> described, but I think it started as a landing surface and if needed
> became more sophisticated.
> L Brown
>
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/