The Last B-36…Ever

Added my name too, this would be a crime after all the hard work that has gone into the restoration!

A quick check shows there are 5 B36 left:-
As well as the Fort Worth and Walter Soplata ones the other examples are at USAF Museum at Wright Patterson (which made the last ever flight of a B36 on 30/4/59), Castle Air Museum, and at the Strategic Air & Space Museum – formerly the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Museum.
This one is ship 383 – the last one built – and is also known as 52-2827 but was apparently christened “City of Ft. Worth” when it flew the last official USAF B-36 mission from Biggs AFB, El Paso, Texas to Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Field 12/2/59.
Info from http://www.b-36peacemakermuseum.org/
My view – do everything you can to save what you have. This time next year, next decade, whenever, there is always the chance that something might happen to one of the others (coz how many aircraft have been lost during restoration through accidental fires through the years?).

Flood

I was particularly intrigued by the P-47 still in the shipping crate. I talked to his wife a month ago about taking the tour but she was pretty stern about “no tours!” To bad, hopefully his $$ million collection finds a good home when he’s gone.

I’ll try to scan the 2 aerial pictures I have tomorrow.

fascinating stuff! We really don’t have big enough gardens in this country. Love to see some more like this WD.

It might take me awhile to scan those pictures (I did find them) but here is a picture journel of someone’s trip to the airplane graveyard.

Walter Soplata’s Farm

This man has a GOLD MINE of aircraft. The Twin Mustang was sold about 4 years ago and is being restored somewhere.

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
I gave this crusade a YES as well. There is a gentleman in the northern Ohio area that has a B-36 in his backyard as well as tons of other warbirds. Sadly he doesn’t allow visitors anymore as I believe his age is getting the best of him. I didn’t get a chance to visit before he stopped but I did spend many hours circling over his property looking at all the planes. I’ll have to dig up some of those pictures and scan them.

Yo WD , get looking mate , and get posting !!!!

I gave this crusade a YES as well. There is a gentleman in the northern Ohio area that has a B-36 in his backyard as well as tons of other warbirds. Sadly he doesn’t allow visitors anymore as I believe his age is getting the best of him. I didn’t get a chance to visit before he stopped but I did spend many hours circling over his property looking at all the planes. I’ll have to dig up some of those pictures and scan them.

gbwez1 the answer is a resounding YES!

Good luck Sharon. I have added my name

(I remember them flying in UK)

T

Well I guess this will rain on the parade somewhat, but my question is “Is this a worthwhile project?”

There are at least 2 B-36s preserved by excellent aviation Museums – USAFM and Strategic Air & Space Museum.

We can’t preserve every aircraft that was ever built, particularly not the larger airframes.

There is a strong tendency for aircraft enthusiasts to take this general line: “Any loss of any old aircraft is bad. All old aircraft should be preserved. The sight of an airplane rotting away in a field pains me greatly. The thought of it being cut up for scrap pains me even more.”

There are already several hundred aviation museums in the USA (reference the book on my shelf “Guide to over 900 Aircraft Museums: USA and Canada”) many of them struggling for money.

Do we really need another one?

Done

Hi

Just added my name