John BoyleThere’s a nice B-24 here at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana that could sure benefit from all the good intentions waiting to be showered on the dwindling US Liberator population 😉 😀
I’ve never see such a horrible display of vintage iron. All of the cowlings are missing. The control surfaces are being held together with duct tape, etc. The chicken wire stretched over all the openings and doors is a tasteful addition as well.
It’s a real pig of an outdoor display, and it’s been in that condition for at least 15+ years. I believe it’s a combat veteran as well. Some of the flak patches have been removed to display the damage near the cockpit.
.
A friend who’s involved with the USAF old airplane situation is very critical of the planes at Barksdale. A lot of their planes are in bad shape. As the HQ for the 8th AF, the Barksdale musuem appearently feels it can do whatever to planes on display at other 8th AF bases..I’ve been told they’ve stripped the cockpit…throttle quadrant etc….of the B-17 at Dyess for a display somewhere.
The USAF Museum needs to have tighter control over how historic planes are displayed at bases…too often local curators get “pressure” from local commanders to do stupid things. Witness a rare RB-57A (side by side Canberra) painted in faux Vietnam markings to fit into a “Vietnam” heritage display at Lackland. To make matters worse, they have a T-38 painted as an F-5..”just paint over the rear canopy, nobody will know the differnce”, and an Army UH-1B marked as a USAF “F” model (for you non-helicopter types this is a bigger thing than it sounds, they have a noticeably different engine cowling.) And don’t get me started on their one-time policy of painting the names of current generals on types they flew as junior officers. So you get a plane marked with “Lt. Gen. XXXX” on a type of plane flown when he was a 2nd Lt. I can see a typical visitor thinking all AF pilots must be generals.
John BoyleUFOS
When stationed at RAF Benth2o/Woodbridge I had to answer the nutty letters about the “sighting” back in thw 80s.
Sadly, most of ther nuts were Americans…one guy wrote 9 to 12 page single spaced letters with no punctuation, it consisted entirely of a rambling question.
All I had to send them was the letter written by the former deputy base commander reporting the incident to the RAF & MOD.
I made no comments, just gave them the letter to let them figure out what the lieutenant colonel saw.
John BoyleNice plane
John
Here are a couple shots from STEVEN LEWIS located on the YAF web site taken in 2004
Looks pretty good for a static exhibit.
Mark
Mark, & the YAF Crew..
Wow, what a difference a few years and a lot of hard work make!
I stand corrected… it’s a very nice static, quite a change from when I last saw it.
John BoyleJohn,
I thought the YAF already had a Privateer at Willow Run. I am sure I saw one there in the mid 1990s.
Should I search the photo files?
Mark
When I visited them in the mid-90s, they had the wreckage of a ditched PB4Y-2…somewhat the very worse for wear! As I recall, it wasn’t really displayable. But with the rebuilds they do today, I could be wrong…
John BoyleJohn,
Yes I agree lets get them all off Gate Guard dutys 😮 , but the 24 should have gone to Yankee Air Force since it was build at Willow Run and they have been looking for a 24 to add to their collection.
Hell at the time this all was happen their was agroup who was willing to purchase the 24 from the Air Force. Surely this would have help them USAFM more then trading it to Duxford for a Bloody Spit that are a Dime A Dozen throu out the World. :p
Plus not only did they get the 24 put they also got a nose section. 😡
Since we are still on this import subject I would like to get the P-38 back from France Oh wait it was destroyed along with a few other US Build items trade to the French for nothing. :confused: 😡
Maybe we could get back the B-29 on display at Duxford, I got an idea we’ll trade you the 29 for a Spit sounds like a great deal, sure would bring it even with the 24 for Spit. 😀
Willow run does need a 24, but the AAM at Duxford is a better tribute to the 8thAF B-24 crews than having a Liberator in Mich…and yes, I know they were made there. But at the end of the day, more people will see the 24 at Duxford. Why the USAFM wanted ANOTHER Spitfire (they have at least two, one of which…a later model isn’t on show) I don’t know.
I’d like to see the YAF get a PB4Y-2…it’s the next best thing to a B-24. I don’t have my book handy, but weren’t they build at Willow Run? If not use their wings and restore a B-24 fuselage…30 ears ago I saw a B-24 fuselage (rescued from a Canadian crash site) on a flatbed spending the night at Fairchild AFB. I don’t know what happened to it.
John BoyleGood B-24 move
Hi Shorty01,
….and esspically the Bloody B-24 that was sent to Duxford that still PO alot of use here in the States. 😡
I love the fact the Lackland B-24 went to Duxford. 🙂
I saw it on the Lackland parade field and it was in terrible shape, few people knew what it was, and even fewer cared (the people who saw it were new USAF enlisted members and their families).
I’ve seen the plastic replacement and it’s great, even the metal seams are visable. I had to “thump” it to make sure it was glassfibre. I saw thew restored plane at Duxford a couple of months back and I couldn’t believe it was the same plane.
My suggestion replace Lackland’s P-51H, F-82 and B-17G with figerglass look alikes and give those aircraft a proper restoration. I don’t care if they end up in the U.K….get them out of the weather!!! The Texas sun (and occasional hailstorms…and tornadoes) is no place for historic and rare aircraft.
John BoylePaul is referring to the fact that this particular B-17 was severely damaged by a hurricane whilst in the Bradley Air Museum in 1979, but survived unscathed on this occasion.
No B-17 was damaged on this occasion
It was actually damaged by a tornado in 1979…story has it that it was hit by an upside down HU-16..a rare C-124 was also lost.
John BoyleNOW you agree with me…
The Buff belongs in Finland, damn shame it has ended up in the hands of the U.S. Navy museum :((((.
Wonder where those remains of three Buffs are- does anybody know?
A few weeks ago I posted a message where I suggested that RARE planes should be displayed where they’s be most appreciated.
I was soundly criticized and ridiculed by many people who NOW say the Buffalo should go to Finland. I won’t mention any names, but most of the comments came from the Southern Hemisphere concered that their warbirds would go to the US or UK.
I think a Buffalo should be in Finland, based on its operational histoy, but since a poster said this plane was originally US property (not a export example) and (if I’m not mistaken) the Buffalo did have some U.S. combat history in the Pacific…the plane does have a rightful place in the Naval Aviation Museum…it’s a first rate operation so it will have a good home.
John Boylethe Korean War before going to the PLAAF… That’s well over 60 years old.
1950 to 2004….
54 years by my count!!! 🙂
John BoyleMore likely to be an Alouette 3 rather than the Alouette 2 in Swiss Mustangs picture.
I agree, it’s NOT a Hiller…especially a UH12E4.
John BoyleHow about the Eurofighter or Rafale ?
They won’t be as cheap as a used F-15E!!!! 🙂
John BoyleUSAF oldies…
By aircraft type, the 50 year old C-130 Hercules would be up there…but most of the ones still in U.S. service are no older than mid-60’s E models. However, recently the U.S. have given away to allies some of the late 50’s B models.
The B-52s still in service are “H” models..which date from 1961-62. The last “H” was accepted by the USAF in Oct. 62.
Lots of late 1950’s KC-135s are still in front-line service.
Also, some of the T-37s and T-38s are probably also at least 40 years old.
John BoyleB-29 recognition
It’s become a bit politically incorrect to like or admire the B-29 because of the atomic bomb attacks (on the opening day of the new National Air & Space Museum, some whackjob threw red paint on the Enola Gay causing a reported $8000 in damage) but from a technology and production standpoint it was an accomplishment. WW II started with Wimpy’s and non-combat ready B-17s…and ended with pressurized, remote turret B-29s. A lot of progress in about 3-4 years…
John BoyleCome on John. Settle the ‘bravo’ discussion.
Moggy
I watch two episodes last night…in one they said correctly
“Helicopter 75 Bravo”
In the other they said “N 975 B”….
Obviously, the script writers wrote whatever they wanted to…some knew more than others. Both the episodes I watched were very early ones, perhaps later the script writers became more accurate, or the actors said the right thing…regardless of what the script said. After 111 episodes, I’d like to think Ken Tobey and Craig Hill learned something about aviation.
In later episodes, it’s pretty clear that they were taught to start the helicopter.
In the U.S. the correct call sign would be “Helicopter 75 Bravo”.
When I was taking lessons in a 47G, my radio call was “Helicopter 38 Golf…and taking off from runway 28. Sometimes in my traffic advisory calls on the Unicom I’d reverse the numbers. Sure, it sounds lame now, but at the time I had both my hands and feet busy and my mind going in several directions…watch this, watch that, keep the instructor happy, don’t hit anything, etc… 🙂
And Auster Fan…there are always VHS episodes and occasinally DVDs on the U.S. eBay… but in NTSC format. And unlike a lot of old shows we remember from our youth, the episodes do hold up pretty well.
John BoyleF-111 replacement
Here’s an idea for an F-111 replacement…why not replace it with what the USAF replaced it with…the F-15E?
If money’s a problem they could get some cheap ex-USAF ones soon…and have Japan do maintenance work. True they won’t be the newest thing in the air, but they’d be newer than the F-111s.. 🙂
Sign In
