Warbird Information Exchange

From the SDASM Archives, Colonel Orie W. Coyle Special Collection.
XB-32 41-18336 and a B-29A whose serial seems to be in the 42-939XX range.





Any guesses where this is? (Edit: McClellan AFB on the side of the fire truck)
Further edit: 336 in happier times (from airwar.ru):

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Like the P4M Mercator it's a shame no B-32's were saved

I can see some B-36 in that B-32.

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x2

Update: Potential ID on the B-29A. Might be 42-93978, which cracked up on landing at McClellan on October 28, 1951:

So if these photos were taken in late '51 or '52, at least, then this XB-32 (the third prototype) was probably the last survivor after 42-108474 was scrapped at Davis-Monthan in August 1949.

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

There is one surviving piece of a Dominator. Maybe it came from the one in the picture?

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=51097

Scroll down once you get to the page.

That wing panel came from a static test example; possibly this one:

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

To the B-32 and P4M one might add the P6M Sea Master...

This reminds me of a weird dream I had a few weeks ago. In the dream, my dad had found some derelict retired firebombers in open storage and was showing them to me. I really only glimpsed them in the dream...but sitting there in the scrub, very ratty and looking sorry for themselves, were at least two dark blue Sea Masters (one of which I think was on beaching gear)...and at least two very dilapidated bright yellow B-36s...! The Sea Master would, I'm sure, have made quite the lake skimmer, in the manner of a PBY, CL215 or the iconic Mars...

S.

To the B-32 and P4M one might add the P6M Sea Master...

This reminds me of a weird dream I had a few weeks ago. In the dream, my dad had found some derelict retired firebombers in open storage and was showing them to me. I really only glimpsed them in the dream...but sitting there in the scrub, very ratty and looking sorry for themselves, were at least two dark blue Sea Masters (one of which I think was on beaching gear)...and at least two very dilapidated bright yellow B-36s...! The Sea Master would, I'm sure, have made quite the lake skimmer, in the manner of a PBY, CL215 or the iconic Mars...

S.

(Sorry about the double post. Computer's behaving a bit oddly at the moment.)

Sounds like some new ideas for "what if" modeling!

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Truly a sad end for any aircraft - to be relegated to a fire dump - but the XB-32?? If you've read anything about the Dominator, from start to finish, that model seemed doomed.
While it may not have measured up to the B-29 - for many reasons - the B-32 is credited with being involved in the very last aerial engagement of WWII - in my humble opinion, more than enough reason to have saved at least one example for posterity.

In any event, there are many more things remaining of the B-32 Dominator than most people realize, aside from several nose/tail Turrets and the famous San Diego WING - which, by the way, is described in that park's handout literature as being from a B-24. I tried to do some photo comparisons of the B-24 & B-32 wing, but came to no definite conclusion as to the San Diego example's true origin. The only way would be to access the inside of the WING and look for a part number: 32 prefix for the Liberator and 33 for the Dominator.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Dominator's final disposition (as far as the Kingman 38 are involved) should visit this webpage: http://www.depot41.com/B32.htm

In reference to the above image with MST3K's characters: I've seen that image elsewhere curiously titled "EDWARDS DROP TEST". Now, Edwards AFB was named Muroc Army Air Base during WWII, so was the photo labeled sometime after WWII? Whether or not that be the case, it seems unlikely that the outer wing from this test ship would have been removed and carted all the way down to San Diego for display. From what I've read, the San Diego WING supposedly was left over after contract cancellation (San Diego built both the B-24 and several B-32s) and some quick-thinking individual(s) made the effort to save it.