Strange civilian uses of warbird parts

[Taigh Ramey]

Barbir III's nose wasn't manufactured from drawings. They found the lower half and were rebuilding it while looking for the upper half. They figured they were going to have to fabricate it if they didn't find one.

I was scrounging through a surplus place called Palleys Supply when I found three upper B-25H noses. I remembered reading about Barbie and their quest for the upper nose so I tracked down Lou Fulgaro's phone number. Lou was the project manager at the time and he was quite skeptical and didn't believe that some kid from California had found the nose he was looking for. I think I was 15 or 16 at the time. To make a long story short I described all three noses and he picked the one that suited him best. It cost more to have a crate made than it cost to buy the nose from Palleys. Lou tells this story from his side, and a lot more, in a book he wrote about the whole Weary Warrior and the Barbie III story. It is a great read that I highly recommend picking up a copy. It is called Barbie III and company by Lou Fulgaro.

Lou is a great guy who, with some great company, built up a rare and wonderful B-25H.

Every time I see Barbie III I get a good feeling that I was able to help them in some small way.

Palleys was a great place way back then. They had P-38 parts (gear, scoops, verticals and rudders) SB2C parts (gear, canopies, cowling) B-25 stuff, instruments, gun sights, bombsights even sheepskin clothing and AN6530 goggle lenses. What a great place to scrounge around in... Ah, the good old days!

[Chris Brame]

Steve, I may have an ID on your chair: United Air Lines DC-7 N6339C City of Sacramento/Mainliner Capt. Ralph Johnston:

http://aviation-safety.net/database/rec ... 19660518-0

The accident happened in Denver, not Boulder, but the circumstances look possible for it to be the one. It's also the only DC-7 (or DC-4 or DC-6) accident between 1962 and 1985 in the area; no aircraft larger than a C-45 were listed on the NTSB site as having an accident at Boulder.

[noizeedave]

I got this from a guy who's friend bought it to cut in half to use for a Geese feeder! He told his friend, " Ill do whatever you need to have you not destroy that piece of history". He saved it until he met with us, where it can be used again for its intended purpose.

Its a B-25 585 Gallon Bomb Bay Ferry Fuel Tank.

[hang the expense]

[quote="Nathan"]I read of where someone used the canopy of a P-40 for a doghouse down in Georgia!
Hey Nathan,The story is I got some P-40 chin cowlings from Austrailia back in the early ninties.They had been used as dog houses with the opening at the chin casting blocked off.I wont say which 2 p-40s are using those now

[Steve Nelson]

Steve, I may have an ID on your chair: United Air Lines DC-7 N6339C City of Sacramento/Mainliner Capt. Ralph Johnston:

That actually sounds plausible. I've been in a couple of DC-6s over the years, but noticed the seats weren't quite the same as the one I have (which has a fold-down table on the right side.) From just the cockpit section, it would be impossible for me to tell a -6 from a -7.

Thanks for the info!

Steve

[Steve Nelson]

AHA! I knew I had this somewhere. This is an old snapshot I took of the cockpit, as the salvager was attempting to load it into a truck (circa 1984.) Obviously, he had to come back later with a bigger one. Can anyone tell if it's a DC-6 or -7?

Ya know, the more I look at it, the more I wonder if that might actually be an old simulator, rather than a chunk salvaged from a complete aircraft. I was doing a bit of Googling, and found an artist in Colorado Springs who had a DC-7 simulator at his studio..and it looks very similar.

SN

[Bluedharma]

There was this local car show event in Littleton, Colorado last September.
One person had this nice little tear-drop trailer.
He said it was made from aircraft parts. Part of the door was from the aircraft itself. He also had the "Nose-art" from the aircraft his father flew on the back of his car. Can anyone ID the aircraft type from the door?






I guess this was made byt the Universal Trailer Corporation, Kansas City,MO in the late 40's early 50's. All Aluminum frame from WW2 surplus?
This was #7 of 75 made called Tourette "Tourers".

[Tinker51]

Back in the early 80's the Red Baron Restaurant at Riverside Airport, RAL, in So Cal had a canopy as a sneeze shield over the salad bar. It may have been a T-33 canopy.

Les

Yep. The local one had the same T-33 canopy sneeze guard too.

[51fixer]

Floyd Wardlow had a trailer that used 4 BT-13 lower struts, axles and wheels. It was about 20' long, maybe a bit less and was pretty high where the deck was. The front axle was like a dolly under the front of a semi trailer and pivoted in a turn.
As a 18 yo I got to use this trailer and a borrowed 454 Chevell to haul a R-2800 from Chino to ILL to replace a blown engine on an A-26 Invader in Kankakee known as the Kankakee Queen N7705C. Al Redick was in ILL in charge of recovering the aircraft and preparing for a ferry flight back to Chino. Johnny Maloney and Juan Redick were my partners.
After dropping off the engine Mark Calderwood joined us after a ride in the back of a T-33 from Chino. Generator failed and they made semi unannounced landing at Ohare without radios. I remember he said he seriously considered ejecting although he had no communication with the pilot.
We picked up the F6F fuselage that Earl Rinehert had for POF and started back. I jumped ship in Iowa and visited my relatives there.
Quite an adventure for a teen.
Rich

[aseanaero]

I have vivid memories of utter disbelief at finding a fence made out of wooden propellor blades when I was walking in the hills above Macclesfield as a teenager

The front fence to my warehouse is made from time expired Sikorsky S58T main rotor blades staggered like venetian blinds

I'll post some photos

[peter]

Perspex nose blisters from Lancaster bombers used as backyard ponds..

[jet1]

now used as signs. the complete outboard wing panel is there some even have formation lites still in them.

[ktst97]

Back in the 1950s, Ranger aircraft engines were occasionally installed in open-wheeled race cars called sprint cars:
" went south to race full-time on the IMCA circuit for several years and in 1953, replaced the Mercury V-8 in his sprint car with a 440 c.i. Ranger aircraft engine. The car was known as the LeMay Ranger."
and
"The rare Ranger aircraft engined sprint car built and driven by the late Gene Cunningham was brought to Wauseon by Bill Scarince. This is an unrestored, all original race car which places the engine upside down and backwards from the way it mounts in the airplane. It is a fascinating bit of technology which Gene successfully raced for many years, beginning in 1956."

[Robby29]

I have a photo of the cars mentioned in your post parked side by side at the IMCA Oldtimers Reunion in Arlington, Minnesota in the 1990's. Ranger-engined sprint cars were not uncommon in the fifties because the engines were affordable as war surplus, light weight, and 440 cu. in. The engine in the LeMay Ranger features high compression pistons, four Stromberg 97 carbs, and a six into one header exiting through a four inch exhaust pipe. The engine was revved to 5,000 rpm and likely produced 400+ horsepower!

[plankwings]

Just out of town at Tocumwal, which was a large base on the Victorian/NSW border here in Australia, a farmer had used numerous Mosquito U/C leg outers (oval tubing) as posts for his shed. He welded them end on end and they became the verticals.

He also used Wirraway fuselage frames (simuilar to T6s) as walls. He cut the cross tubing out and welded them side by side.


Wayne