Walter Soplata's B-36

[APG85]

Anyone got a picture of Soplata's B-36 when it was in one piece and on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton?

[warbirdcrew]

is the Soplata airframe fairly complete or are there many pieces missing from it?

-WC

[tulsaboy]

I don't think there are any wings, are there?

[mustangdriver]

I was there once, and at that time , there were wings. They were not attached to the airframe, but were there.

[Walrus 7]

There's a parasite fighter in that shot of the B-36 at Dayton. Does anyone know what became of it? I don't remember seeing it at WPAFB, but they were renovating and it might have been so small I missed it.

Walrus

[Saabmeister]

There's a parasite fighter in that shot of the B-36 at Dayton. Does anyone know what became of it? I don't remember seeing it at WPAFB, but they were renovating and it might have been so small I missed it.

Walrus

The XF-85 is in the Experimental/R&D hangar (at least I'd assume it's the same one). Here's a somewhat crappy picture I took of it in May: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2652 ... /XF-85.jpg

[tom d. friedman]

as related in previous walt threads the wings are present, but are shot as to condition. the ravages of wacky extremes in ohio weather has more than taken it's toll condition wise over the years, thus the magnesium alloy is heading for dust. 1st of all, the wings are in pieces. i stood at the highest point of 1 wing section, and it was parallel to my adam's apple in my throat, & i'm 5 ft 9 inches tall. 1 cool note..... the nuclear bomb shackles are still present as pointed out by walt when i was their 3 years ago.

[tulsaboy]

Tom, quick question...

The magnesium alloy, does that just represent the skins on the aircraft, or the structural elements of the aircraft as well? Obviously, the "hidden" agenda being the possibility that you could just reskin the wings if needed. Just ignorance on my part.

Thanks!

kevin

[tom d. friedman]

no ignorance on your part!!! i'm not sure either, but i'd say magnesium is the majority metal component, as most surviving pieces look rougher than most ww 2 wrecks you'd find in the harshest areas of the the world after 60 plus years since.