Found: fate of B-23 39-61

[Chris Brame]

Baugher doesn't have much info on B-23 s/n 39-61, N18647:

(39-)61 (c/n 2747) to RFC at McKellar Field, TN. To DPC as NR18647 in 1946. To PanAm later that year as NC18647. To Corning Glass Works in 1947. To National Steel Corp as N18647 in 1954. Off registry by 1964.

While digging for aircraft photos on the Florida Memory site, I found this:

TFD0190.jpg (74.66 KiB) Viewed 58 times

TFD0191.jpg (66 KiB) Viewed 58 times

TFD0192.jpg (44.52 KiB) Viewed 58 times

TFD0193.jpg (76.42 KiB) Viewed 58 times

View showing plane crash approximately 150' from Dale Mabry Field near Blountstown Highway - Tallahassee, Florida.
Photographed on April 5, 1958.
The plane, a converted B-23, was owned by the National Steel Corporation.
Credit this photo: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/54239
Creator: Slade's Studio Photography (Tallahassee, Fla.)

So I guess you can add this one to the Registry, Scott... probably written off 4-5-58.

Last edited by Chris Brame on Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[hang the expense]

That'll buff right out.

[flightsimer]

The question is... Is it still there?

[ALOHADAVE]

The question is anything there? wreck chasers want to know.

[PinecastleAAF]

The question is anything there? wreck chasers want to know.

Long gone. The entire area has been developed. The airport property became Tallahassee Community College. There are some bits and pieces from high speed crashes in swampy areas in the vicinity.

Being that close to the cleared area I would have expected to see a swath of trees down, kinda interesting.

[p51]

I know exactly where this is (I grew up in Tallahassee and have spent a lot of time walking the area of Dale Mabry), it's an open field now, with buildings on the edge. Nothing there now.

[shrike]

Pardon the necropost, but I just came across photograph of this B-23, all silver, carrying the NC registration. Babb Company stamp on the back, so probably the interval between PAA and Corning

[marine air]

The photos suggest it ran out of fuel, they tried to make it back to the field or put it down somewhere. It landed in that thicket as they didn't have power to put it down in a better location. It landed upright suggesting they were in control and not spinning. Could have been loaded down with ice but notice there isn't any evidence of that in photos.

[Chris Brame]

So I guess you can add this one to the Registry, Scott... probably written off 4-5-58.

Still not on the Registry...