"Fertile Myrtle" when Myrtle was still Fertile ...

[Mark Allen M]

Boeing B-29 45-21787 when it apparently stopped/stayed at (SBA) Santa Barbara Airport I'm assuming sometime in the late 80's early 90's? The new SBA control tower (seen in first photo) was opened in 1988.
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b29regis ... 21787.html

The white hangar way down on the far right beyond the tower is where I spent plenty of time working on my private pilots license. Good memories still today.

[Craig59]

Here she is at the Chino air show around the same timeframe.

Attachments

BBB74DF2-D557-4A77-809C-43C7717DB09C.jpeg (38.22 KiB) Viewed 2562 times

[sledge39]

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...anouther thread on "Fertle Myrtle"

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66975&start=0
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[C VEICH]

I was at every Chino airshow between 1986 and when they took a hiatus some time in the very early '90s and Myrtle was not at any of those so it must have been prior to '86. I had no idea she was stil flying as late as 1988-1990. Would love to have seen her!

[Craig59]

I was at every Chino airshow between 1986 and when they took a hiatus some time in the very early '90s and Myrtle was not at any of those so it must have been prior to '86. I had no idea she was stil flying as late as 1988-1990. Would love to have seen her!

Well, now that you mention that it makes sense as I was at USAF UPT all of 1983 and off flying 135’s in Itch-It-Raw Kansas by April 1984.

[lucky52]

Did they crash it for the movie or was it saved?

[ALOHADAVE]

B-29 (Fertile Myrtle) 45-21787 History of the aircraft:
This aircraft was delivered to the United States Army Air Forces in mid-September 1945 as 45-21787.
In 1947, the plane was transferred to the US Navy for long range search operations, and assigned Bureau Number 84029.
It was later transferred to the NACA (the forerunner of NASA), designated NACA 137, and used as the mothership to launch the D-558-II Skyrocket, which eventually became the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 with Test Pilot Scott Crossfield at the controls.
In the early 1970s, NASA sold the B-29 to the American Air Museum in Oakland, California, where it was maintained in flyable condition.
It was featured in the 1980 disney film "The Last Flight of Noah's Ark" during the flight sequences in the film.
Severe wing spar corrosion grounded the plane in the early 1980s, and it was sold to Kermit Weeks in 1984.
Attempted ferry flight to Stockton for a thorough restoration aborted after nearly crashing into downtown Oakland on takeoff.
The aircraft was disassembled, and Weeks had the nose section put on display in his Museum in Miami, while the rest of the aircraft was put into storage at Aero Trader in Ocotillo Wells, California.
The nose section was heavily damaged in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew (which completely destroyed the Weeks Air Museum, damaging most of the aircraft collection), and was subsequently vandalized before it was retrieved.
The nose section has since been restored and completely re-skinned, and is on display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida, along with the remainder of the unrestored fuselage & wings.
This B-29 is a complete airframe although the components are in different locations.

[JohnH]

Kermit’s flight was in 1984 when he bought it. Last flight of the airplane and he almost crashed it in Oakland. So I’m guessing this pic is late 1970s or earlier.

[JohnH]

I was at every Chino airshow between 1986 and when they took a hiatus some time in the very early '90s and Myrtle was not at any of those so it must have been prior to '86. I had no idea she was stil flying as late as 1988-1990. Would love to have seen her!

It definitely wasn’t . 1984- last flight!

[wls3]

Photos taken at Fantasy of Flight museum,



and across the street in Kermit's "Golden Hill Storage Facility."

[Stoney]

I was to fly it with the Johnson's pilot Art Stagg in 1979 to a airshow at George AFB, but Art canceled because of WX. Still sad about that.

[StangStung]

Kermit’s flight was in 1984 when he bought it. Last flight of the airplane and he almost crashed it in Oakland. So I’m guessing this pic is late 1970s or earlier.

I've not heard this story. What's the tale?

[Left Seat]

I remember seeing a B-29 and what I think was Waco CG-4 glider at the Watsonville,CA airshow in either spring of 1972 or 1973.

The B-29 stuck in my mind because it had an an American flag mounted on a pole sticking out of one of the front windows. Not many people in the Bay Area showed their patriotism that way during the Vietnam war (keep in mind that Watsonville is an hours drive south of San Francisco & Bezerkley).

I probably have some 8mm footage of both of them floating around somewhere.

I don't think FiFi was on the circuit until late 1974.

Was that B-29 "Fertile Mertle"?

[JohnH]

The first pic shows the 1960s-1998 tower. Myrtle has been down since 1984. Please see these links.

https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/ ... obID=41153

https://www.cityofgoleta.org/home/showdocument?id=9980

[Mark Allen M]

The first photo shows the old tower so date is before 1988.