Tim Savage wrote:
marine air wrote:
The B-23 was a candidate for the Tokyo Raid. I think it's biggest drawback was it's wingspan relative to carrier operations. The stock B-23 had R-1830's of !,200 hp. and many were re-engined with B-25 engines (R-2600's) with much more horsepower. All the ones after the war went to big name corporations like Hughes Tools, etc. The immediate post-war civilian use was their heyday. Unfortunately they have mostly expired. There is only one flyable and it hasn't been seen in a long time. A local airline captain here in Nashville tried to buy the one that ended up at Sanders Aircraft. It was ferriable when parked. Supposedly a "billionaire" was going to restore it but it is still sitting without much progress. It would've been nice to see a couple of these go to owners that would actually restore and keep them flying. Imagine if the same happened to all the Ford Tri-motors? I'm glad Gosshawk still flies their Privateer. One day it may be extinct from the skies.
The ex Ione, Mike Bogue airplane isn’t parked, it has been undergoing a multi year restoration at Bill Muszala’s ATW Aviation in Marana AZ for Jim Slattery.[/quote
The B-23 did not use 1830’s as mentioned earlier. The B-23 always used a 2600. Although a single 2800 was installed as a test bed in the number one location