P-63 at Walnut Ridge AAF Field Arkansas

[FAH 619]

P-63 Folks:

Can someone help ID the P-63 #8447 at the center of this Walnut Ridge AAF Field?

It is poss one of the training P-63Es at Griffis Field, near Rome, NY c. 1945-46. Info/data & pictures of these birds while in AAF schemes are welcome! Tks P-63E Buff/FAH619

Photo via Walnut Ridge Museum, Arkansas.

now that's just sad

[bdk]

Mmmmmmm..... Thunderbolts....

[pilot06]

I am willing to trade my left nut for a time machine (must be able to go back in time) and $1m cash.
Patrick

[pilot06]

I am willing to trade my left nut for a time machine (must be able to go back in time) and $1m cash.
Patrick

[bdk]

So either you double posted or you have two left nuts...

[pilot06]

That's where the extra left nut came from. Two should be plenty.
Patrick

[TimAPNY]

If you have a time machine why not pick them up at the factory?

Not as much work to do and they have a engine

[FAH 619]

P-63s/Boneyard Folks:

The boneyard pic above came from the link below. You may see other interesting birds at this post WW II scrapyard. c. 1947-48. Yes! P-47 Razorbacks, P-40s, B-32s, C-46s, BT-13s and many more.

Col. Rohr we look fwd for your data/poss pictures of Rome Field, P-63s. Tks.

http://www.walnutridge-aaf.com/museum2.htm

[george]

Those pics of the planes at Walnut Ridge are very interesting. In Pictures From The Past #2, of particular interest is the one on the 3rd row, second from left. In this pic, about half way down on the right edge, it appears one Marauder is entering a large pit, with Libs, Fortresses and Marauders waiting to do the same. I definitely do not remember this pit still being there when I was there in the early nineties. I am pretty sure that this area was all crops when I saw it, in fact everything from right past the runways to a tree-lined creek was crops. The planes had been stored throughtout this area.

[Flat 12x2]

Those pics of the planes at Walnut Ridge are very interesting. In Pictures From The Past #2, of particular interest is the one on the 3rd row, second from left. In this pic, about half way down on the right edge, it appears one Marauder is entering a large pit, with Libs, Fortresses and Marauders waiting to do the same. I definitely do not remember this pit still being there when I was there in the early nineties. I am pretty sure that this area was all crops when I saw it, in fact everything from right past the runways to a tree-lined creek was crops. The planes had been stored throughtout this area.

George
Have a look at the Sat. image, I think (unfortunately ) your 'pit' is a river/creek, the runway in the old pic. makes for a good alignment reference.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=walnut+ridge,ar&ll=36.122103,-90.924225&spn=0.062313,0.078363&t=k&hl=en

Martin

[george]

Very good comparison of the layout, Flat. What threw me was the lack of any vegetation and trees (this creek is tree-lined) and of course what appears to be a man-made 90 degree angle.

[Lynn Allen]

Wished I had that kind of back yard to take of

Sadly,

Lynn

[aerovin]

The scrapping contractors who puchased the airplanes on the five big fields (Walnut Ridge, Kingman, Clinton, Albuquerque, Chino) paid good money for the airplanes and didn't bury any of them. They broke them apart and smelted every last one of them to get their dollars. The only thing them might have been buried was slag out of the smelters or the non-metal parts (rubber fuel tanks and tires).

The hindsight of sixty years is nice, but just what was the government supposed to do with 20,000 obsolete airplanes that nobody, virtually nobody, wanted except for their scrap value? The RFC let hundreds go for war memorials or to technical schools. The airplanes were made available for sale to civilians for pennies on the dollar and had few takers.

It's sad now to think of what was scrapped, but it wasn't until the 1970s that more that just a few oddballs saw any value in the old warbirds. That is, apart from some of the civil operators who were able to put them to use as tankers or for aerial survey or other little niche uses.

[scottrobb]

The Last research I found on this bird was that is was sent to the RFC in December 1945, 4 months after a rather cool mission.

I guess I'm a bit sentimental so I decided to have the Old Bird live on.

http://www.tristatepokerevents.com/bike

I hope you all appreciate the detail. I've decided that whatever bike I have in the future will be painted with the same scheme just another plane.

I was fortunate enough to be allow to bring the bike on the Tarmac at a local airshow to be pictured next to a B-25 own by War Bird Digest.

Take Care all

Scott