B-29 preserved in Cincinnati, OH circa Late 1940s?

[gale_dono]

I spoke to someone over the weekend who related that back in the late 1940s, there was a complete B-29 preserved in Cincinnati. The location reference I was given was at "Race and Remlinn" streets, he wasn't entirely certain on the name of the latter, and checking I can't find any correlation for these. Race street I can find, but I can't see any street name that could correspond, nor any place that looks like it would have been open enough to have housed a B-29. Does anyone have any other info on this, or has heard anything else about this? From the limited records I have based on Joe Baugher's list, nothing so large as a B-29 was RFC'd at Lunken.

[B29Gunner]

The time frame is way off, but the late Karl Kleve of Cincinnati did own a B-29 fuselage, which I believe was likely 44-86402, although I was never able to confirm that. I posted about this fuselage and my efforts to track it down back in 2005 here: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=48678

According to the city clerk I contacted: "The fuselage was stolen, dismembered and sold for scrap a number of years ago." What a shame!

[eric_stevens]

Yes, the airplane was there for years, I used to drive past it on the way to my aunts. Karl kleve owned it and he was very
Eccentric, he had that airplane, rumour was he bought it for the tires he was going too use it on a car he was building.
I know where an upper hatch from the airplane is. Karl and all the local government were always at each other.
The fuselage was stripped empty, and was cut up very quickly and removed. If you look up karl you will find he had
A lot of stuff, some rare like a Ferrari that was just in the news that is going up for auction. He also claimed he worked
Security for the Manhattan project. I have been looking for pictures years, with no luck. It was still there into the early 90's

[gale_dono]

Yes, the airplane was there for years, I used to drive past it on the way to my aunts. Karl kleve owned it and he was very
Eccentric, he had that airplane, rumour was he bought it for the tires he was going too use it on a car he was building.
I know where an upper hatch from the airplane is. Karl and all the local government were always at each other.
The fuselage was stripped empty, and was cut up very quickly and removed. If you look up karl you will find he had
A lot of stuff, some rare like a Ferrari that was just in the news that is going up for auction. He also claimed he worked
Security for the Manhattan project. I have been looking for pictures years, with no luck. It was still there into the early 90's

Do you have a close location reference for it? I can probably locate it on old aerial images I can find if that's the case.

[APG85]

I thought there was a picture posted in this forum a few years ago. I've seen it someplace. It was a scan of a newspaper article if I remember correctly...

[B29Gunner]

I know where an upper hatch from the airplane is.

Eric, I'm interested in that hatch--check your PM's!

[gale_dono]

Yes, the airplane was there for years, I used to drive past it on the way to my aunts. Karl kleve owned it and he was very
Eccentric, he had that airplane, rumour was he bought it for the tires he was going too use it on a car he was building.
I know where an upper hatch from the airplane is. Karl and all the local government were always at each other.
The fuselage was stripped empty, and was cut up very quickly and removed. If you look up karl you will find he had
A lot of stuff, some rare like a Ferrari that was just in the news that is going up for auction. He also claimed he worked
Security for the Manhattan project. I have been looking for pictures years, with no luck. It was still there into the early 90's

I suspect I know where you're talking about as well, regarding the hatch. Map searching coming up dry, I've got a pretty good idea of the location, but no high resolution imagery is available for the period I'm looking for.

[Courier Sportster]

i'm glad this came up. i saw it. in 1985 i was giving a crazy girl a ride to work in a part of town i didn't know. west side. i live here now and still don't know where i'm going. driving down a steep hill and on a sharp turn i saw it in a ditch. i went back later with a camera and was terrified of being killed for trespassing, or bees. sure looked like a superfort to me but there was not much left. shades of soplata for sure. i've tried to find it again in modern times, with modern methods but it's gone. pretty sure. i always wondered how it got there. BUT, then about 3 or 4 years later i was in my boss's office sweeping up his fingernail clippings and i see a framed pic of a cincinnati enquirer page. this guy's family had owned rambler dealerships and on this page was some grand opening announcement. ALSO on this page was a pic of a B-29 fuselage on government square downtown being shown to the public. walk-thru? not sure. i think they are CONNECTED, the ditch fuselage and the post office building fuselage. maybe more like a gully than a ditch! i will reveal my photo if only i can figure out how. i'll betcha the article mentioned is the same enquirer page. i hope so anyway. haven't seen it since that day, in '88(?)

Last edited by Courier Sportster on Sun Apr 22, 2018 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Courier Sportster]

maybe you super slueths can run down that enquirer photo. or it could have been the cincinnati post. didn't catch a date but late 40's - 50's is a good guess. rambler mention could have been grand opening or similar. maybe a way to pinpoint timeframe. tidy-fingernailed boss was in there or close by--it was not a good idea to be caught snooping on boss's desk! probably not the same aircraft but just how many B-29 fuselages are bouncing around cincinnati post war? not too bloody many i reckon

[Chris Brame]

ALSO on this page was a pic of a B-29 fuselage on government square downtown being shown to the public. walk-thru? not sure.

That part sounds familiar; back in the '50s/'60s the Air Force had a combat veteran B-29 fuselage that they towed around to various places as a walk-through display (like the one in the NMUSAF now, but not the same one). Somebody posted it on a thread a couple years ago.

[gale_dono]

i'm glad this came up. i saw it. in 1985 i was giving a crazy girl a ride to work in a part of town i didn't know. west side. i live here now and still don't know where i'm going. driving down a steep hill and on a sharp turn i saw it in a ditch. i went back later with a camera and was terrified of being killed for trespassing, or bees. sure looked like a superfort to me but there was not much left. shades of soplata for sure. i've tried to find it again in modern times, with modern methods but it's gone. pretty sure. i always wondered how it got there. BUT, then about 3 or 4 years later i was in my boss's office sweeping up his fingernail clippings and i see a framed pic of a cincinnati enquirer page. this guy's family had owned rambler dealerships and on this page was some grand opening announcement. ALSO on this page was a pic of a B-29 fuselage on government square downtown being shown to the public. walk-thru? not sure. i think they are CONNECTED, the ditch fuselage and the post office building fuselage. maybe more like a gully than a ditch! i will reveal my photo if only i can figure out how. i'll betcha the article mentioned is the same enquirer page. i hope so anyway. haven't seen it since that day, in '88(?)

There is always evidence, the only task is but to find it! Photographic proof that this B-29 existed! Thank you for posting this

[AirJimL2]

Wow, that is an interesting photo. Coming back from the CWH Lancaster first flight ceremony in 1988, my Dad and I were listening to 700 WLW later at night and a news piece came on about a portion of WW2 bomber that was being recovered from Cincinnati by a warbird restorer in Florida. I vaguely remember them mentioning a B-17, but the timing fits, and it may, at last, prove I was not hallucinating the whole thing...

Jim

[Courier Sportster]

i found this, but i don't think it's the exact same page i saw back in the 80's. there were 3 newspapers going strong in 1954, this is Times-Star 8/27/54. but same info. big leadup to the airshow. all these years i figured this was the one karl kleve had, the one i'd seen. made sense to me. but i like knowing this one is still around. looks like they chopped half the nose for entry? maybe explains why i've seen both B-29 glass and B-50 glass on Lucky Lady II.

[51fixer]

Lucky Lady II has been with the POF Museum for many years and was received from the USAF.
The Nose was used in several Movies and TV shows over the years.
LL II was damaged in an off airport landing back in the 50s IIRC on TO from Davis Mothan I want to say. All engines quit due to some fuel valve issue IIRC. USAF turned it into a traveling walk through display for recruiting.
Damage on the belly was visible when it is lifted up back when I was working there.

[51fixer]

Imagine being able to park a F-16 in front of a Post Office today for recruiting.