Barksdale AFB photos

[Rob Mears]

Hey Scott,

I've uploaded some photos of the more notable warbirds on display at Barksdale AFB (Bossier City, Louisiana). Feel free to use any of these for the WRG listings. Bureau Numbers are listed in the photo titles.

http://community.webshots.com/album/167077684VNKvYL

Rob

[Scott Rose]

Thanks Rob....


Let the pillaging commence!

Last edited by Scott Rose on Tue Jul 27, 2004 10:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Steven M. Dennis]

Hey Rob,

Great shots, thanks for sharing.

Do you know if the aircraft are being actively worked on/restored? I see from your photos that the B-24 has it's cowlings removed, and the B-17's elevators are stripped of fabric. I would hate to think that they are being displayed that way, and am hoping that it is just temporary.

It appears from the photos that the aircraft are reasonably well looked after, (although I still think that displaying Mustangs outside like that is a crime......we do it here in Wisconsin too, at Volk Field), so I'm guessing that they must be being worked on.

Again, thanks for sharing.....

Steve

P.S. I'm sure Scott meant no disrespect by calling you Roger, as we all know that the Rogers that frequent this board are great guys too.......

[Rob Mears]

Yeah, I get called Roger and Rick all the time. Maybe my true calling was to be a racecar driver.

Unfortunately, the B-24 and B-17 have looked like that for as long as I can recall (probably 15 years or more). There are probably no B-24 cowlings available at a price they are willing to pay, and the museum staff is not ambitious enough to have them fabricated. They have a volunteer group get together every once and a while to help polish or service one of the museum aircraft.

The SR-71 arrived just about three of months ago. It's in great shape, but looks gutted in the head on view without the massive engines installed.

Sadly as well, the P-51 is little more than a shell of an airframe. The cockpit is completely gutted with no instrument panel at all. Like a lot of outdoor military displays, over the years they chose to part out a lot of the non-visible airframe components for a few bucks on the side, or whatever reason. I'm just peeved at how worthless a warbird becomes when it's grounded for life under military ownership vs. maintained in honorable fashion by civilians. I'm hoping some kind of critical mass is reached among the government museums pretty soon that awakens them to the finite life spans of the collections they keep on outdoor display. Some of these planes have been on outdoor display for three decades or more.

[Steven M. Dennis]

Thanks Rob,

Bummer! I was hoping they weren't being displayed like that. I appreciate the info (and the photos) though.

Steve

[Roger Cain]

Unfortunately, there's also a P-51D on outside display down in Fresno also at the CANG base. they did do a recent cleanup on their planes, so they do look good though............one of the other Roger's

[Scott Rose]

P.S. I'm sure Scott meant no disrespect by calling you Roger, as we all know that the Rogers that frequent this board are great guys too.......

my profuse apologies Rob, it was late and I'm retarded

[RMAllnutt]

Hi Rob,
Thanks very much for posting the photos, they are fascinating to me, as I haven't seen any of these airframes before. However, I was curious to see that all of these aircraft appear to have been allocated bureau numbers in your notes. Are they really all navy owned aircraft? I was wondering whether they were actually airforce serials with the first numeral deleted, as so often happens. Just checking, as I thought it would be very interesting if they really were Navy aircraft, and worth discussing in more detail.

Cheers,
Richard

[bdk]

Sadly as well, the P-51 is little more than a shell of an airframe. The cockpit is completely gutted with no instrument panel at all. Like a lot of outdoor military displays, over the years they chose to part out a lot of the non-visible airframe components for a few bucks on the side, or whatever reason.

Do you have any evidence to support this assertion? Not picking on you Rob, but if anyone has any evidence of this kind of thing, we need to forward it to HELLDIVERS or the Kernel for the upcoming Pensacola meeting.

I'm just peeved at how worthless a warbird becomes when it's grounded for life under military ownership vs. maintained in honorable fashion by civilians. I'm hoping some kind of critical mass is reached among the government museums pretty soon that awakens them to the finite life spans of the collections they keep on outdoor display. Some of these planes have been on outdoor display for three decades or more.

Photos to HELLDIVERS or the Kernel please. The less flattering the photos, the better!

[Rob Mears]

Richard,

No, that was my mistake. Too many years of repetatively jotting down Corsair identities I suppose! They are in fact Air Force serials. I believe all of the numbers on the tails are correct. That's all I had for reference.

BDK,

Actually the assertion of canibalization as a means of supporting the display aircraft came directly from Mr. Brown who is the curator of the USS Alabama Museum. They have numerous Navy and Air Force airframes at that location.

Years ago when their F4U-7 was still on outdoor display, I asked him about the extent of corrosion, etc in regard to that aircraft. I was told that the plane was only complete on the exterior since that's all they were interested in for their display planes. He told me directly that they had parted out the interior portions of the planes over the years to augment the funds for maintaining the displays. He made his point in a way that clearly suggested this was a routine practice. Whether it was done for trades or for outright sale, I'm not sure. The legality of such actions might very well balance on the nature of the exchange. I was very discouraged to learn that the very impressive Corsair I was looking at was just a corroded shell.

The evidence of the Barksdale P-51 and other aircraft is simple enough to prove. Just look inside!

[Randy Haskin]

Bump...

I'm at Barksdale AFB for the next couple weeks...anyone want updated photos of the stuff in the Barksdale airpark?

[Dave C]

Randy,

I would love to see more photos. Not likely to find myself in that neck of the woods any time soon so that would be the next best thing.

Thanks.

Dave in NJ

[Rogue]

It is my understanding that 8AFM B-24 is the only surviving Ford built 24.

Last time I passed thru they also had a cockpit section out back.

The P-51 is a composite aircraft. IIRC.
It was painted as Ridge Runner back then.

[mustangdriver]

I was at Barksdale for training last Sept, and went over to the museum. Considering that they are out doors, they look some what up kept. There are plans to make a building for them. There were drawings inside the gift shop of what it will look like. There was a ton of cool stuff flying around while I was there as well.

[Chicoartist]

It is my understanding that 8AFM B-24 is the only surviving Ford built 24.

I'm not up on "the last surviving Ford-built B-24", but it is for sure the last surviving Ford-built J-model.

The "P-51D" was assembled for the Air Force Museum collection by Pete Regina and others in California in the early 80s from parts from several P-51s, including a couple of crashed air racers. It is a shell, and that's all it ever was. There is a "shell" engine inside - only there to hold the prop on. The doghouse/scoop section is fiberglass. It was initially painted as 4th FG ace Pierce W. McKennon's first Ridge Runner - darn good paintjob, too, if I do say so myself . . .

The Mustang was later stripped of the Ridge Runner scheme and repainted as Whisner's Moonbeam McSwine, it's present markings, I believe. Whisner's home town was Shreveport (on the dirty side of the river - oops! Did I say something bad?!), and he later retired to Pineville, near Alexandria, where he died in 1989. I spent a day with Bill in 1987 - told me that after he was "forced" to fly Princess Elizabeth (P-51B) as a junior pilot, when he finally got his own Mustang he tried to think of the exact opposite of something prissy, and so his D-model became the skankiest character in his favorite comic strip.

Bill gave me his American Fighter Aces Association cap - but it didn't survive several moves and one tornado!

Wade