This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
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Thu May 03, 2007 6:53 am

Col. Joe Cotton is from my hometown. :D When i was little we would here a loud, low flying jet and run outside to see. It was Colonel Cotton giving a buzz job.
PJ

Thu May 03, 2007 7:49 am

Thanks for the pictures of the airshow and the close-ups of the a/c on display.

Just want to point out, that even back in "the good ol' days", people were certainly touching all those a/c. We have had a number of posts here that might indicate this was only a current generation "problem". A lot of adults seem to be touching the a/c in these pictures. Or, did the kids dres up like adults on "the good ol' days"?

:wink:

Thu May 03, 2007 7:54 am

Tom & others...

more XB-70 information at:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsh ... asp?id=592

Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:19 pm

I attended the 1966 Carswell airshow when I was 7 years old. I remember going, but I don't remember seeing the XB-70. My dad said we were walking back to our car parked way down on the south end of the runway somewhere when he heard the XB-70 starting engines. He said that we walked back and watched it take-off.

XB-70A #20207 At Ft. Worth!

Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:46 pm

I'm new here, but wanted to thank you guys for the shots of one of my favorite aircraft, the XB-70. I own several large parts of BOTH of them, and I likewise thought it horrible to have canceled the program. You must remember, though, that #1 aircraft (the one at Dayton) was an incredibly brittle aircraft, and they constantly had metal parts cracking or distorting on it. That's the main reason it only went Mach 3 ONCE. Today, that aircraft is in worsening shape, and each time I visit her, she has more delaminations of the welded steel skin honeycomb.
The second ship, #20207, was a much different and better aircraft, and they learned from ship #1 how to build it better.
They also had built substantial parts of a THIRD B-70, and those parts were around for some time. Rumors say they eventually scrapped them, but about a year ago, "Aviation Week" ran some interesting articles on a suspected recon aircraft that "supposedly" used a large carrier aircraft which looked a LOT like it may have used parts from that #3 ship! Who knows, although I doubt it!
Oh, and the large tires (which I own, by the way!) were simply impregnated with aluminum powder, for resisting the high temps in the wheel bays at high Mach numbers. They were also filled with nitrogen, to keep any moisture from freezing at high altitudes, or boiling off at high temps. They each weigh about 250 pounds!

Dan S., OKC

Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:53 am

Very nice. The Hustler and the XB-70 are the tops in jet bombers. What I wouldnt give to get in both of em at the NMUSAF.

My grandfather used to sell a/c units to cool the engines on the ground for the hustler. All he says about them is "They were very loud and they could climb like a bat out of.......heck????" 8)

Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:27 pm

David_Aiken wrote:Aloha All,
The Air Force Association anniversary air show at Carswell AFB was fantastic. I had little cash and just part of a roll of B&W film so I hitch-hiked to the show.

The USAF unbolted everything for that show...they had two of almost every aircraft type in their inventory.

The air show portion included a fly-by of the first of the same type plane with everytihing hanging...as slow as the plane could go...and as the plane was near the middle of its fly-by, another of the same type plane came from behind just under Mach 1.

F-86, F-89. F-94, F100, F-101, F102, F-104, F-106...

David Aiken



Boy, that was a great air show at Carswell in 1966. It would have been great to be there. A fantastic lineup of aircraft. David - among the fighters you listed above, the only one that probably could not have been in the flying lineup was the F-94 (the ANG retired their last F-94C's before the end of 1959 and I don't thing any have flown since then). The F-86H was still in ANG service until around 1970 and the F-89J was in ANG service until sometime in 1969 or so.

I know there was a T-33 with an F-94A/B nose (NT-33A?) that flew as a test vehicle for many years and it could possibly have been there.

Wow, when you think of all the great fighter, bomber and transport types that will still in service during the mid-60s, today seems kind of drab in comparison......

Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:39 pm

Imagine that-once upon a time people actually dressed up for air shows...
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