The Last B-36 Flight When and Where ?

[Glen]

Greetings
I know this might of been covered in past posting, If so I cant remember.
I was wondering when and where was the last B-36 flight ? dose anybody have Flim of the event ? Was their a engine start up on another B-36 that didnt do any thing but just a run up in the early 70's ? or was this the same event as the last flight ?

[bipe215]

Last flight - April 30, 1959 from DMAFB to Wright Pat

[jamesintucson]

The B-36 that is at Pima now had its engines run around 1970. As far as I know they never got more than one running at a time and always ran them from an external fuel source. I know there are photos in existance but I don't have them.

James

[Ken Hyman]

I was there at Greater Southwest airport between Dallas and Fort Worth when the engine run was done. The aircraft had been on static display in front of the airport for years. A group of people had organised an effort to restore this B-36 and actually return it to flight status. I was working as a flight instructor at GSW at the time and remember these guys working on it for weeks. When they got one of the engines ready to run they alerted the media and a local radio station broadcasted it live. So I actually witnessed it. When the Air Force found out about it they informed these guys in no uncertain terms that this was not going to happen. As I remember, (this was almost 40 years ago) the aircraft was on long term loan to the airport and the Air Force still laid claim to it. They wern't about to let a bunch of civilians try to get this thing flying again. I think this incident caused the Air Force to relocate it to, I believe Carswell AFB. They would have had to do it sooner or later as GSW was closed when DFW opened in the mid 70's.

[Ken Hyman]

I was there at Greater Southwest airport between Dallas and Fort Worth when the engine run was done. The aircraft had been on static display in front of the airport for years. A group of people had organised an effort to restore this B-36 and actually return it to flight status. I was working as a flight instructor at GSW at the time and remember these guys working on it for weeks. When they got one of the engines ready to run they alerted the media and a local radio station broadcasted it live. So I actually witnessed it. When the Air Force found out about it they informed these guys in no uncertain terms that this was not going to happen. As I remember, (this was almost 40 years ago) the aircraft was on long term loan to the airport and the Air Force still laid claim to it. They wern't about to let a bunch of civilians try to get this thing flying again. I think this incident caused the Air Force to relocate it to, I believe Carswell AFB. They would have had to do it sooner or later as GSW was closed when DFW opened in the mid 70's.

[gary1954]

Air Force, thumbs up on their saving a variety of examples of flying machines, but they still don't havea sense of humor....It would be awesome to see and hear a B-36 flying.

[GIJOE290]

...It would be awesome to see and hear a B-36 flying.

I concur!

[reedyreed]

Let it be known that our group does not own a B36 with those huge P&W4360 powerplants,but indeed we do own a Mighty Boeing C97G STRAT that we hope to bring back to the skies once again soon with the roaring sounds of those big Pratts turning those huge 16ft7in 4 bladed props in all HER glory! Our STRAT is a 1952 issue & served with the USANG units during HER career. Our C97G STRAT now is being worked on at the big hangar at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn NY. We are the BAHF,a private,nonprofit,all volunteer Foundation from NJ. We also own & operate the C54E Flying Museum named the <Spirit Of Freedom> :Keep the Big Pistons Flying! THANKS, JR

[K5DH]

I think this incident caused the Air Force to relocate it to, I believe Carswell AFB. They would have had to do it sooner or later as GSW was closed when DFW opened in the mid 70's.

You are correct, sir.

Here are a couple of crummy snapshots that I took back in the 1980s when the B-36 was still on display at Carswell:





Sorry for the poor quality. They were taken with a Kodak "Pocket Instamatic" camera!

Cheers!

[gary1954]

reedyreed Awesome, I hope I get to see this big bird soon, I would love to hear those engines, and see that airframe in the sky, and later parked safely on the ramp so I can check her out.

K5DH Thanks for the pictures, I'd say just about any picture with any clarity is a great picture

[Second Air Force]

Here is the left side of the now-Pima B-36 taken by a friend of mine in the mid eighties in the same location as Dean's photos.


Scott

[The Inspector]

I remember a summer day in 1956, I was 9 years old and the entire neighborhood in West Seattle started buzzing and vibrating, every window rattling. My mom thought it was an earthquake until I pointed up and she saw what I had figured out, it was an Eastbound B-36 sporting about a 1/2 inch wingspan that was buzzing the neighborhood-I got the shivers just now recounting the tale!!! unbelievable sound, Strategic Air Command turned up is like hearing a top fuel car on the radio, close but no siggar:D

I suffer from AIDS...Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome

[gary1954]

Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome....That is good.

I can only imagine the sound of a B-36 in flight, and a recorded portion I don't think can be adequately reproduced by a home stereo system *thinks of hijacking the movie theater* I suppose it is a sound that is beyond description....

[Jet Mech]

the B-36 at Carswell was rebuilt by vol group, then the AF decided to send it to the PIMA Museum in AZ. It was taken apart and shipped out. Lots of info on the "Last B-36" web site.

http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/last_one.htm

Talks about the engine runs and move to Pima.

Hope this helps.

Kurt

[CAPFlyer]

Actually, that's a bit of a misnomer that the USAF chose to move it. The City of Fort Worth force the USAF to move it. Part of the restoration agreement was that if the B-36 was to stay in Fort Worth, it had to be hangared. The City of Fort Worth agreed in prinicple to this about 10 years ago, but when the time came to re-assemble the aircraft, they refused to build a hangar for the aircraft. At that time the USAF found the City in breach of the agreement and re-assigned the aircraft to Pima.

It was sad to see, but once again, a group of volunteers comes together to do something nice for a city with an agreement to have their needs taken care of to display a shining example of pride for the city only to have the political winds change and get left swinging.