Warbird Information Exchange

I have taken multiple visits to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. One aircraft stands out to me the most, which is the C-141C, the Hanoi Taxi. I've noticed it's taken some damage while stored outside in the Air Park. Does anybody know about the hole on the left side of the aircraft, near the front? Maybe storm damage?

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"When I was a kid, my dad would take me to the base to look at the planes up close. The B-58 was the first plane I got to take a good look at. The rest is history..."

Never saw any damage on it. It was just over in restoration getting cleaned up and was moved into the new building yesterday.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/galler ... K/#8498103

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Not sure but this is likely behind what you saw.

On August 3rd 2006, a couple of months after the C141 retirement ceremony in May of 2006, the aircraft was parked on the ramp and there was a very large wind-storm that caused a power-cart to blow into the area fwd of the left landing gear pod. It penetrated the fuselage and made a hole about 12-16 inches across aft of the crew door. Evidently the aircraft or the cart, or perhaps both, were not properly secured and one blew into the other (Most likely the big T-Tail caused the aircraft to move into the cart. During the same storm, the wind was bad enough that a C-17 just a couple of miles away at Wright-Patterson blew off a taxiway into the grass area near where it was parked.

See this link for photos:

http://c141heaven.info/dotcom/damaged177.php

It's a towable air compressor in the pictures.

Definitely the aircraft moved and tried to mash the air compressor....
In the pictures the nose gear is turned to the left and the cart tire is flat from being pushed sideways...
I've seen similar stuff happen at airports....one reason to chock both the mains and the nose gear.
I recall many years ago, seeing a KC-97 that was spun around almost 180 in a bad wind storm...luckily it didn't hit anything else.

I'm glad they saved that bird but I wish they would remove the plug they installed in the 70s.

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Hang The Expense

I'm glad they saved that bird but I wish they would remove the plug they installed in the 70s.

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Hang The Expense

That would be a massive undertaking...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Hey! its the United States AirForce Museum. They can do anything.

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Hang The Expense

Probably easier than putting it in, especially since it won't be flying again.
Just build a strong jig to keep it straight....
The first timer I went through a recently converted "B", you could clearly see the new sections...the stick-on anti-skip floor tiles were a slightly different shape than the ones already there, so you could clearly see where the stretch had been made.

Or course, you'd lso have to get rid of the IR hump over the cockpit.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

They also redid the wing join, which (IIRC) changed the shape at the wing root. My Father and both Grandfathers worked at Lockheed Georgia. Back in the day, they had an open house every year or so and it was always a contest as to who took me through the plant. I remember walking the assembly line while they were doing the C-141 A/B mod... I also remember being inside Howard Hughes' Jetstar, and sitting in the cockpits of C-130's, 141's, and C-5's. Later, I got an abbreviated tour of the F-22 line when they were building the prototypes. That was actually the day my Dad retired...