Warbird Information Exchange

For those who don't already know, I am an amateur radio operator. I operate both fixed and mobile. A while back, on my way home from the Museum on a Sunday evening, I hooked up with a fellow on 20 meters from Fallon, Nevada, by the name of Mark Beadle. During our conversation, I mentioned that I was a volunteer at an aviation museum and that we operated a B-17. He responded that he was a retired pilot, now working for the FAA as an air traffic controller, and that he and his father used to fly B-17s and PV-2s doing aerial spraying for a man named Hugh Wheelless out of Dothan, Alabama! He was pretty stunned when I told him that one of the Forts that they had flown were still flying, and that one of them was our very own Chuckie! Mark and his father both also flew B-17 and PB4Y airtankers with various operators in the western United States, including H&P. Long story made somewhat short, he offered to scan some old snapshots and email them to me. Here are a bunch of pictures from Dothan (some are dated 1973), and a couple from the airtanker base at Chico, CA (dated 1969). Unfortunately, I don't have any identity information on the aircraft or the people in the pictures, but I believe the younger looking man posing with the Harpoon and flying the B-17 is Mark. I wonder if any of you old airtanker pilots knew Mark Beadle or his father, and perhaps flew with them? I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, but they're Mark's scans of ancient snapshots. I did what I could to improve them. Enjoy!

Two of the B-17s are Chuckie and Aluminum Overcast; the third one crashed and burned (we have some of its mortal remains in our storage hangar).

B-17 pictures (year unknown, presumed to be about 1973):





THIS ONE IS MOST LIKELY CHUCKIE:











PV-2 pictures from 1973:













Airtankers at Chico, CA, circa December, 1969:





Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

I think this is also the airport where the "Twelve O'clock High" flight sequences were filmed back in 1948. Great photos! If we only knew back then.......

Dean,

These are great! Have shared them with Doc?

I wonder which Fort that is with the bent props?!

Thanks for sharing them with us!

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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Some of them, yes. A cleaned-up glossy print of the black and white "family portrait" is hanging in the ready room at the Museum.




According to one of our pilot/mechanics (who is not yet a WIX member) the "bent bird" is most likely Chuckie. This is what he had to say (text cut and pasted from an email message):

"The 17' with the bent props is likely ours. A friend of mine that used to fly 10C (the one that crashed and burned) told me about how the limit and squat switches were screwed up and the right main retracted during a runup. I know ours definitely had it's right wing on the ground because the tunnel housing around the #4 exhaust is a little crumpled, and if you look in the pic you can see most of the weight is resting right there! He also said they used to call it 01 "gonorrhea" (N# is 3701G), because the right main would only retract when it felt like it, which apparently was not very often. I guess it would be kinda weird seeing a B-17 spraying Myrex with one gear hanging out!"




You're welcome! In the grand scheme of things, I don't really contribute much to WIX, so when I have the opportunity to share something meaningful, I'm more than happy to do it.

Cheers!

[/i]

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Wow, first time I have ever seen a picture of a Guardian sprayer!

Wow, really great pics. I remember skipping school to go look at the 17 that bellied in and burned in cordele georgia in 76? Thanks for posting.

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Hang The Expense

Great pics! Like that Guardian sprayer as well.


Kevin

I think the bottom 2 pics are fire bombers.
The Guardians didn't spray to my knowledge.
Rich

Bottom two pictures are all Aero Union air tankers, almost looks like Chico, CA
Scott........

Had no idea anything like this was in dothan.

The last two pictures were taken at Chico, CA (the caption above the first one says that)

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

The old Wheelless Airport is long-gone from Dothan. There are apartments there now. All that remains is a historical marker. You might find this link interesting:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AL/Airfields_AL_SE.htm

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Thanks for posting these pictures,Dean.Scott is correct about the bottom two pictures being at Aero Union's base at Chico.I assume that explains the "and more" in your thread title.Both of Aero Union's AF tankers are in the bottom picture.The B-17 numbered "17" in the bottom two pics is N9323Z aka Sentimental Journey.I had my first B-17 c/p experience in that airplane in 1972.I'll have to check the registry,but I know that either Tanker 18 or Tanker 19 was on display at the Armament Museum at Eglin AFB in the early 80's.The other was at another AFB.

In the "Small World" department,I spoke with Mark Beadle when I flew over Reno in Tanker 62 on my return flight to Redmond from our last CDF deployment at Fox Field aound the 1st of December.It was slow day and he had time to chat while acting as our controller with Reno Approach Control.He wanted to get word back to Nan at Bulter that he and his dad,Jack really appreciated the maintenace help and use of the company car when their personal airplane had problems in Redmond a few years ago.Dean,if you happen to talk to Mark again,tell him that I said "HI".

Great pictures Dean, thanks...I'll try to find my pics of "Chuckie" when she first flew in to Meachum back in 79...Charlene took a pic of my son and I in front of her name-sake...Gary

Dean;
Missed the Chico verbage above the photos, to busy drooling over the tanker picturs!
Scott.........