Galveston's F-100

gary1954 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:20 am

It must have been an absolute RUSH to pilot....

Thanks for posting the pics man, thanks

Cking · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:34 pm

They have moved her since those shots were taken. Hear are mine

I did take a rather un healthy interest in her nose U/C. Mainly due to the crazy retraction geometry. I would have done the same with the main gear but it was to far away. I did note how ever that the main wheels were tiny so the must have held some freakishly high pressure!
Wouldn't it be nice if the guys working on the Privateer were allowed to get her airworthy?

Rgds Ckin

BCalmes · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:35 pm

So I guess the B-29 in the photos is normal size, and the rest are Texas-sized? There for comparison?

Canso42 · **Posted:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:45 pm

Thanks for the compliments on Lone Star. There are a few items here I'm not qualified to answer but before slamming the Super Sabre, it's still solid enough that it stood up to Hurricane Rita. (Yeah it does look like doo-doo.)
The museum was rearranged a couple of years ago. The Great Hangar Shuffle was for a Tomcat we never got. aaarrrrgh. At least that pointy beast doesn't have it's tail shoved up against 'ol 740 any more.
And it s TB-58. An interesting story about it....When we dumped the hangar, we found that the tail is a foot and a half taller than the sprinkle mains along the roof!!!. It was partially disassembled when delivered and USAF guys put it back together, including reattaching the dismantled-for-shipping tail. I'm on the tug crew and it took about fifty moves to make the turn. It swapped ends and moved over to the other side. Took half a day! All we got was heatstroke and lots of tug practice.
Doug

airnutz · **Posted:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:23 pm

SOB

...2 years since moved!! Memory like a steel sieve. Can't believe I
missed it's movement on Fly Day?? Too bad they had to move it, the view from the
gallery was striking!

What F3F?

airnutz · **Posted:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:34 pm

Canso42 wrote:

it's still solid enough that it stood up to Hurricane Rita.

Yeah Canso, but we experienced the least Rita had to offer. The folks to the East of us
caught the blow and the surge... :wink:

RickH · **Posted:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:47 pm

Doug, I don't think anyone trashed LS. Ya feelin guilty ? :lol:

A statement was made that they didn't think LS had anything to do with the F100. A clarification was simply put forth.

Cking · **Posted:** Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:45 am

It wasn't my intention to say anything bad about Lonestar, I want to go back next year!. Please forgive me if it came across that way.

Rgds Cking

skymstr02 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:06 am

Cking wrote:

Whats with the clipboard?

Cking wrote:

I did take a rather un healthy interest in her nose U/C. Mainly due to the crazy retraction geometry. I would have done the same with the main gear but it was to far away. I did note how ever that the main wheels were tiny so the must have held some freakishly high pressure!
Wouldn't it be nice if the guys working on the Privateer were allowed to get her airworthy?

Rgds Ckin

The main gear tires hold 275 lbs nitrogen pressure, when I serviced those tires when we nosed it to the mezzanine, I only went to 200 lbs because the tire casings are is poor shape (dry rot). They rolled fine because of the lighter weight without engines in the pylons.
That airplane will never fly again, its still owned by the USAF, on loan to LSFM, and when it was moved from Ft Worth, the wing spars were cut with a rotary cut off wheel. The outer wing panels are held on with hardware store all thread rod, and the cut kerf is covered with dry wall tape and painted over. We had the turkey feathers (engine exhaust cones), but they are too heavy for the thread rod, and thats why there is a piece of plywood covering the openings in the engine pods.

Cvairwerks · **Posted:** Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:55 am

A slight correction on the cutting of the wings. It was done when Southwest Aerospace Museum was assigned the a/c and it was still in the boneyard. Tom Neely was one of the two guys in charge of getting the a/c ready to move. Original plans were to scavenge the best of the engines from several a/c and all the necessary componets and fly her to Carswell. Something changed well up the chain of command within the AF and SAM was given six weeks to get the a/c out of the boneyard or it would be scrapped. Tom and Ed Calvert made the decision to cut the wings rather than loose the a/c to the scrappers. They managed to find an opwn window in C-5 scheduling and got it arranged. She made her last flight, riding backwards in the C-5.

Those tires, unless you guys have replaced them, were structurally wore out when she was moved down there. They were brand new when I put them on before we moved her to Meachum from Carswell. Two trips over that distance, plus all the moving at Meachum and the structure is pretty shot. You might go ahead and plan on building a set of screwjacks to use the gear jack points to take the load off the tires, as they will fail at some point.

For those that have never seen it retract, the nose gear is a marvel. The top of the strut moves aft, drawing the wheels upward until the gear is horizontal within the well. The wheels pretty much go straight up. On the mains, the trucks actually invert duirng retraction and the tires rest just below the fairings on the top of the wings.

Canso42 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:05 pm

Cking and Rick H. , no offense taken guys. Actually I was referring to the F-100 only and not comments about the museum. Pardon me if I came across a bit strong and yes IMHO I'd like to see the 100 cleaned up.

The TB-58 didn't move far. It swapped ends and moved to the other side. You can still get a good view of it from about a five o'clock angle. Now it's pointing at you when you come into Hangar two going towards the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame Museum.
At least now it's not blocking a good view from the gallery of the PBY. Check my username and see which one I'm partial to.

As for one of the comments about it being an awesome warbird to fly.... if the Feds get the drawers in a wad over the current jet warbird types now flying, thing of how they'd spazz over someone trying to fly an airshow in a Hustler! It would be cool though.

Doug Ratchford

Ztex · **Posted:** Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:31 pm

She looked good sitting on the ramp at Meacham..especially after the American Airlines polishing crew got her ready for the airshow...

Cking · **Posted:** Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:46 am

Yes I know she won't fly again but it's still a nice dream!!!
(The one were you take her to Oskosh and she would win best restoration EVER!)
When I read her story on the notice board, I guessed she had been hacked about to move her. I also looked for the joins but they have been covered well!
What condition is the flight deck?

Rgds Cking

skymstr02 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:48 am

The front cockpit is pretty much gutted, and the USAF came to Galveston in '97 or '98 and "borrowed" the seats for a study that they were conducting. It seems as though they did not have a set of their own.

gary1954 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:14 am

skymstr02, my guess is some one just wanted the seats for their office, the seats in the 58 though cool, aren't the seats found in the extremely late 20th Century aircraft or in this Century's aircraft.
:shock:

They been ripped off :shock:

.
It is sad that they were "forced" to damage the structure, very sad.
Like the 58 was taking up "valuable" property, ot a squatter was going to move in.
Of all the "big" jet bombers,to me the B-58 Hustler is "The Plane". Way Cool, way cool

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Galveston's F-100

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