Why I cant afford a warbird but my pots and pans are cheap

SHAEF1944 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 3:28 pm

Photo-essay from Life at Kingman ..... please do not shoot the messenger

And lastly, where they all ended up, ready for Reynolds Wrap :cry:

daveymac82c · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 3:54 pm

TRAGIC

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:17 pm

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:19 pm

Same thing, over in China:

Detail of F-5 Shamrock:

jet1 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:59 pm

of course it goes on to this day

Robbie Roberts · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:32 pm

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!AAAAAGHHH!!!AAAAGGGHHH!!!AAAAAGGGHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all I have to say about THAT.

Robbie

Canso42 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:14 pm

Cry, whimper, barf...

Nathan · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 8:37 pm

I always think of Dana Andrews when I see pictures like this!

Indeed these pictures make me feel sick.

K5DH · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:33 pm

As a form of personal protest against the wholesale slaughter of heroic warplanes so long ago, I only drink beer out of GLASS bottles, not out of aluminum cans.

Seriously, I'd sure love to have those B-17 turrets to install on a certain Fort that I know and love. . . :cry:

Dean the dreamer

A2C · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:25 pm

Folks:

Have you really thought about why there aren't many fighters and bombers around other than "it's the scrapper's fault". Think about this, If there were 100 B-24's around, who could afford to fly them all, and pay for a hanger to keep them in? Same with fighters. There is a financial limit to how many could be operated.

There's probably also a limit in demand. After a certain point, very few people could afford or want them.

Ztex · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:45 am

John Dupre · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:43 am

I agree with A2C. While it is a shame that more thought was not given to saving more historic aircraft, particularly Medal of Honor aircraft, it was inevitable given the times that most of these aircraft would be scrapped.

The same attitude that allowed the greatest generation to win the war also helped them to win the peace by converting from a wartime to a peace time economy. Part of that attitude was a single minded focus on getting the job done. They approached the peace in the same way. Convert useless aircraft to raw material? They did it with the same efficiencies they brought to building them. Given their experience in the depression how could you expect otherwise?

Mistakes were made no doubt. The Air Force having to buy back civilian Mustangs during Korea for example, the use of Mustangs in ground attack when Thunderbolts were far superior is another. Failure to regard the unique historical nature of many of the aircraft.

I remember making the point to someone about scrapping B-52's present day. At one point there were 300 B-52s at Davis-Monthan. If you saved all of them then every state would get 6. How many places in a state like Rhode Island or Delaware could you keep 6 B-52s? How long would they remain in reasonable condition? Would the average citizen be able to understand the difference from a Linebacker veteran versus a SAC alert veteran? Would they care? Look at the legendary warbirds we all know about that became some kind of memorial or attraction and are now long gone. Why are they gone? Not enough people cared or could afford to keep them, they became eyesores and dangers to children. Why didn't they care? They were getting on with a life without total war or depression.

While viewing images of the great scrap yards might be depressing in view of a desire to save the remaining few warbirds I find the photos as fascinating winows into the past. A past that cannot be changed.

Django · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:02 pm

All good points John. But it doesn't stop the pain from viewing these photos...

If only a few more B-24a had been saved. Especially Dragon and it's Tail.

aerovin · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:20 pm

All we needed in 1946 was for more people who wanted to pay $152,000 (2008 equivalent of $13,750 in 1946 dollars...the going RFC price of a flyable B-24) for a four-engine monstrosity that burned 200 gallons per hour and couldn't be used for anything due to government restrictions.

I agree it hurts to see those airplanes being broken up but perspective is important too.

As an aside, the AAF set aside an example of each warplane from its wartime inventory for a planned museum, so there were a few thinking of the future. Those airplanes were scrapped in 1950 as the Korean War was starting; the space was needed for other things.

And, I imagine, when there were thousands of combat veteran airplanes around, anyone who thought about the future probably figured a few would be set aside by somebody somewhere. Such was not the case...

Canso42 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:04 pm

Valid points made guys. K4dh, ever see the photo of all the surplus USN destroyers tied up in row after row with the closest one sporting '"sold to Gillette" on the hull. The world was sick of war. Lots of assets to be recycled to peacetime stuff.

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