Douglas B-23 Dragon

[Oscar Duck]

It seems to me that she flew like a DC-3 on steroids. Very similar in general handling and around 25 knots faster in the normal cruise mode. Not as quick as the B-25 from memory..

[Eureka181]

It seems to me that she flew like a DC-3 on steroids. Very similar in general handling and around 25 knots faster in the normal cruise mode. Not as quick as the B-25 from memory..

Wow. How does it handle on the ground? Is it like the C-46, where you can give it full rudder and nothing will happen?

Do you have any pictures from when you were flying?

Eric

[Robbie Stuart]

Eric, there was a pretty good set of postings back on April 21, 2005 about the CAF B-23. Just thought you might be interested.
Best Regards
Robbie

[Oscar Duck]

Been flying in a C-46 only so I can't compare the two. On my brief flirtation with the Dragon didn't get up to much. My log book shows an hour .....

[Eureka181]

Thanks for all the info!

Eric

[warbird51]

2 more B-23's, Tom had one of them. Ser.# 39-031 is on outside display
at Quito, Ecuador. There was a rash of photos of the aircraft here at
WIX awhile back, no interiors. Run it through the WIX search and see
what comes up Eric.

The former Hughes bird, #39-033, N747M survives her late-owner
Mike Bogue. The aircraft is kept at Eagles Nest Airport, Ione, Calif. A while
back WIXer, warbird51 informed us she was run-up in 2002...he's her
Crew Chief, might send him a PM Eric and see if he can help you?

So, that makes 9 survivors currently accounted for. I'm pretty sure
the pieces that were hacked-out of the Loon Lake bird went for the bits
for the McChord aircraft.

Hope this helps...

My records show 8 survivors for sure and 3 possible survivors.

c/n 2719 - 39-33 N747M PowerPac Enginerring, Ione, CA
2722 - 39-36 N52327 McCord AFB, Tacoma, WA
2723 - 39-37 N800N USAF Museum, Dayton, OH
2724 - 39-38 N82G CAF, Harlingen, TX
2733 - 39-47 N880L Castle AFB, Atwater, CA
2737 - 39-51 N534J Pima County Museum, AZ
2743 - 39-57 N4000B Kermit Weeks, FL
2749 - 39-63 N777W Robert Schaefli, Moses Lake, WA

My last reports of 3 B-23 location's were as follows;

2739 - 39-53 remains were recovered from Loon Lake, ID
current location unknown
2745 - 39-59 N86E Delta School, Athens, Greece as of 3/1975
2748 - 39-62 N1755 Panama City as of 6/1973

Wayne Cook, crew chief, B-23 N747M

[airnutz]

2 more B-23's, Tom had one of them. Ser.# 39-031 is on outside display
at Quito, Ecuador. There was a rash of photos of the aircraft here at
WIX awhile back, no interiors. Run it through the WIX search and see
what comes up Eric.

The former Hughes bird, #39-033, N747M survives her late-owner
Mike Bogue. The aircraft is kept at Eagles Nest Airport, Ione, Calif. A while
back WIXer, warbird51 informed us she was run-up in 2002...he's her
Crew Chief, might send him a PM Eric and see if he can help you?

So, that makes 9 survivors currently accounted for. I'm pretty sure
the pieces that were hacked-out of the Loon Lake bird went for the bits
for the McChord aircraft.

Hope this helps...

My records show 8 survivors for sure and 3 possible survivors.

c/n 2719 - 39-33 N747M PowerPac Enginerring, Ione, CA
2722 - 39-36 N52327 McCord AFB, Tacoma, WA
2723 - 39-37 N800N USAF Museum, Dayton, OH
2724 - 39-38 N82G CAF, Harlingen, TX
2733 - 39-47 N880L Castle AFB, Atwater, CA
2737 - 39-51 N534J Pima County Museum, AZ
2743 - 39-57 N4000B Kermit Weeks, FL
2749 - 39-63 N777W Robert Schaefli, Moses Lake, WA

My last reports of 3 B-23 location's were as follows;

2739 - 39-53 remains were recovered from Loon Lake, ID
current location unknown
2745 - 39-59 N86E Delta School, Athens, Greece as of 3/1975
2748 - 39-62 N1755 Panama City as of 6/1973

Wayne Cook, crew chief, B-23 N747M

Wayne, I don't understand your post. Is there some criteria that the
UC-67 Dragon 39-031 residing at the Ecuador Air Museum fails to make
your list? Brad posted some photos of her awhile back...they are now the
property of Tulio Soto.

Also, as far I have read, the Loon Lake hulk still lies there. Some parts
were removed for USAF projects, but I was in error in stating that they
went exclusively to the McChord machine. Tighar reported in 2000
that some of the Loon Lake parts made it to Wright-Pat..with a photo.
www.tighar.org/Projects/Histpres/course ... lake2.html

The article also claims that the NMUSAF Senior curator at the time said
they intend to cherrypick through the USAF B-23 displays inventory in
order to make the 39-037 the "Record Copy" for the museum. I dunno
how accurate this is, but I'll submit it anyway.
Thanks for your time Wayne.

[Chris Brame]

The Net info I've seen on this one usually refers to it as having been scrapped in the mid-80s. My uncle visited Athens a few years ago and doesn't remember seeing it at the airport (but was it visible from the terminal?).
I remember it having had several mentions in the letters section in Air Classics around 1975. First a letter writer mentioned having seen "a Boeing 247" at the Athens airport. Someone responded that he'd seen the aircraft - a B-23 - and described how it was being used as a latrine by the mechanics at the school: "Making my way through the piles of fecal matter, I entered the cockpit to find someone had removed the data plate." A third letter came from the guy who had taken the data plate, relaying the serial number (39-059) and type (UC-67).

[warbird51]

It seems to me that she flew like a DC-3 on steroids. Very similar in general handling and around 25 knots faster in the normal cruise mode. Not as quick as the B-25 from memory..

Wow. How does it handle on the ground? Is it like the C-46, where you can give it full rudder and nothing will happen?

Do you have any pictures from when you were flying?

Eric

In N747M, We would cruise at 185 knots indicated. The pilots, Denny Ghiringhelli and Mike Bogue would grin at each other and say what a fun A/C to fly. The rudder was effective on the ground for taxiing.

[warbird51]

Wayne Cook, crew chief, B-23 N747M[/quote]

Wayne, I don't understand your post. Is there some criteria that the
UC-67 Dragon 39-031 residing at the Ecuador Air Museum fails to make
your list? Brad posted some photos of her awhile back...they are now the
property of Tulio Soto.

Also, as far I have read, the Loon Lake hulk still lies there. Some parts
were removed for USAF projects, but I was in error in stating that they
went exclusively to the McChord machine. Tighar reported in 2000
that some of the Loon Lake parts made it to Wright-Pat..with a photo.
www.tighar.org/Projects/Histpres/course ... lake2.html

The article also claims that the NMUSAF Senior curator at the time said
they intend to cherrypick through the USAF B-23 displays inventory in
order to make the 39-037 the "Record Copy" for the museum. I dunno
how accurate this is, but I'll submit it anyway.
Thanks for your time Wayne.[/quote]

The list I posted was given to me in 1989 by a fellow from Idaho who compiled the list. We had flown N747M to Caldwell, Idaho for the Warhawk Air Museum airshow. This list was not my work and I can't take credit for it. We had planned an expedition in 1991 or 1992 to recover some items for N747M when we were told by the Warhawk museum that they had heard the wreck had bee recovered. In 1989 we were at the Portland Rose Festival Airshow with the B-23 when a elderly gentleman introduced himself. Seems he was a radio operator on a B-23 that crashed at Loon Lake, Idaho. He related the whole story to us and sent me copies of the newspaper articles that his Mom had saved. Next year, he sent me photo's of him returning to the wreck site in 1990.
As to the Ecuador A/C, I didn't see any photo's posted, so I've pm'd tulio to see if he could send me a pic to verify it's existance. I wasn't claiming that the list I posted was the complete and correct list of all B-23's. It was just a list of the information that I had.
Wayne Cook

[airnutz]

As to the Ecuador A/C, I didn't see any photo's posted, so I've pm'd tulio to see if he could send me a pic to verify it's existance. I wasn't claiming that the list I posted was the complete and correct list of all B-23's. It was just a list of the information that I had.
Wayne Cook

Wayne, sorry if it sounded as if I was making an accusation of a sort..the
way my quote was coupled with your friends list was a bit of a puzzle to
me. You were sharing his list with ours? Thanks for the clarification.

As for 39-031 in Ecuador. If Tulio is out of pocket, go to www.laahs.com
to see a coupla photos of the UC-67. Go to the Forum Section...go to page
2 of the Forum..go 8 threads down to Museos Aeronauticos America Latina.
Go to the 2cond page of that thread...3/4 of the way down are 2 photos of
her posted by Mr. Wilson Garrido. Enjoy and thank-you!
Jim