B-29 preserved in Cincinnati, OH circa Late 1940s?

[N3Njeff]

Imagine being able to park a F-16 in front of a Post Office today for recruiting.

Now I wish I had pictures!!!! The VT ANG has a F-16 airframe that they did just that!!!!!! For a few years, they would drag it through the streets over to the Fairgrounds in Essex VT which is a 4 mi trip from the airport. The last couple of years, it was wrapped in a big sticker that made it look like a flag. The airplane has now been moved to the Militia Museum at Camp Johnson and is back in ANG markings

I also remember a F-104 on a flatbed trailer that was on display at the local Sears. This would have been in the late 70's

[Courier Sportster]

guess what? I just found the other pics from that day I tried to figure out why a B-29 was in a Cincinnati ditch. They don't add much, but they are from another point of view. seen in 1985, I do believe.

seems to be oddly tapering at both ends. hmnn.

I was afraid and got the heck outta there quick, or else I would have lined up some better shots.

Last edited by Courier Sportster on Sun Apr 22, 2018 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Mark_Pilkington]

That doesnt look like something that was going to get removed in a hurry, more likely to have been filled in and covered?

It shouldnt be too hard to publish those to photos in a local paper or take them to a local official and see who might recognise the site? 1985 isnt that long ago? Theres a chance something might still be there?

Interesting find at the time in anycase, thanks for sharing your pics.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

[JohnB]

Perhaps the B-29 was bailed to a defense contractor for tests and for some reason (perhaps damage) not returned to the USAF?

GE is in the area (though their electronics division is/was in upstate New York) as well as other firms.

[Chris Brame]

seems to be oddly tapering at both ends. hmnn.

Well this is weird. Looks like TWO B-29 noses attached back-to-back, with one of them upside down.
With that axle inside, wonder if someone was trying to build a trailer (like that guy in Malibu with the two B-26 noses)?

[Courier Sportster]

chris i was thinking the same thing. i don't think it is two, though. i suspect it is the top half and the bottom half of the same nose, and just placed in such a way that it look like two. a few more pictures would have been in order. but, the terror of buckshot and bees had me scurrying away. ever been mauled by bees in the woods? i have. it ain't a joy. now that i know the mindset of wixers, i'll never do such a half-a*s job again! and i'll wear my bee suit. i recall it was sheltering junk, just like walter would do! i wonder if karl and walter were aware of each other! i think they were separated at birth. so what's the story on the hatch? i hate when the stories drop off into PMs.

[Noha307]

I read this thread a while ago and kept it in the back of my head ever since. Recently, I was doing a little searching around online about warbirds in the Cincy area and came across a news article that mentions both Karl's (the owner) and the B-29's demise: Karl's junk exits West Side - The Enquirer

I figured I should post it here, since you guys might be interested.

[Zotron]

Here is the very bad news.

[Noha307]

Found a bit more about Karl Kleve:

• Car corpses to be auctioned
• Trustees can't tow Kleve's love for cars
• Court to hear dispute about junked cars
• Karl Kleve, 90, was collector of cars, other items
• Karl's junk exits West Side
• Junkman: West Side lots full of cars to be cleared (Continuation of above article)
• Karl Kleve: A Crazy Car Lover Or Just Misunderstood?

Determining exactly where the B-29 was is difficult, because as one of the above articles notes, Mr. Kleve had at least three different properties with "junk" on them and owned a total of 40+ around Greater Cincinnati. (Ironically, one of them, the former Dent Drive-In, became the Green Township Veterans Memorial Park (now 6231 Harrison Avenue).) According to a legal case, another one was 3077 Jadaro Court. Others included: 4575 Race Road, 5695 Evelyn Road, 5699 Evelyn Road, 5286 Race Road, and Reemelin Road and Boomer Road.

[Noha307]

So after the previous post, I asked one of our museum volunteers who had lived on the West Side of Cincinnati whether he knew anything about Mr. Kleve. He said that he spoke with Mr. Kleve on a number of occasions and at one point he brokered a deal to get someone a pair of Stearman wing struts from Mr. Kleve's collection. According to him, the B-29 fuselage was stolen by scrappers, but is not sure exactly when it happened. However, he did say it was reported stolen and made the news. The fuselage was propped up on wood and when the wood rotted it collapsed. Apparently, over time, it slowly slid down a hill until, at the last time our volunteer saw it, it was pretty much in a nearby creek. The location was south of the intersection of Race Road and Reemelin Road.

Well this is weird. Looks like TWO B-29 noses attached back-to-back, with one of them upside down.

According to him, it appeared to be a complete nose section that was cut in half and put back together. The reason it had a strange tapered appearance at both ends may have been because the end opposite the cockpit greenhouse was the rear pressure bulkhead.

EDIT (21-05-09): After talking with again in person, I have come to realize that I misunderstood the way he was describing the B-29 had been modified. It was not cut vertically and then reattached, but instead cut horizontally and the bottom half rotated 180 degrees to be in line with the top half and reattached, forming a roof of sorts. I made drawing based off of one our volunteer hand-drew:

(Source (B-29 Nose Section Template): Wikimedia Commons)

This is the reason there were two turret positions next to one another: one was the top turret, the other was the bottom.

Last edited by Noha307 on Sun May 09, 2021 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Noha307]

So, I went on the US Geological Survey's Earth Explorer and downloaded a few old aerial photos. I compared them with one of the pictures from earlier in this thread and I think I have a theory:

1VAAT00010072 (Cropped, Merged).png (122.21 KiB) Viewed 2978 times

[Noha307]

The same museum volunteer mentioned above, Dennis A. Stewart, has kindly agreed to allow me to post scans of two Polaroid pictures he took of Mr. Kleve's B-29: