Strange civilian uses of warbird parts

[aseanaero]

I have vivid memories of utter disbelief at finding a fence made out of wooden propellor blades when I was walking in the hills above Macclesfield as a teenager

The front fence to my warehouse is made from time expired Sikorsky S58T main rotor blades staggered like venetian blinds

I'll post some photos

[peter]

Perspex nose blisters from Lancaster bombers used as backyard ponds..

[jet1]

now used as signs. the complete outboard wing panel is there some even have formation lites still in them.

[ktst97]

Back in the 1950s, Ranger aircraft engines were occasionally installed in open-wheeled race cars called sprint cars:
" went south to race full-time on the IMCA circuit for several years and in 1953, replaced the Mercury V-8 in his sprint car with a 440 c.i. Ranger aircraft engine. The car was known as the LeMay Ranger."
and
"The rare Ranger aircraft engined sprint car built and driven by the late Gene Cunningham was brought to Wauseon by Bill Scarince. This is an unrestored, all original race car which places the engine upside down and backwards from the way it mounts in the airplane. It is a fascinating bit of technology which Gene successfully raced for many years, beginning in 1956."

[Robby29]

I have a photo of the cars mentioned in your post parked side by side at the IMCA Oldtimers Reunion in Arlington, Minnesota in the 1990's. Ranger-engined sprint cars were not uncommon in the fifties because the engines were affordable as war surplus, light weight, and 440 cu. in. The engine in the LeMay Ranger features high compression pistons, four Stromberg 97 carbs, and a six into one header exiting through a four inch exhaust pipe. The engine was revved to 5,000 rpm and likely produced 400+ horsepower!

[plankwings]

Just out of town at Tocumwal, which was a large base on the Victorian/NSW border here in Australia, a farmer had used numerous Mosquito U/C leg outers (oval tubing) as posts for his shed. He welded them end on end and they became the verticals.

He also used Wirraway fuselage frames (simuilar to T6s) as walls. He cut the cross tubing out and welded them side by side.


Wayne

[JohnB]

Back in the early 80's the Red Baron Restaurant at Riverside Airport, RAL, in So Cal had a canopy as a sneeze shield over the salad bar. It may have been a T-33 canopy.
Les

I know it's an ancient post...
There was also one at the Oxnard airport restaurant circa 1980.

[Nathan]

My F-86 drop tank was used as part of a homemade pontoon boat. Someone told me once a P-40 canopy was found being used as a dog house in Georgia.

[Jesse C.]

Low Rider hydraulic systems where originally made using surplus B-29 parts. Most are still in use today!

[robkamm]

My parents took the top half of my r4360 shipping can and buried it in the back yard. makes a nice pond. they use it every year for the fish.

[barnbstormer]

Most of our parts went for repairs and restorations.

But one week, back in our glorious aircraft salvage days, a guy walks into our little Bronx NYC office, with our salvaged aircraft parts piled up to the ceiling, in rows that you had to squeeze through, in the large garage/shop area.He wanted some aircraft parts to decorate his Manhattan luxury apartment. He was in a brand new top-of-the-line, Porsche Carrera.
We walked around, and he picked out a scruffy F-86 canopy (which had been tied down on the shop roof! whcih we got down, after getting a ladder..) to use as a terrarium. Next he wanted to make a couch out of an aircraft tail section, with seating cushions on the stabilizer. So we chopped off a Luscombe tail, just ahead of the stabilizer, and complete with all the fin/rudder/elevators. Finally he picked out another smaller set of engine cowls, and intended to clean them up, and mount them on the wall, so he could lift open the sides, and put a bar inside.

He found some dirty rags laying around, and (to our Horror!)piled that ragged-metail edge tail on the top of his brand new Carrera! and drove home with a lot of ropes holding it down. He asked Dad to deliver the rest. When Dad returned, he excitedly told me how the guy had painted the expensive wood flooring in his Manhattan luxury apartment, as a runway, with all kinds of expensive aircraft models lined up at the sides. and the guy had a full size Conestaga wagon, converted as his bed!

[Chris Brame]

Found this in the L.A Times Photo Archive, from the UCLA Library Digital Collections:

http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewIt ... zz0002r5dn
"Surplus military cargo plane being transformed into a home in Riverside, Calif., 1947"
Wonder how long it was there? That fuselage is pretty banged up/buckled through the window area. I reversed the image since the way it was shown in the archive, the cargo door was on the wrong side.

[famvburg]

Back in the mid '70s when Air Classics magazine featured a CAF airplane in each issue, IIRC the one about Fifi mentioned that when Fifi was being brought out of storage, R-3350 starters were extremely hard to find because they apparently made excellent winch motors.

[K5DH]

For decades, amateur radio operators have been making antenna rotators out of war surplus prop pitch motors.

[Chris Brame]

Back in '73, Air Classics' Warbird Report made reference to an article in a postwar car magazine (Hot Rod?) about a race car built from the fuselage of a P-51; the driver crashed and was killed. I've never seen anything else to corroborate this; any info out there?

Dug out the issue - it was August '74:

("I Can't Believe It" #s 1 and 2 were the PB4Y fuselage used as a house in the Everglades and the Boeing 307 made into a houseboat.)