Warbird Information Exchange

I heard yesterday that the B-47 at Hill AFB is going to be scrapped. The museum does not have the funds or space (or desire IMHO ) to maintain the plane. Another factor I am told is that when it was damaged in a storm while on display in New England and then subsequently moved it was done so poorly and is now, "structurally unstable"

Tom P.

Robins AFB had announced the same fate for the B-52D, but so far no action that I'm aware of.

It's sad, but inevitable, when there is no plan, funds, nor action. I can only hope they part out some stuff, such as radio panels, as there are similar era restorations what would benefit from a TACAN head, etc.

When will we hear that the Barksdale B-24 has met the same fate?

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Sad... that was the first B-47 I'd ever seen in person. They should save the cockpit section!

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Good thing I got to see this bird on our cross-country sightseeing trip in 2012, I guess.
Think of all the people who'd pay a tidy sum for just a skin section of this plane or any of its type when they meet the torch.
But nope, it all usually gets sent to the recycler.
The one such event that really ticked me off was when NASA scrapped their space shuttle and Apollo launch towers, all had to be sent to scrappers and no parts were allowed to be cut up and given/sold to the public!

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Was out at Barksdale a few years ago.....the 29 and 24 were looking rough. Who knows.....

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There are some that think old airplanes fly on fairy dust and unicorn farts.

USN Ret
Recip FE

51-2360:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/jetregis ... 12360.html




(source: Wikipedia - public domain)


(source: Forgotten Jets on archive.org)

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

That's a shame. Pics from July 2010.

I can't imagine how hard it must be to maintain large aircraft stored outdoors, never mind in a place that has largely varying seasons.

greg v.

Sadly in many states this will be the fate of ALL outside displayed “preserved” aircraft. Every last one.

They need to be inside to have any chance at all. Desert climates are a great option if you don’t have a building, but it’s just a different time factor. With any alloy built aircraft it becomes a real interesting question if you could protect one for 500 years....

Album here: https://imgur.com/a/GO8EYiy

Was just out at the museum at the end of January. Hadn’t been there since I left Hill in 2005. Back then, I recall the B-47 had it’s wings removed, and it was just kind of lying in a corner of the CLSS area on base. I believe it was the reserve CLSS squadron that went and recovered it from New England in the early 2000s.

The aircraft looked rough, definitely out of place with the rest of the relatively well maintained planes that were there.

Hoping they can save it, can’t imagine there are too many B-47s left. If not the whole aircraft, maybe just the cockpit, as someone else suggested.

Wiki lists 23 survivors. I believe only one is indoors at Dayton (did Seattle move their under the covered "shed?"), of the outside examples one is derelict on a range and only 4-5 are in decent, drier climates.

I do believe the damage from the tornado was a significant factor. When the structure is no longer safe museums may have to make some hard decisions. The very early F-14 gate guard at Oceana was a real loss, but I understand she was swiss cheese inside and was ready to fall apart.

Given there are only a handful of surviving B24's I can't fathom one being scrapped out. It's bad enough to have any of them sitting out in the weather like that though.

I've always wondered about that B-24, given that the Smithsonian has a B-24 high on their want list.

I know this is pure fantasy, but. . .

I wish the government would at least sell pieces of metal or small parts from these aircraft they "must" scrap and raise some money for the preservation of those that are not too far gone to be saved. Private museums and foundations sometimes do this to raise money (example: Liberty Foundation sold pieces of skin from Liberty Belle to help fund her resurrection -- I bought one).

Like I said. . . pure fantasy!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Sad news about that B-47, I've always liked those.

About the B-24, I know a bunch of guys at Yankee who would carry that back to Willow Run on their backs. lol

I know it's wishful thinking.... But, why not sell it to somebody...or...give it to another museum...perhaps someplace like chino, where it could be stored dry until something could be done?
The only thing standing in the way is the military/govts problem with surplus demilling requirements, which are rather foolish and wasteful.....and are a big part of the reason there are few post WW2/Korea U.S. built warbirds in private hands....