B-36 on the move

[Matt Gunsch]

the Pima Air Museums web says that the forward fuselage of the B-36 is to arrive in Tucson at 10 am Sat morning.

[jamesintucson]

Actually it is here now. Tomorrow is the "official" arrival for the press and a welcome from the mayor.

James

[RickH]

James, how much of the forward fuselage has arrived ? Any pictures ? Any word on what's next to arrive and when ?

[Pat Carry]

check www.b-36peacemakermuseum.org for photos the B-36 being moved by truck. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

[RickH]

Thanks, Pat. It's a shame they are going to cut the wing center section. I guess that's a sure way to guarantee no one will ever try to fly her. USAFM is pretty paranoid about that sort of thing !

[Cvairwerks]

If the decision has been made to cut the center section, then it has to have been made very recently. I had an email from Scott a couple of weeks ago stating that cutting was the absolute last resort adn he didn't want to do it at all. If they elect to cut it, look for it to slow the reassembly by several months. The only place you can cut it will require a massive structural repair and reinforcement to allow the fuselage to stand on it's own gear again. I'll know if they are going to cut is as the center box is stored about 10 feet from my work hangar at Fort Worth.

[jamesintucson]

Ah, yes. The saga of the B-36 wing. The first thing to remember is that the wing center section is 142 feet long and nearly 20 feet wide. I'd think that most people's first reaction would be to try to figure out how to make it a little smaller. But, we do not intend to cut the wing unless we absolutely have to. We initially thought that we would need to disassemble it, but after consultation with several companies that specialize in moving really big objects we think it can be moved in one piece. The information on the Peacemaker Muesum's web site is based on a phone interview conducted the day after we found out we would be getting the airplane and was just our initial thoughts on the subject. We decided soon after that to try to find a one piece solution.

James Stemm

[TimAPNY]

CH-47 or CH-53? (I have now idea what the wing section weights).

How was the one moved to Castle AFB? That made a very long cross country trip.

[RickH]

If I remember correctly the Castle aircraft was moved from Chanute by multiple railcars.

Glad to hear you guys are working an alternate plan for the wing. I did get the original wing info off of the B-36 site.

[jamesintucson]

The wing is around 42,000 pounds. We looked at several airlift options. The Air Force refused to move it in a C-5, chartering an Antonov was way too expensive, and helicopters won't lift it. The company we're working with normally moves mining equipment and except for actually getting it on and off the highway they think it will be relatively easy. Castle did move theirs on rail cars, but to do it that way we would have to cut it to get within the railroad's width restrictions.

James

[Matt Gunsch]

I was at Pima today and saw the B-36. They were able to move the wing section without cutting it, however, the fusalage has hatches open and no covers on anything. Hope they get it assembled soon.

[tom d. friedman]

fyi for wing height perspective.....i've stood up to the wing of the b-36 from the ground at walt soplata's place. i'm 5 foot 8 inches tall & that wing at it's peak height came up to just above my adam's apple. hope they take good care of all that magnesium, it doesn't fair well in extreme environments.