Question about Fertile Myrtle-B-29

[Brad]

Does anybody know if Fertile Myrtle was actually used to drop any of the rockets other than the D-558? I don't think I've ever seen any pictures where you could tell by the S/N if it was used to drop the X-1 or the X-1E. On the side of the fuselage the depiction of the drops are all of the Skyrocket and nothing about the other airplanes.

On the other hand, the nose art seems to be about the same.

[Mark Allen M]

Quote:
B-29 Mothership
Because of the limited burn time of the X-1 and rocket-powered D-558-2 aircraft, they were launched from B-29 or B-50 motherships. This saved the time and propellant-burn it took to get the aircraft to altitude and launch speed, thus increasing the amount of research flying the aircraft could do. It also avoided the dangers and inefficiencies of ground take off under rocket power.

The "B-29" used to launch the Navy-sponsored D-558-2 bore the Navy designation P2B-1S but had begun life as a B-29 and was less formally known as "Fertile Myrtle" to designate its role as a mothership. The two motherships were not interchangeable as the Air Force B-29 was modified to carry only the X-1, and the P2B-1S was equipped only for the D-558-2. Both motherships were retired in the summer of 1959 and were sent to the Air Force "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

[The Inspector]

Two B-29's transfered from USAF to Navy for rocket plane programs. 4487776, l/n 12579, a B-29-90-BW became buno 84028.
B-29-95-BW-95-BW 4521787, l/n 13681 became buno 84029, NACA 137 and 'Fertile Myrtle'.
The SKYROCKET was a pure NAVY program and the only involvement with the USAF X-programs was beating them to Mach 2 when Scott Crossfield beat a certain CY guy to that magic number, thereby torquing his jaws forever. according to ABCD list and Baughers Navy listings

[Silverplate]

Just more information about 'Fertile Myrtle'. When the cockpit section was located at the Weeks Air Museum in Miami, Scott Crossfield would stop by and visit on occasion. He signed the side of the cockpit. Don't know if it still there or not. In the late ninety's I hosted tours around Florida for General Paul Tibbets. On one of two visits to the Weeks Air Museum I left the General to reminisce inside "Fertile Myrtle for awhile. We was a good friend of mine.

[APG85]

This plane begs many questions:
1. How many post military flights did it have (There's some suggestion that it was used in movie work i.e."The Right Stuff")?
2. When were the gun turrets installed? Were they present during the drop testing?
3. How bad is the corrosion in the wings?
4. How many drops did it actually perform?
5. What was the extent of the nose section restoration / re-skinning project?

Last edited by APG85 on Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:03 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Steve Nelson]

I believe Fifi was used in The Right Stuff. The only film work I think Myrtle was involved in was The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark.

As for the nose restoration, it looks good from the outside, but the cockpit still needs a fair bit of work. I assume the structural repairs were done to airworthy standards.

SN

[APG85]

Any pictures of FM being dismantled, moved, re-skinned...anything?

[JohnH]

I believe Fifi was used in The Right Stuff. The only film work I think Myrtle was involved in was The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark.

As for the nose restoration, it looks good from the outside, but the cockpit still needs a fair bit of work. I assume the structural repairs were done to airworthy standards.

SN

Correct.

[Steve Nelson]

Here are a couple of shots of Myrtle's cockpit I took last summer. I actually looks pretty complete, just a bit worn.

SN

[spriso]

I saw FM at the "Golden Hill" Storage facility in January-- here are a few shots from my visit:









Corrosion in the center section:



Enjoy,

Michael

[APG85]

Thanks for posting the pictures Michael! That's some healthy corrosion in the center wing section. I seem to remember Gary Austin posting some info about it several years ago and he said the corrosion was severe. It's a shame it was allowed to get that bad.
Wonder why they would go to the trouble of re-skinning the nose section (post hurricane damage) and then paint it silver and not leave it NMF (Natural Metal Finish) as it should be? Either way, this is a complete airframe and I would love to see it reassembled and put on display no matter what condition it is in...

[bdk]

I'm not sure that intergranular corrosion is as controllable as you think...

[The Inspector]

About the only way to really control IGC is to get out the drills and remove the infested part and fabricate new.
Depending on the makeup of the aluminum IGC can look like a grayish rough spot or, in some cases like 7075-T6 like a dark gray, wet phone book. Watched and QC'd square miles of blown out belly and crown skins replacements over the years (anyone for a 727 aft cargo belly skin so bad you could see the hanger floor from inside the pit?). The worst was a 727 for a major box hauler that had IGC so bad in both lower wing skins (it sat in Central America for a few years with about 600 gallons of residual fuel in it) that we changed both lower wing skins using enough lumber for shoring that it would have built a pretty sizeable house. Boeing Renton guys pretty much lived in the hanger while we did the work including lots of AOG. Busloads of engineers, most of whom had never seen repairs on that scale. 4 Theodolite checks every shift for several weeks.

Boeing, and every manufacturer is just like a car dealership. They sell new, deal in used, sell maintenance services, and make boatloads of money over the parts counter, the parts warehouse near SEATAC is well over 1 million square feet of floorspace.

[APG85]

I'm not sure that intergranular corrosion is as controllable as you think...

I've got a slight idea (28+ years on Herc's and counting). The key is spotting it early and taking corrective action. Yes, some parts can't be saved and sometimes you face major surgery...

[Courier Sportster]

moved! roops