B-47A at?

[quemerford]

Bought these a while ago - they appear to show B-47A 49-1907, which became a Class 26 ground instructional airframe in May 1953. I'm thinking that these were taken at Lackland, but Amarillo is also a possibility. Anyone?

[JohnB]

Did Lackland have a flightline?
Nearby Kelly did, but I'm not aware that Lackland did...though the 50s are before my time.

The new B-47 book by Habermehl and Hopkins says it was used by Air Proving Ground Command (as opposed to Air Material Command which did the initial development tests) for Operational Suitability Tests and reclassified as a EB-47A. They say it was out of USAF service by Dec, 1954 and it never went to D-M, so it was likely disposed from the training center.

[A26 Special K]

I was at Amarillo AFB in the 1962-65 timeframe. As best that I recall, there were five B-47’s used as instructional trainers for the maintenance school housed there. Seems like it was the 3320th Technical School at the time. The buildings and hangar in the pics closely resemble the style used at the base then. The school was located on the north end behind the ramp and hangars. They did hydraulics, fuel systems and jet engine rebuilds to name a few. They had test cells to run the engines after the students finished the rebuilds. Good thing they were solid concrete is all I can say. I don’t recall when the B-47’s were removed and the school closed, but the entire base was closed around 1968. SAC B-52’s were the last based there housed on a newer ramp and area of the base before closure. Old base dated back to WW2. This ramp was converted into the new air terminal building in the early 70’s. Just a little farther west is the Bell plant for building Osprey’s among other things. Anyway, it may be worth looking up the history of the 3320th for leads on the B-47. I’ve seen one yearbook from the late 50’s so there are probably others.

[jdvoss]

John B. is correct Lackland AFB did not have a flight line nor a runway... at least post 1940.


JohnV
www.fusleagecodes.com

[quemerford]

More from the same bunch: first one is possibly F-89A 49-2436 at Amarillo, which has some hefty staging and looks like it may have been set up to demonstrate landing gear cycling etc:



Next, another possible Amarillo bird, which I think is F-84B 46-573:



Then this one is easier because it's labelled 'Lackland 1953': F-84C 47-1486 (now (or was) preserved with AZ ANG at Phoenix):



Then finally, again a labelled photo 'Amarillo June 1953' - I think (because it has a single nosewheel) this must be one of the final two XB-45s, so either 45-59481 or 45-59482:





Scott: feel free to use these on Forgotten Jets if required.

[A26 Special K]

Don’t recall seeing a B-45 at Amarillo AFB, but may have been before my time. There were at least two instructional F-89 airframes. Amarillo had the first jet mechanic course in the AF. Besides the B47’s, there were at least one F-84 and one F-86 for maintainance training at the 3320th. Somewhere along the line, F-100 systems mockups were added. These were sold off or given away after closure. There was one T-33 that was brought in about 1964. It ended up in the USAF Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB. One F-101 was placed on a pole in front of Base HQ. When the base closed, it was hauled off to an empty pasture outside of the base where it sat for many years. No idea where it ended up. One of the F-89’s was hauled out to a burn area just west of the ramp and used for firefighting demonstrations on open house or airshow days. Not sure if the second one met the same fate or was moved.