Warbird Information Exchange

The aircraft wreckage shown in the photos below was found on Charleston AFB after clearing a wooded area. I noticed the wreckage shortly after it was uncovered, and asked the base PA folks if they knew anything about it.
I got no response, and soon thereafter the wreckage was cleared away. I have not been able to get any info from base folks.

Anyone have any idea what its from?












Walt

Hi Walt could be an A-26 or B-25. My grandpa served there at the end of WW2, and he said this was an A-26 training base. He said planes crashed there "all the time". He actually was training there, and saw an A-26 fly over with flames trailing 100' behind. The pilot panicked and brought the plane in gear up at high speed. It slid down the runway and off, then hit railroad tracks and then a train wrecked all at the same time! Maybe this is that plane?

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not A-26 gear or wheel here.

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I'm not sure it's B-25. The wheel isn't right for that. I think it's wrong for the A-26 too, but I could certainly be wrong there.

Whatever it was, it sure got pretty tore up. I wonder if it was used for fire training or something like that?

Gary

Sounds like something that would happen in an Family Guy episode.


This one is going to keep people guessing for awhile. Me included.

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Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

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Looking at the landing gear and the straight wing I'm thinking maybe Skyraider? The tire looks too small in diameter to be A-26 and the thickness of the wing spar would seem to take a lot of jet fighters out of the picture.

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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)

Charleston AFB is a transport base, so that is where i would start looking.
they had C-54, C-121, C-119, C-124 and C-141s based there. The wheel looks alot like a nose wheel off of a C-124.

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Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
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That would be a Boeing product, most likely a KC-97 but could also be a B-50 as well

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~Trevor McIntyre
http://www.TrevorMcIntyre.com

Hope you don't mind if I post a link to this topic over at the Wreckchasing forum - let's see what we get.

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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 not a KC-97 wheel.

_________________
Kevin Kearney
Vice President
Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation


C-54D "Spirit of Freedom" 43-17228
C-97 "Angel of Deliverance" 52-2718 (painted as YC-97A 45-59595)
C-54E/R5D-4 "Spirit of Freedom" 44-9144 BuNo 90414 (wfu April/2020)
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org

Just comparing the photos it looks like there are double sets of wheels. One set has indentations around the inside of the rim of the wheel and another set has a smooth contour around the inside edge of the rim of the wheel. The smooth wheel is separate from the rest of the wreckage and seems to have an extended axle and is missing the matching wheel. With the wheel set with indentations you can see two wheels on a single axle in a couple of the photos. Looks to me like it could be a set of double nosewheels and a set of double main wheels. That would rule out the A and B 26 and the B-25, indeed most WW2 era nosewheel type aircraft.

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"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

anyone have a picture of the nosewheel on a C-124 ?

_________________
Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
Check out the Ercoupe Discussion Group on facebook

Walt,

The landing gear looks like the main gear of a C-119,especially in your 3rd picture.I'd imagine that a fairly large number of them ended up in the woods in the Carolinas in the 1950's and 60's.

That's it. Larry has identified it. The spar is curved just like the C-119 as well.

_________________
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!" R.R.

Welcome to the USSA! One Nanny State Under the Messiah, Indivisible with Tyranny, Higher Taxes, Socialism, Radical Environmentalism and a Loss of Income for all. Boy I'm proud to be a part of the USSA, what can I do to raise taxes, oh boy oh boy!

I have to disagree...Look at the drag struts, jackscrews and universals on those gear, that's Boeing all the way. The Dollar-Nineteen was nothing like that! Walt, do you have any pics of the struts? That would tell ya for sure in a hurry!

_________________
~Trevor McIntyre
http://www.TrevorMcIntyre.com