Castle Air Museum, Merced, CA

jdvoss · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:25 pm

This past week I made the trip out to the Castle Air Mueum in Merced (CA) as the weather was terrific (clear and 78 deg) and I was motivated! The collection has over 50 airccraft on display and some rare ones at that. They have an outstanding bomber collection and if they had a B-58 and B-66 among the group they would have complete coverage from 1940 thru the Cold War. Unfortunatly sitting outside the aircraft get a terrific beating from the summer sun and several are in need of some TLC...especially those painted O.D. I've only presented about a dozen photos of the aircraft on dispaly and will eventually make a complete posting in the Photo Gallery.

Douglas B-23

Avro Vulcan

North American B-45

Boeing WB-50

Boeing B-47

North American F-100

Northrop F-89

Convair B-36

Consolidated B-24 (originally a PB4Y-1Z)

Douglas B-18

Boeing B-17G

Douglas R5D-4R

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:51 pm

Great shots! But DANG do I wish that B-24 was sold off to Jerry Yagen or FHC or somebody that will fly her! :cry:

Fouga23 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 5:17 pm

Some rare stuff there!

Wildchild · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 5:27 pm

Isn't there B-29 Raz 'N Hell haunted? lol

love2gofly · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:14 pm

The F-100 belonged to San Jose State University, I was there when they took it apart and trucked it out. A few months later they invited us to their restoration shop to see it.

I'm glad to see it on display somewhere, but I kinda hope that Castle does some work to the airplanes they have soon. I'd kinda like to see them get some more indoor space as well.

JohnB · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:24 pm

It would be worth the trip just to see the exposed B-36 turrets.
Do they always leave then open? If so, have they taken any anti-corrosion/wet/bird measures?

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:35 pm

I believe the B-36 is undergoing a restoration. I don't think they were open when Zack and I were there last summer.

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:39 pm

Warbird Kid wrote:

Great shots! But DANG do I wish that B-24 was sold off to Jerry Yagen or FHC or somebody that will fly her! :cry:

I'm not sure how complete the B-24 is on the inside. IIRC she was a stripped out South American freight hog when the museum got ahold of her, and the restoration is largely cosmetic.

I'm not complaining, mind you. It's great to see another B-24 saved from oblivion.

SN

tulsaboy · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:50 pm

That B-47, a Tulsa-built example, is the last one to fly, by the way...

kevin

APG85 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:32 am

That's a nice collection. Wish it was inside a building...

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

I was fortunate enough to be passing through on an open cockpit day (and a scale R/C aircraft show nearby). Everything there needs some work, but deterioration seems to be in check.

Zachary · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:22 am

Hope you didn't fall into any quicksand traps like I did. Was taking a picture of the tail of the B-23 when I took a step backwards and my right leg sank into the ground nearly up to my hip in watery sand. The spot looked like any other sandy patch on the grounds at the museum. If you take a look at this Wikipedia picture, you can see where they've put up some caution tape around the spot. The Wiki pic was taken in October - I was there with Mustangdriver in late August.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castl ... Dragon.JPG

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:50 am

Holy crap they made your hole an exhibit!!

PreservedAC · **Joined:** Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:09 pm **Posts:** 63

Quote:

This past week I made the trip out to the Castle Air Mueum in Merced (CA) as the weather was terrific (clear and 78 deg) and I was motivated! The collection has over 50 airccraft on display and some rare ones at that. They have an outstanding bomber collection and if they had a B-58 and B-66 among the group they would have complete coverage from 1940 thru the Cold War. Unfortunatly sitting outside the aircraft get a terrific beating from the summer sun and several are in need of some TLC...especially those painted O.D. I've only presented about a dozen photos of the aircraft on dispaly and will eventually make a complete posting in the Photo Gallery

.

Great photoset.
Many thanks for posting

Compared to my last visit in 2004 .The aircraft seems to be kept in good condition ,despite weather conditions.

I returned later for a quick tour during one of those " open cockpit days"
Well worth the effort!
The B-36 and Avro Vulcan inside were very impressive

Didn't stay long because of another appointment nearby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pvdac/6927153062/

Regards
Johan

peter · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 9:09 am

The vulcan could really do with a repaint..

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Castle Air Museum, Merced, CA

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