From AvWeb:
Quote:
March 11, 2007
Kansas Museum Needs Help To Move B-47
By Russ Niles, Contributing Editor
The Kansas Aviation Museum says it needs a quick $110,000 or an army of well-equipped volunteers to bring a Cold War relic home. A B-47, the first swept-wing, pure jet bomber, is no longer welcome at the Oklahoma City fairgrounds, and the Kansas museum would like to bring it back to Wichita, where it was built in 1951. “It would be great to have the plane,” museum director Teresa Day told The Wichita Eagle. “It would definitely complement the B-29 and the B-52 we already have on display.” But Oklahoma City wants the aircraft, one of only 24 intact B-47s, gone by the end of April and will scrap it if necessary. “We have such a limited time frame, I’m just not sure it can happen,” Day said. For $110,000, a company will disassemble the aircraft, move it to Wichita and put it back together but, as with most museums, that $110,000 just isn’t there. The alternative would be to find enough volunteers with the skill and equipment to bring the nuclear bomber home. Day says they’ll need a crane to lift the 110-foot-long plane from its current pedestal and a minimum of five flatbeds to carry the pieces. “It’s a long shot,” Day said. “I’ve contacted past friends of the museum to ask for help. It would be a shame for this plane to be lost.”
Wichita Eagle:
Quote:
Aviation museum needs help to acquire B-47
Mar. 08, 2007
BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR
The Wichita Eagle
The Kansas Aviation Museum has an opportunity to acquire a B-47 for display, but may not be able to take advantage of it without a large donation or volunteer help, director Teresa Day said Wednesday.
"This would be a huge undertaking," Day said. "The plane is on the fairgrounds at Oklahoma City and they need the space. It has to be gone by the end of April."
For the aviation museum to take the plane, which is part of the U.S. Air Force Museum's loan program, it would need to raise about $110,000 to pay a company to disassemble the plane, move it to Wichita, and reassemble it.
An alternative would be to find volunteers able to do the work as a donation of time and materials to the museum.
"We have such a limited time frame that I'm just not sure it can happen," Day said.
The B-47 was built in Wichita in 1951. It is one of only 24 complete B-47s still in existence.
Day said it was her understanding that the plane would be offered to aviation museums, but if nobody is able to accept it, it will be scrapped.
The plane would have to have its wings cut to enable it to fit on flatbed trucks. Cradles for the fuselage and wings would have to be built. The fuselage is 107 feet long, and each wing is 70 feet in length. Cranes would be needed to lift it from its current 15-foot-tall pedestal, and it will take five flatbed trucks to hold all the pieces.
Some kind of stands, either concrete or steel, would need to be fabricated at the museum to hold the 30-ton plane. And the exhibit would need to be re-painted once it is in place in Wichita.
"It would be great to have the plane," Day said. "It would definitely complement the B-29 and the B-52 we already have on display."
She said if financial donors or enough volunteers to complete the work step forward, she will be able to notify the Air Force Museum that the plane can move to Wichita.
"It's a long shot," she said. "I've contacted past friends of the museum to ask for help, and I'm hoping people who hear this is available will come forward. It would be a shame for this plane to be lost."
The museum is continuing a fundraising effort to build a temporary hangar for "Doc," the B-29 being restored to flying condition by volunteers.
Day said she expects to have an announcement in a week or so on the progress of that effort.
For information on the B-47, call Day at the museum at 316-683-9242.
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