Boeing B-17 & B-29 facility Plant 2 Being Torn Down... :(

[Robbie Roberts]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100914/ap_on_hi_te/us_boeing_plant2

Yes- now they are killing the birthing home of the greatest large multiengine aircraft ever built...

I know it is progress, etc, but it still makes me sad...

Robbie

[mustangdriver]

So what are the plans for the B-29, B-17, and the Connie?

[Django]

Moot now, but what if they knocked the bulk of the building down and kept part of it big enough to keep the 3 aircraft? I know, I know, my paycheck doesn't come with enough zeros on the end to make me qualified for such a suggestion...

[The Inspector]

Second attempt @ getting this posted-
Mr. Tibbets somewhat enthusiastic narrative needs some minor tweeks. Plant 1 was originally a boatyard facility that Bill Boeing bought so he could get a boat he was having built, finished. It morphed into an airplane factory which is why it was originally located right @ the edge of the Duwamish River, when plant 1 closed it was going to be torn down but instead became the centerpoint of the MoF as the RED BARN and it was moved upriver about 2 miles by barge and lowboy
Very little of the B-29 was done @ plant 2, Renton was the home of the 29 and, except for some celebratitve events @ KBFI during WW2, not much about the 29 was @ Seattle or Plant 2. The flight line @ KBFI was a delivery center for completed B-17's and later, B-29's.
Lets hope that some parts can be saved and incorporated into either the MoF or other projects in and around Seattle to help preserve the memory and legend of this major part of Seattles history.

[spookythecat]

So what are the plans for the B-29, B-17, and the Connie?

I thought I read somewhere they were going to be on display behind the museum this coming weekend before being moved over to the airpark. No idea if they will be covered any time soon This very well may have changed though

[GIJOE290]

That sucks. It also was were the early B-52 was assembled.

[The Inspector]

YEP! The XB and YB-52's (1 of each) with the fighter style flight deck, and I think up thru the B before it went to Wichita the early B-47's too.
It's also where the very first (4) 737's were stuck together before they moved up river to the 14-01 Thompson site which rumor control says the 37 might go back to when Renton is closed and the replacement for the 737 will probably go to Everett.

[deltascrew]

I hope they leave part of it standing.
I had no clue about the fake neighborhood on the roof of plant 2 during the war until reading the article.

http://www.taphilo.com/history/WWII/USA ... ndex.shtml

I wonder if it fooled the Japanese?

[The Inspector]

The camouflage actually was pretty effective, they even painted false streets and intersections on the runways so it looked like a big interchange from the air, until some Air Corps mid level weenie decided they needed to put up barrage balloons around the permieter of the field. Thet made the whole thing jell and you could tell it was a big airfield from about mid Idaho.
If you can find old photos of KBFI up into the late 60's, you can see the old gun butts that were on the South East corner of the field about where Clay Lacys place is now. Big tall cement three sided structure.

[The Inspector]

Late last night, Sept. 17/18 the Trans Canada Connie, T square 54, and the Richardson B-17F were rolled out of plant 2 and across E. Marginal Way So. to the ramp @ the MoF. The thre will be on display Saturday and Sunday before being moved to a hanger to continue the work on the Connie and the B-29 and to keep the B-17 out of the weather until funds can be raised to build a Large Aircraft Hall @ the MoF sometime in the future.

[snj-5]

Which hangar will they be moved to after the display this weekend?

Bela P. Havasreti

[The Inspector]

'They' conveniently failed to mention that part of the story on the local TV news but It would seem that the only available hanger big enough and secure enough would be the Boeing Flight Test hanger on the NW end of the field, pretty much everything along the East side is A) private/corporate or B) too small or C) both of the above.

[spookythecat]

As of about 7:00 Sunday night the Connie is in the Airpark by the 747, The B-17 is by the Museum Of Flight where the visiting bombers usually park and I found the B-29 tucked back by Galvin Flight. I got a few shots i'll try and post soon.

[spookythecat]

I spent the weekend in Portland and these are the best shots I could aquire passing the Museum on the way down and back.

As of about 10am Saturday morning Boeing Bee was parked where the touring bombers park by the Museum of Flight and the Connie was behind it. No idea where the B-29 was at this time.







On the way home we stopped by again to see if anything changed. The B-17 was in the same spot but the Connie had been moved over to the Airpark. Still no sign of the B-29.



While driving north along Boeing Field I noticed an unfamiliar set of props and a glint of silver on the other side of the runway. Lo and behold, the B-29 was parked over by Galvin Flying Service.





So there's an update as of 7pm Sunday the 19th. I have no idea what the current future holds for these aircraft but hopefully they'll get some cover soon!

[Pat Carry]

Hopefully the 3 planes will be under a roof again soon but it was nice they had a roof over them for as long as they did!