Warbird Information Exchange

Here are some photos my dad took of a Martin B-57 Canberra SN 55-4290 at Casper, Wyoming.


Note that many of the WWII buildings and barracks are intact in the background.


Note that four of the original WWII Casper Air Field hangars are in this photo.

cadet77
Larry

You continue to amaze me with these heretofore unseen cold war era photos your father took. Thanks, and keep them coming if you can!

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Greg Spahr
USAF veteran 1990-1994

Yes, those photos are great. I'm still blown away with how many of the WWII structures were still on the Base in '59. Most AAF fields had a huge portion of the buildings sold off via auctions and RFC/WAA sales far before this time. This is great stuff for me!

Scott

my friend's b-57 canopy blew off while on a flight over japan in the late 50's!! what a story!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I think those four hangars (and the sub-depot) are still standing--at least they appear to be the original structures in the overhead photos I've seen. Casper is a good bit like Wendover in that many of the original WWII buildings are still standing on their original foundations.

Scott

I feel that I should clarify the above quote since we spent some time at Casper last week. After tramping around the grounds it seems that the two closest hangars to where the B-57 is parked are still on the field but the two further away are no longer standing. If I'm correct the hangar nearest the camera is used by FedEx and the next one is Jim Good's hangar. I spent some time visiting with two fellows who've worked at the Casper airport for long enough to remember two WWII hangars burning down and that one hangar stood where the current terminal is situated. That would be the farthest away hangar in the vintage shot.

Here's a photo I took from the west perimeter fence.



The blue hangar is Jim Good's, the other three large ones are used by FBOs and the freight carrier. The sub-depot is the dark red hangar on the far horizon at the left of the picture. Until I acquire a Corps of Engineers building key or base layout map I won't be exactly certain, but it appears that Casper AAF had seven (or possibly eight) of the smaller hangars and the one sub-depot.

S

Good photo of the hangars on the field. Thanks.

All five of the original hangars are still at the airport in Casper. The ones shown in the photo with the B-57 are hangars 1 through 4. Hangar 1 is furthest from the B-57, the Jim Good hangar. Hangars 2 through 4 were Dutch Warner's hangars. Hangar 5 on the east end of the ramp at the time of the photo was the Wyoming Air Guard hangar.

There are now additional hangars on the field. The color of the old hangars has changed because of replacement of exterior siding.

No original hangars have been lost to fire.
There was a fuel truck on the ramp in front of hangar 3 that was set on fire by an arsonist.

cadet77

Well, that's better information than I got from the two guys I visited with! I suspected that there might have been more than the "normal" 2AF layout of five hangars by studying the spacings of the existing hangars and using Liberal and Alliance as a partial guide to what might have been done at Casper. Some of the pilot transition schools and the glider/paratroop training stations had more hangars than the standard bombardment training bases. I'm overjoyed to know that all the original hangars are still in good repair, especially on an active airport. My apologies for "expanding" the flight line beyond the Corps design, and thanks for the information.

Scott

And, as a postscript to my erroneous babbling, I started opening boxes of 2AF stuff I've acquired over the years. I had forgotten that I had small copies of the layouts of all 2AF fields. These were part of a survey done in 1944 during the B-29 training expansion. Each airfield was examined to determine suitability for the B-29 scheme. Casper was found unsatisfactory since none of the hangars was designed for the Superfortress or B-32, not to mention its importance in the B-24 crew training plan.


As Cadet77 stated, there are four small hangars and the sub-depot, exactly what's there today.

Sorry for mixing this all up,
Scott

Thanks for posting the base layout.

While doing some surfing last night on the web I found this link to the Wyoming Museum in Cheyenne that has some info on Casper:

http://wyomuseum.state.wy.us/Exhibits/Aviation.asp

Cheyenne had a Boeing facility that added mods to B-17s during WWII.

Casper had mostly B-24 Bombers while operating as a training base.

cadet77

Larry, what is your Dad's name, as surely we must recognize the Photographer as well as your collection.
I am glad he had the forsight to take pictures during his hitch(es).
thanks for sharing the pictures.

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Scott et al,

This is my first WIX post as I just found this forum while Googling the heck out of Casper Army Air Base/Field. I am the director of the Wyoming Veterans' Memorial Museum. This museum is housed in the Enlistedmen's Service Club smack dab in the center of the old Bomber Base. We also serve as the State's repository and historic hub for the historic property.

I'll wade in on the discussion below:

Yes, all five original hangars are still intact and in service. In fact, we still have about 90 of the original 400 buildings still standing here. The base trained B-17 crews from September '42 through about April '43, when the 2nd AF transitioned to B-24s.

At the museum, we have an exhibit that features numerous photos and artifacts from the Base. We tell a lot of stories about the place. Judging by what anyone can find in written history or on the web, it would seem the place was drab and short-lived. Well, short-lived is correct but man was this place hoppin from September '42 through March '45.

In that short two and a half years, between 16,000 and 20,000 bomber crewmen trained here; 90 crashes with 130 fatalities. The base had an armaments school, power turret school (touted for a time as best in the 2nd AF, for you Scott), flight engineer school, and I have even seen a picture with the four celestial navigation towers. It had 4 bombing ranges an air to ground range, and a huge air to air range, all located in central Wyoming. Any given month they would expend over 1,000,000 .50 cal rounds...according to official base-ops reports.

The base had a great relationship with Casper. It had a cadre of around 3,000 personnel any given day and that population bumped up to 6,000 in one personnel strength report from '44. Casper at that time was only around 15,000 folks. The base had local and regional 2nd AF competetive sports teams in baseball, basketball, and football. There was even an annual follies held at the high school in Casper.

Heck, we even had one of the USAAF's only pararescue jumpers based here. We also had one WASP - Doris Bristol. The base was commanded by an interesting line up of commanders who had combat experience from the Mexican Punitive Expedition, through WWI, one 15th AF BG commander, and LTC William Lewis who was a 19th BG pilot who flew part of MacArthur's staff off of Mindanao just before the Phillippines surrender.

This base served as an Air National Guard Permanent Training Site for Fighter Squadrons and Air Base units from 1946 through about 1961. We have pics of F-51s, T-33s, and F-86s on the tarmac, just as the Canberra you posted. In fact, we still get military aircraft out here at least monthly: UH-1s (USAF), UH-60s (WY ANG), C-17s, F-22s, B-1s to name a few.

To wrap this blurb up, we are in the throes of writing the Air Base history into a concise and lovely coffee table book, rich with photos and stories - hopefully I can remember to post when we publish.

Come on up to Casper and visit the museum, Tues-Sat, 9-4. Lastly, we even have one of General Uzal Ent's pilot's badges on exhibit.

Scott, I would love to share 2nd AF info with you.

If there any images you all would like to see I can look through our archives.

Best Regard's

John

Casper Army AB/ Wy Folks/Mr. J. Goss:
Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum Folks:
C.C Tanker336

Dear Fiends:

Thanks for the info/data on Casper WY Army AB & the B-57 Camberra Picture. I'm seeking assistance with the following:

To the left side of the tower in the previous picture of Casper Bldgs (taken from the fence) there is a brown bldg where the poss Aerocare LLC Co is located. I'm extremely interested in photos at different angles & close-ups of the Lockheed Electra L-188A reg C-GNPB, currently parked at their ramp while on a ferry flight to Calgarry/Reed Deer Area in Canada.

The aircraft is due to depart sometimes next Friday 1/6/2012 if all goes well with the A/P folks at Casper. In turn, I'll be glad to assist with logistics expenses for the time & attention for the pictures. The favor will be forever appreciated. L-188 Buff!!

Plz contact me via PM or at ----->gaviota6192003@yahoo.com for more details.

Thanks in advance for the time & atention

What engines did the Martin variant use as opposed to the RR Avons that the Brits used? How difficult would it be to convert one over. I'm asking because it looks like the Martin B-57s might have used an electric or pneumatic starter instead of the cartridge starter.

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

The American engine was the Wright J-65, which used cartridge starters. My family lived near Louisville, KY, from mid 1963 through late 1966. My Dad took me out to the KY ANG base (was it at Bowman Field or Standiford Field? I can't recall) on an open house day. At that time KY ANG were flying RB-57As. They started up a whole line of them simultaneously in front of the crowd! The noise and smoke were overwhelming. I know Dad shot some slides that day, but I've never been able to locate them.

EDIT: Further research tells me that the aircraft were RB-57B's, and the base was at Standiford Field.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

I believe the ANG base was originally at Bowman, as I've seen pictures of 50s-era ANG aircraft (F-80, T-33, F-84) at Bowman. Obviously, at some point the ANG was moved to Standiford, where it is today. Maybe they were located at both?