Douglas B-23 Dragon

[tom d. friedman]

it looks no worse for the wear. is it airworthy??

[TimAPNY]

That is sad to see her that way, at least she was in the hanger last time I saw her.

I was really hoping that was a very old picture, So what ahppened to the tail of it? someone drive into it?

[ww2John]

A few posts back, someone asked what we thought of the B23...

IMHO...

The Douglas Aircraft Company designed and built many successful aircraft for the Allies that served with distinction throughout all theatres of operation during WWII. The B23 Dragon was not one of them.

Like the 4 year old B18 Bolo it replaced when first built (ff July 27, 1939), the B23 was a victim of rapidly changing technology, accelerated later by the demands of the war. It was more or less based on the Douglas DC3 airliner.

As I understand it, one reason why the USAAC ordered any B23's was the price: At approximately $ 133,000.00 it was about half the cost of a (4 engine) B17 Flying Fortress...they could buy more B23 aircraft as a result. That comparison is really an apples and oranges thing, but, a full discussion of congressional appropriations in the 1930's is another whole subject unto itself.

I believe only 38 B23's were built and the more advanced North American B25 and Martin B36 (and yes, even the Douglas A-26) relatively quickly proved to be much more effective twin engine combat aircraft.

The B23 found several non-combat uses during WWII, including training and transport. I am sure that other WIX members could give you even more information about it's wartime service.

I have never spoken with a pilot who flew B23's and wonder just how well it handled (like it's relation the DC3/C47/C53, et al??).

Depending on which coast you live on, check out the examples at NMUSAF in Dayton, OH or Castle Air Museum in Merced, CA. Both are pretty accurate examples of the B23's military configuration. The NMUSAF B23 was in restoration as recently as last year (don't know if it is completed yet). The PIMA one is still in "civvies". and was not on public display two years ago...although you could just see it with a telephoto lens from the edge of the public area.

Not sure if this answers your questions or not...Hope it helps.

[dj51d]

The NMUSAF B23 was in restoration as recently as last year (don't know if it is completed yet)

The B-23 was not yet on display when I was there last month.

[Warbirdnerd]

No Dragon on display in Dayton last month but here is Feb 2000 shot of the PIMA example.

[Eureka181]

Here is Midland example...

Thanks for the pictures. Do you know what condition the engines are in? They should be R-2600s.

Eric

[Old Shep]

Guys:
Lots of interest in the Dragon! I wish you all were CAF members who would like to take her on. Re: is she airworthy? Not at all. She is simply stuck back together and there are fairings, etc that did not make it up from the Valley when we trucked her up to Midland. As I said in a previous post, she's about 90% complete. Re: the engines. They are old frozen up ones and the props are also non-airworthy ones we just stuck on. Re: the damage on the tail. The Dragon actually "flew" about a year and a half ago during a severe thunderstorm....broke the tie down ropes, jumped the chocks, and moved about five hundred feet tail first into the security gate. The gate was completely destroyed, and the Dragon's tail gunner's compartment (upon which we had actually done a considerable amount of restoration) was dinged up. The damage on the trailing edge of the wings was caused by a fork lift operator in Brownsville who decided to move it one day....not smart.
Again, y'all join the CAF, raise about 500K and take her under your wing!
Bill

[p51]

Here’s the McChord one. It’s sitting at their museum next to the BX and the Commissary:

Sorry that my Jeep is in the way, but it’s the only photo of that plane I have taken with my digital camera.

[airnutz]

Guys:
Lots of interest in the Dragon! I wish you all were CAF members who would like to take her on. Re: is she airworthy? Not at all. She is simply stuck back together and there are fairings, etc that did not make it up from the Valley when we trucked her up to Midland. As I said in a previous post, she's about 90% complete. Re: the engines. They are old frozen up ones and the props are also non-airworthy ones we just stuck on. Re: the damage on the tail. The Dragon actually "flew" about a year and a half ago during a severe thunderstorm....broke the tie down ropes, jumped the chocks, and moved about five hundred feet tail first into the security gate. The gate was completely destroyed, and the Dragon's tail gunner's compartment (upon which we had actually done a considerable amount of restoration) was dinged up. The damage on the trailing edge of the wings was caused by a fork lift operator in Brownsville who decided to move it one day....not smart.
Again, y'all join the CAF, raise about 500K and take her under your wing!
Bill

Sooo....how much for the old girl in cash? Keep in mind, that we'll drive
down to the Valley and gather-up the fairings and bits, do our own
disassembly and transport, be liable for and collect any debris falling off
which presents hazard to the public in said recovery, AND do our
damnedest to keep the Resto cost under 500k. We can call it the new,
new, new, WIX Project #1. What say yea, sir?

Edit: p51 you need to tweak your photo-link's not working..for me anyway.
But I did go to the other one....met R.Lee! cool!!!.Nice models too

[Wolverine]

Here's my survivors list....

Tear it apart as ya see fit...

B-23 39-031 SD Equadorian AF HC-APV
2717 Museum; Quito,
Equador

B-23 39-033 S Mike Bogue; N747M
2719 Oakland, CA, USA

B-23A 39-036 SD McChord AFB; N52327
2722 Tacoma, WA, USA

B-23 39-037 SD USAF Museum;
2723 Dayton, OH, USA

B-23 39-038 S CAF, Ghost N62G
2724 Squadron; Midland,
TX, USA

B-23 39-047 SD Castle Air Museum; N880L
2733 Atwater, CA, USA

UC-67 39-051 SD Pima Air & Space N534J
2737 Museum; Tucson,
AZ, USA

B-23 39-057 SD Fantasy of Flight; N4000B
2743 Polk City, FL, USA

UC-67 S SLAFCO; Moses N777LW
Lake, WA, USA

B-23 SD/P Tamiami, FL, USA fuselage only

10 B-23s in existence
7 are on static display
3 are in storage

As for the last one, I saw a pic of it on Airliners. It didn't look like Kermit's so I'm assuming it's a different one.

The Status thingy is my own creation, influenced by others.

[Oscar Duck]

Shame to see the CAF let their B-23 go like that. I flew it back in the late 70's at Harlingen.

[Eureka181]

Shame to see the CAF let their B-23 go like that. I flew it back in the late 70's at Harlingen.

How does the B-23 fly? Do you have any interesting stories about that specific B-23?

I'm sure everybody would like to know.

Eric

[TonyA]

B-23 39-057 SD Fantasy of Flight; N4000B
2743 Polk City, FL, USA

...

B-23 SD/P Tamiami, FL, USA fuselage only

...

As for the last one, I saw a pic of it on Airliners. It didn't look like Kermit's so I'm assuming it's a different one.

I think these two are are actually one and the same. The olive drab scheme picture on Airliners is how it was before Hurricane Andrew. Afterwards it was dismantled and later dismantled further and stripped of paint before moving to Polk City where the fuselage is stored outside with little change from the bare fuselage picture shown on Airliners.

[Robbie Stuart]

Oscar Duck, if you flew the B-23, I probably flew with you. I was the Crew Chief. Sure miss that ole gal! As far as how does it fly? Everyone I flew with loved it.
Regards
Robbie

[Wolverine]

Ah.

Thanks, Tony.