A request for a few big airplanes ...

[Mark Allen M]

... either taking off or landing. Here's a few in no particular order, type, configuration, date, reason etc. etc. ... just some good looking airplanes doing their 'thing'.

Part 1


B-25G/H I believe


RCAF Avro Lancaster KB851 Carrying 2 X Ryan Firebee Drones


Lockheed C-130A Hercules (sn 57-0455)


Lockheed RC-121C Warning Star


Martin XB-51 Dragon Panther prototype's.


Martin B-26F-1-MA (SN 42-96234) landing, taken on Feb. 4, 1946. (U.S. Air Force photo)


Martin PBM-5 Mariner


PB4Y-2 Privateer taking off with two ASM-N-2 Bat glide bombs attached. circa 1944-1946


Convair B-58 Hustler

A little liberty on these last two.


Nice view of a B-17 with what looks to be a Canadian registry?


NC-ANG Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar

[Malo83]

Love those flying boats.

[daviemax]

The B-17 is Kenting Aviation's B-17E registered CF-ICB serial 41-9210 which used it for photomapping assignments. For this purpose it was equipped with B-17G engines, turbo-superchargers, and propellers and routinely flew at 34,000 ft. Just yesterday I had the privilege of interviewing one of her pilots, Mr. Roger Hadfield, who gave many vivid descriptions of the rigors of missions over the Arctic and in South America. This aircraft survived subsequent ownership and is now in storage in Arlington, Washington.

[Mark Allen M]

Thanks for the info on the B-17, much appreciated.

Part 2


Boeing B-29 (U.S. Air Force photo)


Boeing B-29 of the 314th Bomb Wing, 29th Bomb Group, lands at North Field, Guam, in the Marianas. (U.S. Air Force photo)


Takeoff of North American B-45A-5-NA (SN 47-073) after conversion to B-45C standards. (U.S. Air Force photo)


North American XB-45 (SN 45-59479) as a test bed for rocket assisted take-off. Taken Sept. 24, 1958. (U.S. Air Force photo)


PBM Mariner doing a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) off Hawaii October 1944


Boeing XB-47 rocket-assisted take off on Dec. 31, 1948. (U.S. Air Force photo)

[daviemax]

Unidentified QB-17 being landed under NoLo conditions at Holloman AFB. Note both DB-17 and ground-control van in background. Date is unknown but likely in the 1953-56 period.

[Mark Allen M]

Part 3


B47 Landing


B-47 take off


Convair XB-36 in flight just after takeoff


Convair B-36J-75-CF (SN 52-2827, the last production B-36J). (U.S. Air Force photo)

[Snake45]

Your first picture is a B-25H. The H was basically a cannon-nosed J, while the G was essentially a cannon-nosed D.

[Nathan]

All the variety of aircraft that were never saved...........

[PropsRule]

The background on some of those photos is as interesting as the original subject. Check out the airliners parked at the terminal in the first B-45 shot!

Thank you again Mark Allen and daviemax for taking the time to post some great photos.

[daviemax]

You're welcome but really all I do is wallow in Mark's very substantial wake. . . .

[K5DH]

Convair B-36J-75-CF (SN 52-2827, the last production B-36J). (U.S. Air Force photo)

...known as "City of Fort Worth", and currently on display at Pima Air Museum in Tucson!

[Chris Brame]

Takeoff of North American B-45A-5-NA (SN 47-073) after conversion to B-45C standards. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Surprisingly, at least 51 of the 143 B-45s built suffered the same fate:

(image from millionmonkeytheater.com)
They were sent to bases in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Morocco (which is where 47-073 ended up) to be burnt for firefighting practice. I wonder why?

[daviemax]

Thanks again to Mark for initiating this thread. Here is a photo of another B-17, 43-37746, this time taking off on a cloud-seeding mission when assigned to weather research projects. This particular B-17 had an unusual operational history; it was first slated to be used for performance testing calibration at Wright Field but for various reasons these were not completed until mid-1945, so it never went into combat. After being assigned to weather research for several years it ended its days as a target in the Tumbler-Snapper atomic tests conducted April-June 1952. For these she was parked with 44-83722 (parts of which were salvaged and are being incorporated into the restoration of 44-85813 now underway in Urbana, Ohio).

[wendovertom]

I cannot help but wonder how it felt to be in a mariner or B-47 during those JATO take offs! I'll bet it was awesome!

Tom P.

[daviemax]

Here is another B-17G, landing. ID of aircraft is open as of now, as is location. Large number '74' on nose (which does not appear to be part of aircraft serial number) suggests this may be a TB used for four-engine transition training.