Strategic Air & Space Museum "WARNING IMAGE HEAVY"

[sandiego89]

Any sign of the Vulcan?

I Google Map'ed the place to see where it is, and saw the Vulcan out by the B-1.

And some map programs like bing maps show it gone- depending on the date of the overhead. So I was wondering if the Vulcan is now inside. It looks like there are two large hangers, but all the photos that drop posted seem to be of one hanger. So is the other hangar storage/workshops?

I have never understood why the B-1A wasn't kept in it's original overall white paint scheme, as it was while it was at WP.

Leon

B-1A 74-0174 sure looked ratty when I saw here outside the Dayton Museum decades ago. Very chipped and faded white, cracked rubber wing gloves, and she didn't even start when I pushed her alert scramble button on her nose gear! . I beleive she wore white opon delivery, and then the attractive brown/tan when she went on a Europe trip and I beleive arrived at Dayon with that paint. She then went back to white for outside display. Think she must have been repainted prior to moving to the SAC museum @2008. She also got a lot of the "B" modifications, so the "correct" paint for her could be up to a gentlemans debate. Is she an A, a look alike B? I think the white is the best look for an A, but on outside display in the harsh Nebraska weather the cammo might be best color for long term.

[dropctune]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't replied to this sooner but I haven't been on in a while and for some reason haven't been receiving email notifications of comments. All the pics are from both hangars. Here's a link to a pdf of the layout. When the B-29 came out of the restoration bay the Vulcan got kicked outside. Not sure what the plan is. If I go back out there anytime soon I'll do some snooping around.

http://www.sasmuseum.com/wp-content/upl ... p_2015.pdf

[Ken]

Great thread, thanks!

[eze240]

The B-1 went to Wright in the "Euro 1" paint scheme... dark greens, like the B models...
Only wore white when delivered for the initial test program, got the sand scheme well before the Paris air show trip...
It should have tail cones like a B model, as it was equipped with all the attack and defensive systems...
Since it was number 4, it was a hybrid of A&B... having ejection seats, rather than a capsule system,etc...

[CAPFlyer]

The B-1A #4 is an interesting case, especially when it comes to its paint. Remember that the aircraft didn't enter assembly until August 1975, almost a year after the first flight of the #1 aircraft. If we look at earlier Bomber programs, #4 would've been called the YB-1A, with the prior 3 being the XB-1A. It was the first to have a full offensive and defensive avionics suite and the final production tooling for assembly. It also didn't fly until after the program had been cancelled. It got painted into the Desert Sand scheme as part of the installation of the Crosseye ECM system from 1979 thru 1981. In 1984 when the B-1B program was announced, #2 and #4 were initially flown in their existing paint, but were both painted into the Strategic Grey scheme in the late summer of 1984 (overall gunmetal grey). It was only after the crash of #2 that #4 received the European One scheme. Placing the plane in the original Strategic White for the B-1A #4 while at Wright Patt made sense though because the plane was sporting a pointed tailcone after its original blunt one was loaned to Rhome AFB for radar testing and the one they had on the radar test article was put on #4.

Personally, I think only the 2 Strategic schemes are correct for the airplane as it sits now, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it in the European One scheme either. I'd love for it to be in the Desert scheme, but without the dorsal spine, it just won't be quite right to me.

[eze240]

I had wondered why the tail cones were different....it was my understanding that the number 1 aircraft was disassembled and shipped to Rome for use in radar tests.... so, the new tail cones must have come from number 1. I wonder how much is left of number 1?
It was also my understanding that number 4 was completed after the initial program was cancelled....there were supposed to be several more prototypes, which were all cancelled...there was a bit of political wrangling and some money was shifted to keep a limited program going while they waited for the administration to change...thus allowing the completion of number 4.
By that point, it had been decided to lose the escape capsule for ejection seats....change to fixed non moving engine inlets, etc...
I tend to like the desert sand paint scheme best, but white would work as well.