B-58 55-0666 - UPDATE!

[K5DH]

Congratulations! After hearing that the city of Fort Worth dropped the ball, I'm glad someone picked it up and ran it all the way in! It's wonderful news that "Triple Six" will be saved!

[Spectre_I]

Yeah! Great news. Maybe park it by the B-36 for a CONVAIR family gathering!

That would make a great spot. It'd be across from a B-47, KC-135, and nose toward the B-36. It'd also mean moving about 5 airplanes. Won't be my decision. We had an event last night coincidentally, and the official announcement was made.

Congratulations! After hearing that the city of Fort Worth dropped the ball, I'm glad someone picked it up and ran it all the way in! It's wonderful news that "Triple Six" will be saved!

I'm pretty happy. I did a bunch of work on the proposal. We came in second, oh well. This was an amazing surprise. Although Ft. Worth's loss is our gain, I can promise you she will be beautiful and well taken care of.

[markboss]

Great news!!
One of my favorite planes!

[deskpro590]

Whew...that's great news. Glad to hear she's being saved and going to a good home. Out of curiosity, what else is at Chanute that's at risk of seeing the scrap yard?

[Cvairwerks]

I was going to respond here, but decided a new thread was warranted. B-58 55-0666 will not be scrapped. It will be coming to its new home at Castle Air Museum. According to our head-honcho, this is a done-deal, signed, sealed and funded. We are working to get it here soon; hopefully sometime this summer. I'll keep everyone updated as progress is made.

Oh, and one last thing: Yes!

Something for you guys to consider....If you are going to display her with the engines installed, it will take some engineering work to devise a better wing attach repair than we had on the one in Fort Worth. As the wing is one assembly from tip to tip and there is no real easy way to disassemble the fuselage or the wing to transport it, you will have to cut it like we did. When the guys devised our cut, there were only two or three of the spars that had splices made for the reassembly. With the added weight of the engines, you will need to do more splicing and stronger splices to hold the wing sections together.

For towing purposes, we built a tow dolly out of a two axle trailer, deflated the nose strut completely and removed the nose wheels. We also made a stiff knee to prevent the nose gear from collapsing, should the drag strut or actuator have a failure. It towed nicely every time we moved it back and forth between Meacham and Carswell.

Moving a -58 is an adventure in engineering and logistics.

[ryguy135]

Maybe try just flying it there to save the hassle of cutting and splicing. It is an airplane after all

[Spectre_I]

I was going to respond here, but decided a new thread was warranted. B-58 55-0666 will not be scrapped. It will be coming to its new home at Castle Air Museum. According to our head-honcho, this is a done-deal, signed, sealed and funded. We are working to get it here soon; hopefully sometime this summer. I'll keep everyone updated as progress is made.

Oh, and one last thing: Yes!

Something for you guys to consider....If you are going to display her with the engines installed, it will take some engineering work to devise a better wing attach repair than we had on the one in Fort Worth. As the wing is one assembly from tip to tip and there is no real easy way to disassemble the fuselage or the wing to transport it, you will have to cut it like we did. When the guys devised our cut, there were only two or three of the spars that had splices made for the reassembly. With the added weight of the engines, you will need to do more splicing and stronger splices to hold the wing sections together.

For towing purposes, we built a tow dolly out of a two axle trailer, deflated the nose strut completely and removed the nose wheels. We also made a stiff knee to prevent the nose gear from collapsing, should the drag strut or actuator have a failure. It towed nicely every time we moved it back and forth between Meacham and Carswell.

Moving a -58 is an adventure in engineering and logistics.

Yeah, we took a lot of looks at that move. We're pretty sure we've got a good plan.

As a side, I don't think we're getting engines anyway. Something in 'em they don't want to transport. We'll have inlets, cowlings, exhausts etc. It'll be better for long term display without the added weight anyway. We're fairly certain on how we'll do the wings as well.

As far as moving it.... Ugh! We've moved larger, we'll cross that bridge when we have to. Thanks for the advice!

[Cvairwerks]

We were lucky when it happened, as the guy leading the project was one of the original lead tooling engineers for the B-58 program and knew the airframe inside and out and from every direction. The other guy was a Structural Analysis engineer on the program, so he knew it quite well too. Fun project...

[Spectre_I]

A visit to Castle is on my bucket list now!

Please contact me here before you come.

I visited your museum in June 2014, and saw 55-0666 at the Chanute museum twice. But I'm already looking forward to photographing it at Castle as soon as it's outside and ready!

I may have been there the day you visited! Next time, contact me first!

Heck, any of you planning a visit to Castle, please msg. me here prior. As with any museum, there's more to the museum than just the museum.

[Chris Brame]

Thanks Spectre - I will do so!
By the way, Curt Arsenau at Chanute mentioned to me that one of the other surviving B-58s had no engines and was balanced by filling the cockpit with cement - glad you guys are taking a more scientific approach!

[Spectre_I]

Thanks Spectre - I will do so!
By the way, Curt Arsenau at Chanute mentioned to me that one of the other surviving B-58s had no engines and was balanced by filling the cockpit with cement - glad you guys are taking a more scientific approach!

Oh, we've learned and we chain them down well. On windy days it's fun to go out and watch the wings move on the B-52...
Now there have been more than a few 55 gallon drums full of water in holds and cockpits for towing! A fun story:
We were moving an S-2 in and out of the hangar, simply to turn it around. We had the props off and it was so perfectly balanced the nose kept bouncing. I just so happened to have my son in with me that day, and he's a big kid. We stuck him in the cockpit (he couldn't fit without standing up, through the overhead window). It worked. One of our guys nicknamed him, "Ballast". He is called that to this day.