Missoula Neptune on display

[JohnB]

A friend sent me this link from 2017 about a Neptune fire bomber going on display at the Missoula airport.

https://missoulacurrent.com/outdoors/20 ... tanker-10/

Driving past the airport on I-90, I have not seen it, is it still there?

[Lon Moer]

Guessing this is it........

[Larry Kraus]

I was looking on Google Earth for Tanker 10 on display by the airport entrance in Missoula. No luck there, but I did find an interesting storage area that I wasn’t aware of. I worked out of Missoula fairly often while flying tankers on Fed contracts. The first time in B-17 Tanker 65 in 1976 and probably the last in DC-7 Tanker 62 in 2003.

The P-2 missing the right wing that Lon posted is probably Tanker 10. Maybe, somebody ran into it with a vehicle while it was on display? It’s in the lower center of the first picture near the approach end of Runway 29. The storage area is near the right center of the same picture near the Missoula Bible Church. In the second picture it looks like the aircraft are four P-2s and an F27.

387DC4C2-A2F0-4A35-BB35-F0B59448F7F0 by tanker622001, on Flickr

A2B57251-C0DF-42F3-9CD8-8E3C3E715700 by tanker622001, on Flickr

F35ABDAA-5871-4573-8AEE-6CB99B871E48 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Last edited by Larry Kraus on Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

[DaveG]

Is this the Neptune wing?

46°54'48.71" N 114°04'33.63" W

Attachments

[JohnB]

To avoid politics, I'll refrain from making a joke about the missing right wing.

[BigGrey]

I'll venture a guess that is Neptune's yard.

[Steven M. Dennis]

Hi John,

Tanker 10 was on display at the airport entrance when I stopped in Missoula in the summer of 2018. Can't say if she is still there today, but it was when I went through town.






Not sure why my photos won't show up. I've never been very good at attaching pics... (And I even tried following the directions.)

Steve

[Chris Brame]

You can do it! When you're posting, click on "Img":

WIX-12.jpg (49.11 KiB) Viewed 2876 times

Which gives you this:

WIX-13.jpg (44.38 KiB) Viewed 2876 times

Then open your Flickr image in a new tab. Right-click on the image and then left-click on "Copy image address":

WIX-14.jpg (82.45 KiB) Viewed 2876 times

Then go back to WIX, right-click and paste the image address between the Img brackets:

WIX-15.jpg (68.66 KiB) Viewed 2876 times

And you're good to go.

[Steven M. Dennis]

Thank you Chris,

Those are the exact steps I followed, so I must have some other setting messed up. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but I appreciate your help.

Steve

[Michel Lemieux]

DaveG....

Lot's of interesting stuff in that lot!!!

46.913672245138066, -114.07623333344178 On Google maps.

Have a look. What are the Navy blue straight wings on the left? TBM's?

[TAdan]

DaveG....

Lot's of interesting stuff in that lot!!!

46.913672245138066, -114.07623333344178 On Google maps.

Have a look. What are the Navy blue straight wings on the left? TBM's?

Seem too big for a TBM, I'd guess Neptune.

[JohnB]

DaveG....

Lot's of interesting stuff in that lot!!!

46.913672245138066, -114.07623333344178 On Google maps.

Have a look. What are the Navy blue straight wings on the left? TBM's?

Seem too big for a TBM, I'd guess Neptune.

Must be new spares or taken off a scrapped Neptune a long time ago, Neptunes were blue in the '50s...not often seen in the 60-70s.

[lucky52]

FYI,for what it's worth,passing through Missoula on 18 July and the Neptune out side the airport had the right wing on it.I was driving and didn't get a number of any kind on it.

[JohnB]

Thanks for the update. Nice to know if has both wings.

[N4073F]

Tanker 10 guards the main entrance to the MSO airport terminal.

As of a or so week ago, Tanker 12 was in Neptune’s hangar being prepped for permanent static display for an eventual move over to the MSO Smokejumper Base.

And.....on the other end of the state, we have Tanker 05 on permanent static display at the Glendive (GDV) airport. (I wash her regularly)