C-54 "Spirit of Freedom" / C-97 "Angel of Deliverance" News!

[Airlift48]

http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/BAHF2022.pdf

Lots of big news regarding our 'new' C-54D and our C-97G!!

Enjoy!

[Pat Carry]

Great info!

[sandiego89]

That is great! I hope to see the C-97 fly!

[happymeal]

What that team has been doing over the years and keep doing... I have no word...

[Noha307]

What are the plans for the airframes at Greybull? I am aware of a number of cases where aircraft were purchased solely for the engines and after they were removed aircraft were just dumped or scrapped. My concern is that the same thing would happen in this case. (Not that their future was bright before.) Would it be possible to transport the inoperative engines back to Greybull to hang them on the 97's there to make them at least externally complete? Something like what was done with Tallichet's B-24, Aviodrome's Connie, or Fairview's PBY?

I was going to suggest that one of the aircraft go to the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting, but I see that they already purchased 52-0918/N97HP back in July. I also see that 52-2698/N1365N is noted as "[f]ully restored to airworthy, waiting on a crew" in the caption of a picture on Aerial Visuals, so I figure it is not one of the four either. This leaves:

• 52-2761/N29862
• 52-2965/N29866 (fitted with the tail of 52-2680)
• 53-0208/N397HP
• 53-0265/N497HP
• 53-0350/N972HP

The latter three were up for auction in July, so I assume that these were the ones involved. Could you provide the identities of the aircraft BAHF purchased?

Could the engines be loaded onto the C-54 and ferried to where they need to go? I'm almost certain it's not possible for a number of cost/logistics reasons, but I had to ask.

I'd love to see BAHF's C-97 fly overhead someday, so best of luck to you!

[Airlift48]

We purchased 3 airframes from B&G. Tanker 97 and two KC-97L's ( C-97G N1367N, KC-97L N29862 and KC-97L N29866) We will be harvesting them for their spare parts as needed to keep our C-97 (N117GA) airworthy. What happens to them afterwards has not been decided yet. What's important here is to keep one flying, rather than them just rotting away in Wyoming further deteriorating. (I was really surprised at how much they deteriorated in the 20 years since I saw them last. )

Tanker 97 has not flown for many years, and has not been run in quite some time either. These airframes are not in "add gas and fly away" condition by any means. Certainly not "waiting for a crew".... (Maybe in 2016, but its 2022 now)

The auction airplanes are not the lot we purchased. Those are owned by a scrapper and are really in poor condition.

I understand your concern, but is it better to have 3 airplanes turn to dust in the desert and one rot away in Pennsylvania rather than keep one airworthy and on display at events around the country? You want to see BAHF's airplane fly? Without good engines, that doesnt happen. As I mentioned in the newsletter, there are no other options for parts but this.

As far as the disposal of the airframes when complete, we will try to do something to conserve as much as we can, but The Museum of Flight would have to be 1. Interested, and 2. Fund the recovery.

The C-54 is just not big enough for hauling C-97 Power Packs and that would be extremely costly. Not to mention, you'd have to rip out the museum interior to do so. That is not an option, unfortunately.

Kevin

[Noha307]

We purchased 3 airframes from B&G. Tanker 97 and two KC-97L's ( C-97G N1367N, KC-97L N29862 and KC-97L N29866) We will be harvesting them for their spare parts as needed to keep our C-97 (N117GA) airworthy. What happens to them afterwards has not been decided yet. What's important here is to keep one flying, rather than them just rotting away in Wyoming further deteriorating. (I was really surprised at how much they deteriorated in the 20 years since I saw them last. )

Thanks for the detailed answers! I know guys like Ruud Leeuw, Ralph M. Pettersen, and Aad van der Voet will as well, since I they like to keep track of stuff like that and solid, reliable information can be hard to come by. I also know that my questions could be seen as rather pointed and some people would have just ignored them, so I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Tanker 97 has not flown for many years, and has not been run in quite some time either. These airframes are not in "add gas and fly away" condition by any means. Certainly not "waiting for a crew".... (Maybe in 2016, but its 2022 now)

I'll admit I was skeptical of that statement myself, it was just something I pulled off the Aerial Visuals dossier. It did seem to be in the best condition of the bunch though.

The auction airplanes are not the lot we purchased. Those are owned by a scrapper and are really in poor condition.

I guess I should have expected that given that 53-0208/N397HP had its guts ripped out. Any chance they might let you buy some parts?

I understand your concern, but is it better to have 3 airplanes turn to dust in the desert and one rot away in Pennsylvania rather than keep one airworthy and on display at events around the country? You want to see BAHF's airplane fly? Without good engines, that doesnt happen. As I mentioned in the newsletter, there are no other options for parts but this.

I know you can't save 'em all and that sometimes you have to make hard decisions. I'm glad someone is going to get some use out of them, as this is certainly a better outcome than the path they had been on.

It occurred to me that, at the moment, BAHF currently owns no less than of 6 four engine airplanes. Managing all of that metal is no mean feat. I guess what I'm saying is that you've been able to pull any of this off is a credit to the organization.

As far as the disposal of the airframes when complete, we will try to do something to conserve as much as we can, but The Museum of Flight would have to be 1. Interested, and 2. Fund the recovery.

If it comes down to it, would you be able to raise some money by selling parts as souvenirs? The only other thing I could think of is pulling the cockpit off, since I understand KC-97s are popular for that (1, 2, 3).

The C-54 is just not big enough for hauling C-97 Power Packs and that would be extremely costly. Not to mention, you'd have to rip out the museum interior to do so. That is not an option, unfortunately.

That's exactly what I figured.

[TAdan]

Great news for both aircraft. I visited the C-97 at the MAAM back in November and saw the offending engine had been removed.

Glad to hear you have made a deal for the aircraft and spares in Greybull. Looking forward to seeing both the C-54 and 97 at WWII weekend next summer.

[exhaustgases]

All it takes is $ of course. I think saving the airframes is very important, and to do what can be done to keep corrosion at bay and some people. Just like what happened to the C-54 could happen to the C-97, having a stand by airframe would be a good thing. Also good ready made airframe parts are much better than trying to fabricate something when needed. Too bad there isn't a super nice sponsor at that airport with a nice unused hanger to store them for you. And yes the weather has to be better in Greybull than on the east coast with the massive storms etc. It will not be a very good deal to haul a bunch of parts to the east and just let them sit out in the weather either. Hope you have some containers to keep such things in.
Great news, will be nice to see the big bird flying again and making beautiful music at the same time.

[Airlift48]

Of course. We have a good deal at GEY to store the stuff out there, and bring what's necessary out East as needed. Yes, containers are something we are looking into.

KK

[lucky52]

How about a one time flight to Arizona where they will last a little longer.

[CAPFlyer]

There is a common misconception that Greybull is bad for storage. In fact, it's nearly as dry overall as Arizona, averaging only 7 inches of precipitation a year. While there is snow, you're still talking about humidity levels even in the height of summer not being more than about 40% on average. For comparison, Goodyear, AZ gets ~9 inches of precip a year and its max humidity during the summer is almost 60% in August, which is also its rainiest month.

[lucky52]

Thanks Capflyer,that is good news.

[exhaustgases]

How is the weather where the 2 planes are at, it looks like the east coast is getting hammered.

[Airlift48]

It was ok. The C-54 is in Monroe, NC right now and the 97 is in Reading.