Warbird Information Exchange

Lots of Aluminum down there ...







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And a lot of Aluminum left there ...

We also used those same "keyhole" parking spots in Europe in the C-130, although we typically pulled straight in and then used reverse thrust to back out. I imagine a B-17 could unlock the tailwheel and pivot around.

The junkyard photo is amazing. Helps explain why these birds are so valuable today.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Amazing photos! What would happen to that pile of scrap? Would it all have been dumped at sea?

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Cut into ever-smaller pieces and carted away for melting down I'd assume. Then dumped at Nikumaroro Atoll.

On the scrap piles, often they doused them with gasoline and burned them down to residual slag. The B-29’s had many losses due to engine fires and other engine problems. Surprising to see a Douglas C-54 as they were a great design with great engines and a nosewhel. Interesting to know how it was lost. There’s a photo out there with a trench full of Sikorsky R-4 helicopters. The story is that 5hey were assembled, a few guys tried to fly them and quickly crashed them and then all of them were shoved in the trench to get rid of them

On the scrap piles, often they doused them with gasoline and burned them down to residual slag. The B-29’s had many losses due to engine fires and other engine problems. Surprising to see a Douglas C-54 as they were a great design with great engines and a nosewhel. Interesting to know how it was lost. There’s a photo out there with a trench full of Sikorsky R-4 helicopters. The story is that 5hey were assembled, a few guys tried to fly them and quickly crashed them and then all of them were shoved in the trench to get rid of them

On the scrap piles, often they doused them with gasoline and burned them down to residual slag. The B-29’s had many losses due to engine fires and other engine problems. Surprising to see a Douglas C-54 as they were a great design with great engines and a nosewhel. Interesting to know how it was lost. There’s a photo out there with a trench full of Sikorsky R-4 helicopters. The story is that 5hey were assembled, a few guys tried to fly them and quickly crashed them and then all of them were shoved in the trench to get rid of them

Let's not just focus on the aircraft...though a fleet of B-29s is certainly impressive.
Those are just the "tip of the spear" of a vast industrial program.
Think of the new factories built to assemble the aircraft in Kansas, Nebraska, Georgia, (Renton was already built)...the Dodge engine plant in Chicago, all the sub assemblies, many in car factories.
Then think of the training wprequired, pilots, flight crew, maintainers,...and the bases that had to be built for those functions.

Then the effort and lives to capture the islands to base them and the huge infrastructure to launch and support operations....hospitals, power, communication, housing, food, recreation (I've read there were ice factories and Coke bottling plants).

It has been said the B-29 program was the most expensive effort of the war (though I'd wonder what items they attributed to the '29 that would have been done regardless)...even more than the Manhattan project.

So, in the big picture, there is a lot more to the top photo than an airbase and aircraft.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Great pics! Interesting to see P-61's in both black and NMF finishes. Also it looks like the B-24's are assembly ships. Thanks for posting.

I strongly suspect those were olive drab rather than NMF. Early widders were OD over Neutral Gray.

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I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.

C-54 and GUM in the appropriate boxes.https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/dbSearchAF55.asp

450403 C-54 _ _ _ 244 AT[parked aircraft] _ Depot Fld
450507 C-54B 43-17132 _ 1537AFBU Hamilton Fld SWPW [parked aircraft] _ Harmon Fld
450606 C-54E 44-9046 _ 1503AAFBU Hamilton Fld ATC [parked aircraft] _ Harmon Fld
450807 C-54E 44-9046 _ 1503AAFBU Hamilton Fld ATC Barton, James K_ Harmon Fld
450826 C-54 42-72666 _ 1503AAFBU Hamilton Fld ATC Tomei, Otto Q _ Harmon Fld
451118 C-54D 42-72664 _ _ _ AT Carlisle, Joseph E _ Harmon Fld
451212 C-54E 44-9033 _ 1503AAFBU Hamilton Fld ATC Finley, David H _ Harmon Fld
460305 C-54G 45-0522 _ 1503BU San Francisco AF, CA _ Haium, George C _ Harmon Field, GUM
460710 C-54D 43-17229 _ CIV Ontario, CA _ Jamison, Thomas L _ Harmon Field, GUM

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45-47=-2

Apparently, there were P-61s in the Marianas before the Japanese Special Duty attacks of late '44 -early '45, but their numbers were increased after the raids.
Still, a NMF night fighter is odd. It makes one wonder if they weren't used for daylight standing "picket" patrols.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Unlikely those are NMF P-61’s. More likely there were Olive Drab and Grey. With the OD being sun bleached a bit.

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“PMURT KCUF”

Look very closely at the C-54's nose and you can see "26..." - that narrows it down to two; then checking AAIR shows 42-72666 had a landing accident at Itami AFB October 7, 1952. Then Baugher shows it went to MASDC on April 21, 1966; that seems to leave 42-72664 as the most likely suspect. AAIR shows the accident as "CBL" - Crash, Belly Landing.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

This one was a hack for a general whose name escapes me right now:

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)