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Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:12 pm

The B-24 looks brand new. The cockpit work looks great. Where did this plane come from?

Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:20 pm

FlyingFortB17 wrote:The B-24 looks brand new. The cockpit work looks great. Where did this plane come from?


It was an Alaskan Wreck.
The registry page for this bird:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b24regis ... 23908.html

Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:16 pm

Jeez-------I sure would like to see some of these gov't museum pieces restored to airworthy condition and BACK FLYING! Particularly ones like that B-24, B-29, and P-47!

Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:46 pm

How cool would it be to see a B-47 fly? It would be an awesome sight to see its rocket-assisted takeoff.

Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:23 pm

Warbirdnerd wrote:
FlyingFortB17 wrote:The B-24 looks brand new. The cockpit work looks great. Where did this plane come from?


It was an Alaskan Wreck.
The registry page for this bird:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b24regis ... 23908.html
Restored by Ed Kaleta in the San Diego area as I recall.

Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:49 pm

That B-24 restoration is a bit decieving - Kal-Aero did a lot of the work and it is excellent but the air frame is essentially nothing more than that - an airframe with "window dressing" - as far as I have been told.

I had the opportunity to climb in the B-29 a couple of years ago - it isn't in too bad of shape - the turrets are about ready to give way due to corrosion and the tunnel is shot but other than that the flight deck is in good shape. I was unable to see the back half.

Tom P.

Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:55 pm

Interesting that their restoration page does not list their B26 Martin Marauder (7th survivior), also pulled out of AL.

The "collections" area indicates it is in "restoration".

http://www.hill.af.mil/museum/photos/wwii/b-26.htm

Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:10 pm

The P-47 looks like the former Peruvian example which was up for sale a couple of years ago. I seem to remember that it looked great from a distance, but was rife with corrosion. I guess that would explain why so much skin was removed during the restoration process. It's great to see these airframes being put into presentable shape though. I am sure that they will be more thoroughly restored as time goes by, but it makes for a great destination to see some unusual aircraft.

Cheers. R.

Re: Hill AFB Museum restoration updates

Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:29 am

Sasnak wrote:The Hill A.F.B museum has finally updated the restoration page on their website to include fairly recent updates for several specific aircraft, including:

B-24


On their website, the most recent pictures of the B-24 are from October 2002. Not much has changed in the last three years. Here's a few pictures taken in October 2005.
Dennis

Image

Image

Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:47 am

I wish they could display the B-29 under cover, it appears to be suffering from some serious corrosion.

Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:18 am

Does anyone have any pictures of the B-24 before it was restored?

Cheers. R.

B24

Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:55 am

What an odd looking shade of green on the 24?

Re: B24

Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:02 pm

peter wrote:What an odd looking shade of green on the 24?
Alaskan Green :D :lol:
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