Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:23 am
definetely labor intensive!!!
Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:43 am
Nice to see work is progressing on it. I look forward to seeing it complete and restored some day.
Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:54 pm
This is going to be one huge restoration job!
Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:20 pm
They are going to keep it outside right? (Since the next hanger will be for the Presidential and Experimental aircraft?)
I remember seeing the the wing tips in the restoration hangers and thinking how big they are... then I realized just that... they were JUST the wing tips!
I remember seeing the the wing tips in the restoration hangers and thinking how big they are... then I realized just that... they were JUST the wing tips!
Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:52 pm
i would hope so!!! it's 1 of a kind!!!
Wed Nov 15, 2006 4:57 pm
Actually the next building to be constructed there in Dayton will be for the presidential aircraft and for the space related objects. Dont look for the XC-99 to be restored for quite a number of years. Who knows by then there might even be yet another building constructed to house the XC-99.
Wed Nov 15, 2006 6:50 pm
Hi the current plan is to have it displayed opposite the B-36 in the cold war hangar, no plans for an outside display. 
Thanks Mike
Thanks Mike
Wed Nov 15, 2006 6:58 pm
What will they do with the B-2 and the rest of the planes that are there currently? 
XC-99
Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:01 pm
Ah, the XC-99! Definitely a favorite of mine!
Many years ago, I visited the XC-99 when she was on display outside Kelly AFB in San Antonio. My first thought when I saw her was, "Gee whiz, what a HUGE airplane!" She was sitting in a fenced-in compund just across the perimeter road that runs around the base. The "grass" in the compound was about 3 feet high. I almost stepped on a freakin' rattlesnake as I was backing up to try to get that huge airplane to fit in my 28mm wide-angle lens! Fortunately the snake woke up and sounded off when I was still one footstep away. I froze right where I was (with one boot up in the air!) and let him slither away. I watched over my shoulder to see which way he went, and I moved off the opposite way!
There was a young guy there as an attendant. He charged me $1.00 to go up inside the airplane, which I gladly paid. Did I mention what a HUGE airplane the XC-99 is? In the words of my late hero, Steve Irwin: "Crikey, mates!" Sadly, the flight deck was totally devoid of anything removable, the work of vandals and souvenir hunters over many years of virtual abandonment. Otherwise, the plane was very complete inside. The magnesium skin sections had corroded away to almost nothing. I could see daylight through the upper surface of the wing when I climbed up inside it. The wing must have been as thick as I am tall. Have I mentioned how HUGE that beastie is?
I was apalled at the XC-99's horrible condition. The small band of volunteers who tried to care for her were no match for the ravages of time and vandals and the lack of financial support. I remember writing an angry letter to Air Classics, which they published. It probably didn't do any good, but I felt a little better because at least I tried to stir up some interest.
Anyway, I was thrilled to hear that she was going to the Air Force Museum, where she'd truly be restored and cared for. I really look forward to seeing pictures of her when she's finished and on display.
I guess I need to dig out my photos and scan them. They're not very good, but perhaps worth seeing anyway.
Many years ago, I visited the XC-99 when she was on display outside Kelly AFB in San Antonio. My first thought when I saw her was, "Gee whiz, what a HUGE airplane!" She was sitting in a fenced-in compund just across the perimeter road that runs around the base. The "grass" in the compound was about 3 feet high. I almost stepped on a freakin' rattlesnake as I was backing up to try to get that huge airplane to fit in my 28mm wide-angle lens! Fortunately the snake woke up and sounded off when I was still one footstep away. I froze right where I was (with one boot up in the air!) and let him slither away. I watched over my shoulder to see which way he went, and I moved off the opposite way!
There was a young guy there as an attendant. He charged me $1.00 to go up inside the airplane, which I gladly paid. Did I mention what a HUGE airplane the XC-99 is? In the words of my late hero, Steve Irwin: "Crikey, mates!" Sadly, the flight deck was totally devoid of anything removable, the work of vandals and souvenir hunters over many years of virtual abandonment. Otherwise, the plane was very complete inside. The magnesium skin sections had corroded away to almost nothing. I could see daylight through the upper surface of the wing when I climbed up inside it. The wing must have been as thick as I am tall. Have I mentioned how HUGE that beastie is?
I was apalled at the XC-99's horrible condition. The small band of volunteers who tried to care for her were no match for the ravages of time and vandals and the lack of financial support. I remember writing an angry letter to Air Classics, which they published. It probably didn't do any good, but I felt a little better because at least I tried to stir up some interest.
Anyway, I was thrilled to hear that she was going to the Air Force Museum, where she'd truly be restored and cared for. I really look forward to seeing pictures of her when she's finished and on display.
I guess I need to dig out my photos and scan them. They're not very good, but perhaps worth seeing anyway.
Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:17 am
You can see some of the parts of the XC-99 that have arrived at the NMUSAF so far in the background of the pictures I posted here.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9644
Shay
____________
Semper Fortis
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9644
Shay
____________
Semper Fortis
Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:48 pm
I can remember climbing though it with nobody around it, just the A/C and no fence. You climb for ever in the tail section.
Lynn
Lynn