Static Prop planes, drones and Hueys at Lackland AFB

[John Kerr]

Ref the A-26. Yes it is A-26C, 44-35918, ex FAH-510.
The N # was N2781C and here is a picture of it at
Kelly AFB, TX before being placed on display. Photo taken
on 1-8-83. Photo taken by John R. Kerr

[Taylor Stevenson]

I sure hate to see them outside...

[phil65]

Whats with the black windows? Is it painted on for inside protection from the sun or just to keep us from looking in?

[B-29 Super Fort]

What's the registration number on the B-29 at Lackland, I didn't see it listed in the Warbird Registry?

[Obergrafeter]

It is 44-62220 that was at the main entrance to Kelly AFB. For you that have never been here Kelly and Lackland are adjacent and when Brac closed down Kelly, most of its static display aircraft were moved across the fence to Lackland, which does not have any runways.

[RyanShort1]

For some context, the aircraft pictured can be seen in their context from these shots:



http://www.freewebs.com/shortadventures/WIXpix/Aerial1.png
http://www.freewebs.com/shortadventures/WIXpix/Aerial2.png
http://www.freewebs.com/shortadventures/WIXpix/Aerial3.png

Ryan

[JBoyle]

The UH-1H is incorrectly painted. The USAF only bought 30 HH-1H models for local crash rescue...and they were all in gray & yellow rescue markings.
Looks like a standard ex USA Huey...probably without the HH-1H hoist.

Given their problem with a UH-1B being passed off as an F//P...they'll probably pass it off as a N Twin Huey.

[B-29 Super Fort]

It is 44-62220 that was at the main entrance to Kelly AFB. For you that have never been here Kelly and Lackland are adjacent and when Brac closed down Kelly, most of its static display aircraft were moved across the fence to Lackland, which does not have any runways.

Thanks

[Bill Greenwood]

I never saw any of these when I went through basic training at Lackland in the spring of 1969. No runways eh, no wonder I didn't get too enthusiastic there. I can't remember one thing I learned of any military value, mostly we just marched around without enough sleep. Some years later I was invited to do a Spitfire flyover at an Eagle Sqaudron reunion in San Antonio. I was only a make believe fighter pilot, but these guys were very nice and accepting and they liked the flyover. The guard at the gate would not let me in the day before to see the hall I was trying to zero in on, but I found it from the air ok. The last day we went to lunch at Lackland as the Eagles guests, and saw the planes. I remember the F-82. The hospitality was a lot better than as an airman. One day I had volunteered to go to Brooks for a medical experiment. The were trying to see if they could get similar info from saliva as from blood tests. I never heard if anything came of this.

[Steve T]

Hi all--

The Mustang is indeed an H, one of about four surviving, dismayingly painted as one of 352FG ace John Meyer's D model "Peties"...similarly, the Jug is one of the few remaining N models, but painted as Gabreski's 56FG D!

Am ashamed to admit I never noticed that the Texan in the display does indeed appear to be a CC&F Harvard 4 (or maybe an MDAP T-6J, which is the same thing)...bet MacHarvard knows for sure...hey Doug, where'd you go?

The B-24 (and P-38) are mockups, presumably from the Tallichet molds, but when I saw this display back in 1992 the Lib was genuine. The real airframe is now on show in the American Air Museum In Britain, a kind of mini-Dayton at Duxford.

Hope these treasures come in from the cold (or the heat, as the case may be!) someday...until then, at least they are easy to photograph (provided in these post-9/11 days you can get near them--which wasn't an issue in '92), and they are clearly not outright ignored, all but a couple clearly having new paintjobs since I saw them.

S.

[FG1D Pilot]

The airplane park looks nicely maintained. They must have some budget for upkeep and aircraft maintainence.

Having "been there and done that", Lackland is the basic training base for the USAF. They have many trainees who "Love" to clean and maintain things on the base.

[Alan Brooks]

Willford Hall at Lackland has a very good research facility, some of it did involve research using primates (I dont know if they still use primates), but there is another large research facility in San Antonio that does........OK, some years ago before 9-11, we were on vacation and the base was open to the public, we drove around the grounds, walked among the parade grounds, taking photos......no one even came by to ask what we doing! Those days are gone.... But, at that time, all the aircraft were real, no fiberglass copies, although they both look pretty good. On the WWII aircraft on display, I applaud the English take on these matters....... get them indoors. If not, eventually pieces will start falling off and you are left with a pile of corroded metal..... IMHO, it is a SHAME that the USAFM has left the P-82E, P-47N, P-51H, and a RP-63 outside for all of these years..... Alan

[Chris Brame]

So, what's the story behind the "clipped-wing" C-118 52-6313? Windows aren't painted over, and there's a stairway at the rear. Cockpit looks good, too. Are there any displays inside the fuselage? Was this plane used as some kind of ground instruction trainer?

[Shay]

Hi all--

The Mustang is indeed an H, one of about four surviving

Not nit-pick or anything Steve. The registry list 5 surviving P-51H airframes. But I thought i read some where that there were 6 aircraft the sixth being a composite airframe...or something like that.

Anyone got a clue as to which one is the 6th?





It's doesn't look like a totally new paint job. The "OH" and "M" and possbily the numbers look like they were there in 1994. They just added the blue paint and nose art.

I wish they would find some better drop tanks....for some reason they never looked right to me.

Atleast the canopy looks better.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[Bill Greenwood]

There were primates at Lackland; I think they called them drill instructors. They seemed somewhat like monkeys you see on a lab on tv, except they had less hair. They did make some primitve noises as if trying to speak like humans, but if they ever did comunicate I can't remember a word they said. I think Jim Jones would have likely been more convincing.The Air Force was sold as the elite of the services, I can barely imagine what kind of missing links the Marines must have. The medical experiment was giving saliva samples over a period of time as you drank or eat something. They were trying to find if they could get the same data from saliva tests as from blood tests. It was nice to be around humans for a few hours, some were UT medical grads, but I never heard of any results of the study.