I seem to recall at least two threads in the recent past that discussed the B-36 Peacemaker bomber from the 50's. Here's an update on the one that was on static display at the old Ft Worth airport (was it called Meachem?).

Four years ago, the AF Museum transferred the loan on the City of Ft Worth from the old Ft Worth airport to the Pima County Air Museum in Tucson, AZ. This link shows the B-36 restoration (for static display) that the Pima County museum recently completed. There are some GREAT pics on this link.

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=307255&sid=1a9818e915d2b986048aa4e791e638e8

Here's a little history of the City of Ft Worth, along with a personal note about a connection with the 95th Bomb Wing.

Here's a quote from FlyPast magazine, where I first saw the story:

quote:

---

The bomber is finished in 95th Bomb Wing markings, which it wore on its final flight to Carswell AFB from Biggs AFB,
El Paso, Texas. It was built in 1954 and was the last B-36 made. It took 24,000 manhours to complete the restoration.

---

Now for the personal note regarding the 95th Bomb Wing. At some point, the 95th Bomb Wing was deactivated, probably when Biggs AFB was closed. (Too lazy to look it up right now.)

It was reconstituted (again - don't know when) as the 95th Strategic Wing and assigned to Goose AB, Labrador, Canada. It's mission was to support a max of 15 KC-135 tankers on alert to refuel B-52s flying over the North Pole if we went to war. It was also the base where the tankers accompanying the bombers from their home bases would land, refuel, and then launch again to refuel the bombers on their return to the US. (Fat chance IMO - but Fossil knows the details much better than me.)

As it happens, 1Lt NormanAg was assigned to Goose AB from 1973-75 as a weather weeney supporting the 95th Strategic Wing. In fact I have four "mementos" hanging on my "hero wall" in our spare bedroom, including the obligatory going away plaque from the 95th that has the same shield and motto that is displayed on the B-36.




[This message has been edited by NormanAg (edited 8/23/2009 7:13p).]

I was doing some environmental compliance work out at Air Force Plant 4 in Ft. Worth (Lockheed Martin--adjacent to the former Carswell AFB) several years ago. Ran into several very interesting things during that project. Things like:

A chicken gun - fired chickens (dead) at cockpit canopies, etc. to simulate bird strikes.

An altitude/temperature chamber - Could simulate temps and pressure of high altitude in a room sized area.

A full-sized model of the A-12 fighter (Navy Stealth Project - never built)

And finally...

A complete multi-level cockpit (including windows, radios, controls, and crew transfer tunnel) of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber! I was mesmerized by this find, lol. Don't tell anyone, but my work partner and I spent quite a bit of time playing in that cockpit. The flight yokes even had the Convair corporate emblem on them! We assumed that the B-36 must've been produced at the plant in the late 40's/early 50s. No one could really tell us why the full cockpit section was still there...instead of in a museum somewhere.

As an aside, I have a great photo of my mother and 35 of her Melody Maids (Beaumont HS girl's singing group that performed at bases worldwide) cohorts standing on one wing of a B-36. The pic was captioned "36 on a 36".

I like the B-36! What a great plane...

--John

Edit:

I now find that the B-36 you mentioned (City of Ft. Worth) is probably the one that I saw at Lockheed Martin... From Wikipedia:

B-36J, AF Serial No. 52-2827, the final B-36 built, named "The City of Fort Worth", was loaned to the city of Fort Worth, Texas on 12 February 1959. It sat on the field at the Greater Southwest International Airport until that property was redeveloped as a business park. It then moved to the short-lived Southwest Aero Museum, which was located between the former Carswell Air Force Base (now NAS Fort Worth) and the former General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) assembly plant. From there it went to the Lockheed Martin plant, where some restoration took place. As Lockheed Martin had no place to display the finished aircraft, and local community efforts in Fort Worth to build a facility to house and maintain the massive aircraft fell short, the USAF Museum retook possession of the aircraft and it was transported to Tucson, Arizona for loan to the Pima Air & Space Museum. It is now undergoing restoration and reassembly at the Pima Air & Space Museum, just south of Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and will ultimately be displayed at that location.

[This message has been edited by DogCo84 (edited 8/24/2009 1:37p).]

It was on static display at an airport called "Southwest Regional".

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_FtWorth_NE.htm#greaterSW

A little info on Greater Southwest Airport and the B-36 that was there

I went back and looked at my old work emails. As mentioned, I apparently played in the cockpit of this aircraft in a hangar/warehouse at Lockheed-Martin in Ft. Worth (USAF Plant 4) in 1999.

So at that point, it appears that the plane was in pieces and in storage?

--John

This sounds right. I remember reading an article in the Dallas Morning News (probably around 2000) that there was a B-36 in pieces in storage in Fort Worth. This must be the one.

My Dad and Mother both worked at Convair at that time. Or General Dynamics as it was later called. My mother was a time-keeper for the B-36 production line and as such had to locate and verify every employee every day. That including climbing into the B-36 and sometimes taking the sled from the front of the plane to the back. You would lay on your back and reach up to the overhead roap and do the hand over hand to pull yourself thru. Once, the guys on purpose closed off both end of the tunnel at once and cut the lights. Mom was mad as fire over that one.

The plant at the peak of its heyday employed about 25,000 people, in a town that had about 200,000 people. When you consider spouses, and kids about half the town was dependant on the bomber plant. That was my Mom's second stint as she had worked there during WWII making B-24s.

Dad was in Cost Accounting billing the government for all of the materials that went into the planes. I had an Uncle that worked there too.

I used to drive my Mother to work before going on to High School and occasionally would pick her up if she had an extended shift.

Convair traffic was three lanes wide coming out of the parking lot into the freeway leading twards I-20. The traffic usually was at 60 miles per hour by the time you hit the gate, and I never saw more than about a foot between cars until the split approched about a mile down the dead end freeway.

When the lunch whistle went off at the plant at noon, you could here it all the way across town in Poly. That is over 15 miles as the crow flies.



[This message has been edited by 69huslinone (edited 8/31/2009 4:09p).]

Now that is one HELLUVA post! It's what makes the History Forum such a great place to visit. Thanks!

One other rumor/story from my 1999 work at USAF Plant 4 (Lockheed Martin) in Ft. Worth. During the project, we heard this story (urban legend?) from several employees:

During WWII, the plant built (mainly) B-24 Liberators. Supposedly, at war's end, the plant had produced ONE MORE B-24 than Consolidated Aircraft's (later Convair) contract had called for. At the end of a long war...rather than deal with the paperwork and accounting hassle that would result from having produced this extra plane, a big hole was dug on the plant grounds and the complete, brand-new B-24 was BURIED. The company's contract for B-24s was thus, "cleanly" concluded.

I don't know if the story is true or not...but it's kind of fun to contemplate. If the B-24 is there, where is it? Wonder what shape it's in?

--John in San Antonio

I heard that in the 50's or so, they closed a few connected buildings due to high radiation back when they tried to make a nuclear powered engine. Decades later they re-opened it and went in to find a jungle complete with lots of animals (including a bobcat). They cleared it all out and build cubes and labs but there are still some animal holdouts. Sometimes if you leave food out during the night, it will be eaten when you get back, and they had to put up signs to tell everybody to close the doors to our area to keep "critters" from ransacking our stuff.

[This message has been edited by aTmAg (edited 9/1/2009 5:02p).]