I went to the Air Force Museum 3-4 times a year from the early 60s until 1969. The majority of the static displays at that time were on a large gravel pad next to a big hangar where the indoor displays were.
About the only thing I recall about the indoor displays was the B-29 fuselage that you could walk through. This was a must for every visit, as my Dad was a flight engineer on a B-29 in a reconnaissance group based out of both Guam and Tinian. I would add that Dad started out his Army Air Force career in Alamagordo troubleshooting and repairing the automated gun turret systems on the same aircraft. I like to believe that's where my love for all things mechanical and electrical came from - especially after looking over that system! I would love to be able to visit the museum now and spend several days seeing all the displays. I have no doubt it is very, very different from when I visited in the 1960s.... Dan Sent from my iPad > On Sep 27, 2014, at 10:42 AM, Peter Frederick via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > That was an experimental system that was only installed once, I think. I'd > imagine that it was almost impossible to keep the track on the gear at > take-off speeds! > > The eventual replacement was the first four-wheel bogey that was then used > until they retired the B-36. > > If you have not been to the Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio, stop in if you > get a chance. The original hanger was built to house the B-36 that is on > display, it was by far the largest aircraft around at the time. Freaking > monster. Those six R4360 turbo radials (that's 4360 cubic inch by the way) > managed to shove the beast through the air at a stunning 375 mph at maxiumum > range full bomb load over target -- they were slower until they burned off > enough fuel to get over 15,000 ft. > > The bomb bay can hold an object something like 12 ft in diameter and 80 ft > long -- the original H-bomb was projected to be about this large. I don't > think one was ever air dropped though. At any rate it will hold six medium > sized sedans. > > And every single piece of aluminum skin is wrinkled. Must have vibrated > something terrible. > > Also prone to catastrophic engine fires, poor high altitude performance, high > fuel consumption, and barely functional gun systems (the same ones that > didn't work very well in the B-29 that my father worked on during his time in > Kansas making the B-29 reliable enough to send overseas). > > The guns were eventually removed and much of the skin was replaced with > thinner magnesium alloy (I think, something lighter and stronger than the > aluminum) and the four jets were added to boost the over target speed and > range. > > Chance-Vought did produce a single swept wing fully jet powered version as a > replacement, but the Boeing design that became the B-52 was lighter, faster, > carried more bomb weight, had a longer range, and used much less fuel. > Uncharacteristically, the Air Force bought the better plane and the B-36 was > retired. > > Peter > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has > no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
