Hour Rule

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 07/25/2020 at 02:06 • Filed to: None

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InFierority Complex > ttyymmnn 07/25/2020 at 04:22

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I guess the B-24's invitation got lost in the mail, right?

Roadkilled > InFierority Complex 07/25/2020 at 09:59

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The B-24 was retired from service shortly after the war. The B-17 was still used by the Air Force into the 1950s. The B-17 in this photo appears to be modified with the turrets removed. There appears to be a patch where the top turret would be and i t’s likely a reconnaissance version.  

ttyymmnn > Roadkilled 07/25/2020 at 11:27

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The photo was taken in 1948 at Cars well AFB. The caption reads :

Special photo of Air Force bombers from the 1930s through the late 1940s. A Douglas B-18 “Bolo”; a Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress”; a Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” and the B-36 “Peacemaker” dominating the group photo with a 230-foot wingspan. Taken at Carswell AFB (Ft. Worth) after the receipt of the first B-36 in 1948. Note the SAC 7th Bombardment Wing marking on the B-29.

Cars well became a SAC base in 1946, and, as you say, SAC flew recon Forts (as the F-9 and later as the  RB-17) until 1949.

Only Vespas... > ttyymmnn 07/25/2020 at 11:49

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What a interesting shot! True, the Liberator was left out, but someone called the Bolo instead. That looks to be a B-18 tucked in behind the B-36 starboard wing. Everyone is missing their turrets, true . I will guess the B-36[s] are early models , and t he B-17 is some sort of photo/ chase/rescue plane [B-17H?]. Oddly, the B-29, the only one of the bunch to actually have it’s turrets removed in mid- career, still wears it’s guns. Late war n ight attacks on J apan faced minimal fighter opposition so all but the tail gunner got to stay home. The Bolo? There just to have it’s plexiglass rubbed in the dirt about how small it is. Would love to know the year...

ttyymmnn > Only Vespas... 07/25/2020 at 13:58

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The photo was taken in 1948 at Carswell AFB .

As somebody else said, the B-24 was retired immediately at the end of the war, while the B-17 continued to be flown as a reconnaissance plane . As for the B-36 in that photo, it was in fact the first one delivered to Carswell, which may have been the inspiration for the photo. Not sure why the Bolo is there. Maybe they had it sitting around? 

ttyymmnn > Only Vespas... 07/25/2020 at 14:04

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An interesting side note about the B-24. The Army took completed Liberators and converted them into fuel haulers to carry avgas to the B-29s in China. Fully loaded with tanks of fuel in the fuselage, the Liberator, now christened C-109, took every inch of the runway to take off, and they often crashed. They were equally difficult to land, especially at the higher altitudes in China . Gene Autry flew them for a time, and called it “The thrill that lasts a lifetime.”

Only Vespas... > ttyymmnn 07/26/2020 at 02:11

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1948 Carswell AFB. Thanks. That date makes sense with the restoration of all the B-29's turrets. She still wears the black - out bottom- bomb- Japan at Night camo and would also explain the 8th AF tail marking. During the war o nly the 20th  flew the 29 extensively. That Bolo was based on he DC-3 BTW.