Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
Sure would be nice to see a fly-by.....
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The Staff of SOH
'Any Of These Airworthy?'
- Thread starter Panther_99FS
- Start date
Brian_Gladden
SOH-CM-2025
Nope... Far as I know anyway. There's still one sitting as gate guard over at the old Platsburgh AFB in Platsburgh NY. There's an FB-111 there too.
Brian
Emil Frand
Charter Member
was luchy enought to see one of these fly into rosevelt roads pr back in 73, got to check it out up close and caught it when it left a few days later.
Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
Agreed. Guessing it is too cost prohibitive to keep one airworthy at this point.
Got to see one up close at the museum just outside of Eglin AFB in Florida a few years ago. Was amazed how big it was in person!
Edit: Here is a neat story about that last flight:
<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O
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"Sandy who submitted this piece to the Beam did a very good job telling about the life of J.D. Moore. When Sandy mentioned that J.D. flew the last flyable B-47 that was really an understatement. He flew a B-47 from China Lake CA to Castle AFB, CA that had sat, as a radar target for Navy fighters, on the hot desert floor for over 19 years. The last USAF operational flight was in October 1969 and this flight of JD's took place June 16, 1986. The Museum group from Castle AFB worked diligently on this aircraft for many years to restore the systems to fly the aircraft to their museum. They did a superb job on the old aircraft and thought they had it in a safe flyable condition. JD and his copilot Dale Wolfe took off from China Lake and as soon as they had they started losing equipment. This included air speed and intercom (the B-47 is a tandem cockpit where the pilots sit one in front and one in the rear and cannot see each other) as well as aileron power control systems that greatly affected the controllability of the aircraft. As many of us who have viewed the video of this event are aware, J.D. made a very nose high wing low landing and drug an outboard engine. When JD made a low pass over Castle there was a sudden loss of aileron power control. JD made a long gentle turn from that pass aligning with the runway, but when he flared out there was not enough control to keep the wings level. But it was down safe and sound to be placed in the museum at Castle AFB CA. Many experts feel that a lesser pilot would not have been able to accomplish what J.D. Moore did in getting the aircraft down safely."<O>
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Got to see one up close at the museum just outside of Eglin AFB in Florida a few years ago. Was amazed how big it was in person!
Edit: Here is a neat story about that last flight:
></O>Maj. Gen John (JD) Moore and 52-0166 at Castle AFB Museum<O> </O>
> </O>"Sandy who submitted this piece to the Beam did a very good job telling about the life of J.D. Moore. When Sandy mentioned that J.D. flew the last flyable B-47 that was really an understatement. He flew a B-47 from China Lake CA to Castle AFB, CA that had sat, as a radar target for Navy fighters, on the hot desert floor for over 19 years. The last USAF operational flight was in October 1969 and this flight of JD's took place June 16, 1986. The Museum group from Castle AFB worked diligently on this aircraft for many years to restore the systems to fly the aircraft to their museum. They did a superb job on the old aircraft and thought they had it in a safe flyable condition. JD and his copilot Dale Wolfe took off from China Lake and as soon as they had they started losing equipment. This included air speed and intercom (the B-47 is a tandem cockpit where the pilots sit one in front and one in the rear and cannot see each other) as well as aileron power control systems that greatly affected the controllability of the aircraft. As many of us who have viewed the video of this event are aware, J.D. made a very nose high wing low landing and drug an outboard engine. When JD made a low pass over Castle there was a sudden loss of aileron power control. JD made a long gentle turn from that pass aligning with the runway, but when he flared out there was not enough control to keep the wings level. But it was down safe and sound to be placed in the museum at Castle AFB CA. Many experts feel that a lesser pilot would not have been able to accomplish what J.D. Moore did in getting the aircraft down safely."<O
></O
>