Carswell AFB. . .Not Bad!

[falcon409]

One Helicopter I'm enjoying a lot is the Airbus H-135 (freeware). It's enjoyable to fly, has an excellent AP system and affords a pretty nice view of the landscape. I decided to fly from my home airport (KGYI) to the base (75nm straight line). The area I was flying was very familiar to me as I had driven it hundreds of times over the 22 years I was stationed there, so it was enjoyable to see it from the air as it actually is. When I arrived over Lake Worth with the base on it's southern shoreline I was amazed to see a very recognizable rendition of the base. As I slowed to a crawl coming over the base, the buildings, points of interest to me (Barracks, Gas Station, BX and Commissary, South and East gates, even my shop and the 301st Buildings) were all fairly well represented.

A few prominent things were missing/poorly represented, like the Main Hangar and the Fuel Shop Hangar. . .also the numerous open air aircraft shelters were missing. Those being on the flight line would have been the icing on the cake for me. Also the Control Tower was just a default object, not at all like what's actually there and I believe it was in the wrong spot as well. Aside from those that stood out to me, everything else gave me the feeling of actually being back there. Even the sprawling General Dynamics facility across the runway was well modeled to include probably a few hundred cars for the workers who are building who-knows-what now. I almost forgot, the 136th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard is also modeled as well to include their distinctive blue roofs.

If you've never been to the base and happen to be flying around North Central Texas, take a flight over to Ft Worth and get a pretty good idea of what it looks like (KNFW). By the way it's actual designation is NAS Joint Reserve Base, Ft Worth - Carswell Field.

 

[Tom Clayton]

I was there for FTD back in '85, but I don't remember much about how it was laid out. I rented a car once while I was there and ended up taking a wrong turn trying to get back. I ended up at (I think) the General Dynamics facility and seeing the B-36 that was on static display at the time.

 

[falcon409]

I was there for FTD back in '85, but I don't remember much about how it was laid out. I rented a car once while I was there and ended up taking a wrong turn trying to get back. I ended up at (I think) the General Dynamics facility and seeing the B-36 that was on static display at the time.

You were there the year before I got there Tom. We had F-4's at that time. They actually moved the B-36 over to our side at some point and it sat dormant until it was moved again. No idea where it ever ended up.

 

[rvn817j]

1986 - 1991 I was "drilling" at NAS Dallas 1x per month. Didn't see much of Carswell in those days except to watch B-52s taxi around. If I was "drilling" in the Dallas area today, it would be JRB NAS Carswell! I don't know why it's an NAS...damn runway is way too long.

 

[jmig]

That is where I went for B52 training. Spent six months TDY there. I loved Ft. Worth.

 

[falcon409]

Just a quick history of Carswell AFB. Up until 1992 the 7th Bomb Wing (B-52's) was the Active Duty presence on base, however BRAC was making a list and checking it twice and Carswell was one of their targets. As luck would have it they also targeted Navy Dallas (In Grand Prairie) and that base moved it's assets to Carswell in 1998. Up until that took place the 301st FW (my Unit) was the sole occupant (the B-52's were long gone by then). With the Navy's move from Grand Prairie to Ft Worth, they became the active duty presence on base and so it was renamed NAS FT Worth, JRB, Carswell Field. The base now is home to personnel from every branch of the military and the 301st FW is soon to replace their F-16's with F-35's.

 

[Tom Clayton]

No idea where it ever ended up.

It's at the Pima museum. From https://www.ub88.org/researchprojects/b36peacemaker/thelastb36/the-last-b-36.html:

Of 386 B-36's built from 1946 to 1954, only four survive. B-36-J-III 52-2827 City of Fort Worth was built in Fort Worth, Texas in 1954, and was retired in 1958. It was displayed at Amon Carter Field, later Greater Southwest Airport, from 1958 until the late 1970s, when it was moved to Carswell Air Force Base. Exposed to the extremes of Texas weather, the giant aircraft slowly deteriorated. In the early 1990s the aircraft was disassembled and moved indoors to hangar space at the factory where it was built, donated by Lockheed Aircraft. A group of dedicated volunteers, many of them retired Convair employees who had worked on the original B-36 assembly line, spent 40,000 man-hours restoring the plane.

The aircraft is officially owned by the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF), but was on loan to the B-36 Peacemaker Museum. In 2006, it was agreed that the Peacemaker Museum did not have the proper resources to restore and exhibit the aircraft, and the aircraft was trucked to the Pima Air & Space Museum (PASM) in Tucson, Arizona where it is being restored and will be exhibited after restoration. In the Tucson climate it is possible to display aircraft outdoors without the kind of deterioration that occurred in Fort Worth. The National Museum of the United States Air Force still retains ownership of the aircraft.

If they had Phantoms when I was there, they were on a different part of the flightline. All I saw were the KC-135A's that I was learning on and the BUFF's. That was where I learned that they sometimes get the rear wheels off the ground first! And with GD right across the runway, I also got to see the F-16XL delta-winged variant flying.

 

[falcon409]

If they had Phantoms when I was there, they were on a different part of the flightline. All I saw were the KC-135A's that I was learning on and the BUFF's. That was where I learned that they sometimes get the rear wheels off the ground first!

Yes, you were on the south end of the tarmac and the 301st was at the northern most end of the tarmac. Our Main hangar was walking distance to the BX and Commissary.