|
|
Post by Jim on Feb 27, 2014 12:50:08 GMT 9
This from Capt Roger D'entremont 27th FIS also known as Capt. Brownshoes- he came in when they issued brown brogans.... n 1951, there was over a 100 B-36s at Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth TX in 2 bomb squadrons and because they were manufactured across the field at the Convair plant. I was an Airman 2C aircraft mechanic at Carswell when the base flight line was hit by a devastating tornado one summer night in 1951. Going out on the flight line the next day was an awesome sight with giant planes piled on top of each other. The tornado even flew one B-36 ¼ mile and it ended up in the dump. Besides all the wrecked B-36s, I remember a P-51 rolled up into a ball alongside one of the damaged B-36s. I worked on B-25s and B-26s for the 8th AF Hq, Squadron, but I was on the flight line with all the B-36s every day. That was a very impressive airplane. The B-36s carried water based hydrogen bombs which had to be replenished every so often. The bomb bay area was screened off whenever they worked on the H bombs. Very top secret stuff. You needed a special flight line pass to get close to the B-36s. Each B-36 had an armed guard 24/7. Very interesting and impressive base for a 19 year old kid. Check out this web site to see the damage cause by the tornado. www.cowtown.net/proweb/tornado/tornado.htm Regards, Roger and this B-36 Cockpit Gauge Maze The B-36 was a state of the art airplane in its day. The Air Engineer was responsible for starting, maintaining and shutting down the 6 Radial Engines and 4 Jet Engines required to make it fly and mission completed. No modern "Fly by Wire" or "Computer controlled Aircraft" involved here. Just straight old manpower, brainpower and the guts to get it done. This is absolutely mind boggling to think about. The 360 degree viewing movement by moving your mouse is amazing. This is a 360 degree panorama of the flight engineers station on a B-36: Six propeller-driven R-4360s and four J-47 jets to keep an eye on, plus fuel, pressurization, hydraulics, electrical, and other systems. Use your mouse to navigate the cockpit www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/062/B-36J%20Engineer.html |
|
Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff 
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075 
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF
NBA: Spurs
NFL: Niners
MLB: Giants
NHL: Penguins
|
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Feb 27, 2014 13:56:00 GMT 9
WOW!
What an amazing story.
The B-36 was an amazing airplane.
I wonder how long it would take to-day to get all those giant birds repaired?
One thing for sure, it wouldn't be done with a one page contract by a Colonel.
Jim Too
|
|
|
|
Post by Mark O on Feb 27, 2014 17:33:35 GMT 9
Oh man, other than the B-36 the only other plane I would want to be a Flight Engineer on is the NCC-1701! (The "USS Enterprise"!)  I'm such a geek! Seriously, that site is so cool. I've seen that web site many times. Really amazing aircraft. So... anyone recognize the FE from the movie "Strategic Air Command"? He later played a medical Colonel in a TV show you may have seen! (Wink, wink, hint, hint!!) I like the music, and the "cloud surfing." I'm pretty convinced they were doing that just for the visual effect for the movie. We used to do it for fun, and the cool effect, but the opportunity really didn't present itself very often, as if there were clouds, there was usually a risk for storms, so we avoided them. Otherwise it was pretty cool! I'll have to find the video I took in Afghanistan some day. We were celebrating after a successful airdrop of supplies for some Special Forces bubbas. Edit: For the "old" guys. The FE in "Strategic Air Command" may have played a sidekick detective in a police drama set in Los Angeles before he played a medical Colonel in another TV series!  |
|
|
|
Post by pat perry on Feb 27, 2014 23:48:28 GMT 9
Oh man, other than the B-36 the only other plane I would want to be a Flight Engineer on is the NCC-1701! (The "USS Enterprise"!) I'm such a geek! Seriously, that site is so cool. I've seen that web site many times. Really amazing aircraft. So... anyone recognize the FE from the movie "Strategic Air Command"? He later played a medical Colonel in a TV show you may have seen! (Wink, wink, hint, hint!!) I like the music, and the "cloud surfing." I'm pretty convinced they were doing that just for the visual effect for the movie. We used to do it for fun, and the cool effect, but the opportunity really didn't present itself very often, as if there were clouds, there was usually a risk for storms, so we avoided them. Otherwise it was pretty cool! I'll have to find the video I took in Afghanistan some day. We were celebrating after a successful airdrop of supplies for some Special Forces bubbas. Edit: For the "old" guys. The FE in "Strategic Air Command" may have played a sidekick detective in a police drama set in Los Angeles before he played a medical Colonel in another TV series! Uhh... would that be Dragnet starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan... and MASH with Colonel Sherman Tecumseh Potter, M.D., portrayed by Harry Morgan. And Henry Morgan who also co-starred in this video Pat P. |
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Feb 28, 2014 0:41:31 GMT 9
Oh man, other than the B-36 the only other plane I would want to be a Flight Engineer on is the NCC-1701! (The "USS Enterprise"!) I'm such a geek! Seriously, that site is so cool. I've seen that web site many times. Really amazing aircraft. So... anyone recognize the FE from the movie "Strategic Air Command"? He later played a medical Colonel in a TV show you may have seen! (Wink, wink, hint, hint!!) I like the music, and the "cloud surfing." I'm pretty convinced they were doing that just for the visual effect for the movie. We used to do it for fun, and the cool effect, but the opportunity really didn't present itself very often, as if there were clouds, there was usually a risk for storms, so we avoided them. Otherwise it was pretty cool! I'll have to find the video I took in Afghanistan some day. We were celebrating after a successful airdrop of supplies for some Special Forces bubbas. Edit: For the "old" guys. The FE in "Strategic Air Command" may have played a sidekick detective in a police drama set in Los Angeles before he played a medical Colonel in another TV series! Uhh... would that be Dragnet starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan... and MASH with Colonel Sherman Tecumseh Potter, M.D., portrayed by Harry Morgan. And Henry Morgan who also co-starred in this video Pat P. Damn, Pat you are getting old........................... |
|
Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF
NBA: Spurs
NFL: Niners
MLB: Giants
NHL: Penguins
|
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Feb 28, 2014 1:22:06 GMT 9
In the movie Strategic Air Command, Harry Morgan is listed as Henry Morgan, which was his first screen name.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0604702/
There was a wit/author/TV personality named Henry Morgan at the time, you might have seen him on the Jack Paar Show, and the lesser known Henry began to use "Harry" to prevent any confusion.
His most famous line from the movie was spoken when Dutch (Stewart) saw him a the B-36 during the preflight, and asked about him, as they had known each other before.
Harry, told him he was married and had "One on the Ramp and one in the Hanger".
Still a good movie, was on TCM not a while back.
Frank Lovejoy did a pretty good job of playing Curt LeMay.
Lots of great flying scenes.
The movie was made with LeMay's permission, as he thought it was a good promotional tool.
As secured as the B-36 was, or was supposed to be, LeMay gave the film maker a lot of access that many military didn't have.
That was LeMay, he ruled the roost.
Jim Too
|
|
|
|
Post by pat perry on Mar 25, 2014 7:18:43 GMT 9
B-29 and B-36 side by side. Wow, what a difference! Pat P.  |
|
|
|
Post by Mark O on Mar 25, 2014 14:33:11 GMT 9
Thanks Pat P. Just an amazing aircraft. One that I always wished I could have at least seen fly in person.
Here's a color shot of the same two aircraft. Note this is the XB-36 with the original cockpit windows, and single-tire mains. (They have one of those main tires at the National Museum of the USAF. MASSIVE!)
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/B-36aarrivalcarswell1948.jpg |
|
|
|
Post by pat perry on Mar 25, 2014 23:03:07 GMT 9
Thanks Pat P. Just an amazing aircraft. One that I always wished I could have at least seen fly in person.
Here's a color shot of the same two aircraft. Note this is the XB-36 with the original cockpit windows, and single-tire mains. (They have one of those main tires at the National Museum of the USAF. MASSIVE!)
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/B-36aarrivalcarswell1948.jpg Yeah, this was first delivery at Carswell was when they first came out and had 6 turnin' but not 4 burnin'. Pat P. |
|
|
|
Post by LBer1568 on Mar 26, 2014 4:26:17 GMT 9
When I was stationed at Chanute, they had a B-36 on static display. It was anchored to concrete platforms and had steel braces holding up A/C on landing gear. It was mounted just off the concrete to keep weight off tires. It was a later model with the jets on wing tips. But Rantoul can have some nasty northern winds during the year. As I drove to the school house one morning the B-36 was standing on it's tail with the front/nose of A/C up in the air, along with it's big concrete pad. Seems without a fuel load it was tail heavy and the winds caused it to "fly" up and nose popped out of the ground. The brass were smarter than we take them credit for. Instead of increasing the weight on the nose, they cut about 30' from main body aft of wings. So it was then an XB-36 since it was shorter than all others. But it was still one huge A/C. I think the Structural School folks did the work. It took the a few weeks to complete and they had "Big Burtha" the huge crane lift truck to lift A/C. |
|
|
|
Post by oswald on Mar 26, 2014 6:38:30 GMT 9
I have searched for the movie Strategic Air Command and have been unsuccessful.Can anyone out there tell me where I might find it? I have checked on Amazon. I usually get all movies there. I don't have a vcr anymore. I only have a dvd player now.
|
|
Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF
NBA: Spurs
NFL: Niners
MLB: Giants
NHL: Penguins
|
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Mar 26, 2014 7:18:32 GMT 9
|
|
|
|
Post by pat perry on Mar 26, 2014 8:06:47 GMT 9
When I was stationed at Chanute, they had a B-36 on static display. It was anchored to concrete platforms and had steel braces holding up A/C on landing gear. It was mounted just off the concrete to keep weight off tires. It was a later model with the jets on wing tips. But Rantoul can have some nasty northern winds during the year. As I drove to the school house one morning the B-36 was standing on it's tail with the front/nose of A/C up in the air, along with it's big concrete pad. Seems without a fuel load it was tail heavy and the winds caused it to "fly" up and nose popped out of the ground. The brass were smarter than we take them credit for. Instead of increasing the weight on the nose, they cut about 30' from main body aft of wings. So it was then an XB-36 since it was shorter than all others. But it was still one huge A/C. I think the Structural School folks did the work. It took the a few weeks to complete and they had "Big Burtha" the huge crane lift truck to lift A/C. Lorin, That Chanute RB-36 is at Castle Air Museum. They have been re-skinning this bird since the titanium skin has been deteriorating so badly. www.castleairmuseum.org/convairrb36hCheck out the nuke display in front of the aircraft. The bomber versions carried this nuke. Pat P. |
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Mar 26, 2014 9:52:03 GMT 9
I have searched for the movie Strategic Air Command and have been unsuccessful.Can anyone out there tell me where I might find it? I have checked on Amazon. I usually get all movies there. I don't have a vcr anymore. I only have a dvd player now. Maybe?  |
|
|
|
Post by Mark O on Mar 26, 2014 10:09:10 GMT 9
Be careful about buying a copy of this movie on DVD, as it HAS NOT been officially released in that format. The odds are high that it will be a bootleg copy from a VHS release, which suggests somewhat less than normal DVD quality. No word on when (or if) it will be released in DVD format. Mark O. Edit: Back from work... Of course it is downloadable from Amazon in HD - for a price. If you can hook your computer/laptop/device up to a decent HDTV it might be worth it over a possible, bootleg DVD copy. This is a must-watch movie on the largest screen possible. www.amazon.com/Strategic-Air-Command-James-Stewart/dp/B008K15OIE |
|
|
|
Post by oswald on Mar 27, 2014 5:29:25 GMT 9
Well, thanks guys for your input but I don't want to get something less than what is intended. Mark O,you have cleared my mind about my search and if you hear otherwise please let us know. I have entered James Stewart and Henry Morgan and still found no match. This was yesterday that I tried extending my search.
|
|
|
|
Post by pat perry on Mar 27, 2014 9:22:03 GMT 9
Well, thanks guys for your input but I don't want to get something less than what is intended. Mark O,you have cleared my mind about my search and if you hear otherwise please let us know. I have entered James Stewart and Henry Morgan and still found no match. This was yesterday that I tried extending my search. Try Harry Morgan versus Henry Morgan. He changed his name in mid-career because of another actor by the same name. Pat P. |
|
I'm such a geek!
