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Pima Air Museum Pictorial
AUTHOR: Jim Thorn
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- The Convair B-58A Hustler served with the Strategic Air Command during the late fifties and early sixties before being superseded by the F-111. The Hustler was capable of exceeding Mach 2 and was powered by General Electric’s famous J79 turbojet which also powered the F-104, F-4 and more recently the Kfir and F-16179.
- Used as a focal point for a telemovie depicting the atomic raids against Japan, this beautifully refurbished B-29 is one of the most popular displays at Pima.
- No aviation enthusiast could go past this immaculately maintained exTWA Lockheed Constellation. This aircraft actually began life as a C-69 and operated throughout WWII as a military freighter. With the cessation of hostilities, the C-69s were converted to civil transports while this one was eventually upgraded to long-range specs for TWA for which it served
- The KB-50 was a vastly improved version of the B-29. Of the 371 B-50s built by Boeing most finished their USAF duties as KB designated tankers. Power was supplied by four 3,500shp 28-cylinder radials and two GE J47 turbojets of 5,000/b thrust each. The 8-50 also served as a weather aircraft and was superseded in SAC service by the B-47 and B-52 jets.
- This Lockheed C-121 Constellation was the personal aircraft of Dwight Eisenhower when he was commander of SHAPE in Europe after WWII. It was called ‘Columbine I’ and later as President, Eisenhower would again travel in a similar aircraft.
- Only three examples of the F-107 were built. Based on the F-100 Super Sabre, the 107 was powered by the Pratt & Whitney J-75 and was planned to be capable of Mach 2 performance. All three test aircraft flew for a brief period in late 1956 before a decision to scuttle the project in favour of a J-75-powered F-105 Thunderchief. In the background is a Boeing KC-97 exhibiting the original flying boom installation.
- The C-124 Globemaster was the biggest transport aircraft of its day, having a multi-deck troop transport arrangement and a gross payload of 195,000/b. A total of 445 Globemasters were built and the type remained in USAF service till the mid-sixties being progressively replaced by the C-141 Starlifter.
- Of the 888 C-97 Stratofreighters delivered to the USAF, almost all were of the convertible tanker/transport model. This popular aircraft evolved from the air supply lessons of the Berlin Airlift of 1948 which ably testified to the need for large transport aircraft. As a tanker, the KC-97 was the first such aircraft to deploy the patented Boeing flying boom system for aerial refuelling operations.
- One of only ten such aircraft ever built, this Boeing Stratoliner featured the tail, wings and engines of the B-17 bomber. One such aircraft was owned by Howard Hughes and despite being configured to luxurious standards was only flown 500hrs in 24 years. The Stratoliner could cruise at 220mph for a maximum range of 2,300 miles.
- The B-47 taught Boeing a lot that would hold them in good stead for tater design and production of jet transports. The B-47 Stratojet served in SAC from the early fifties until 1966 when all first line aircraft went to reserve status. The enormous lack of power of the B-47 is comically exemplified by a story told to me recently by a test pilot on the F-18A programme. It seems this chap was invited along for a ride by a friend who was performing reconnaissance training missions in an RB-57H. The test pilot was more used to flying Thunderchiefs and development Phantoms and so was in a state of disbelief when the Stratojet began to crawl down the 12,00ft runway at bicycle speeds. Looking down at the dual instrumentation to see when the pilot was going to full military takeoff power he was stunned to see six RPM dials on 100% power. Apparently, the machine had ‘rolled’ 4,000ft down the Macadam before the airspeed indicator had even begun to flutter and the final rotation had the 47 barely fifty feet above the piano keys on that two-and-a-quarter mile runway. This is not surprising when you consider that most 47s could muster barely 35,000/b installed thrust for a maximum takeoff weight in excess of 200,000lbs!
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