B-47 51-2387 Kansas Aviation Museum

[BHawthorne]

I spoke with the Kansas Aviation Museum (http://www.kansasaviationmuseum.org/) today about "adopting" a static display plane for my student organization's community service project. One of the things I do at my school is fill the role of the SkillsUSA student chapter President for Butler Community College. Since our SkillsUSA chapter is focused on manufacturing engineering, it seemed to be a worthy project goal. I met with the museum archivist today and spoke with him in detail about the B-47 and what needs to be done. The Kansas Aviation Museum inherited this B-47 when a location in Oklahoma (http://www.visi.com/~jweeks/b47/b47okc.html) no longer wanted it. It was cut down and transported to the museum where it awaits restoration to static display again.

While not really a "cockpit" project per-say, there is a cockpit in this thing. ;) I felt this project would be interesting to blog here. It might even result in me deciding to do a B-47 simpit, because it sounds like such a unique one to do and I'll have access to the real thing for measurements. Give me the benifit of the doubt and think that I'm going about this backwards...work on the real thing, then make the simpit...lol.

Anyways, here are my initial cursory walk-around pictures of 51-2387, one of only 25 B-47's left in existence. In the background is Boeing Military Wichita, Spirit Aerosystems, McConnell AFB and the Kansas Aviation Museum. The walk-around pics will be in the next few posts. ;)

[BHawthorne]

The nose is a bit bent in the raidome area (pic 10). The navigator? ejection location (pic 11) has been patched over badly.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9149/dscf2011yv7.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2011yv7.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5958/dscf2013il4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2013il4.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4880/dscf2014li4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2014li4.jpg)
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8638/dscf2018oe6.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2018oe6.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3838/dscf2020se9.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2020se9.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3423/dscf2028fm0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2028fm0.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/845/dscf2029us3.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2029us3.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1287/dscf2030cw3.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2030cw3.jpg)http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/663/dscf2031uo9.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2031uo9.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6881/dscf2032yo2.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2032yo2.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9886/dscf2033wo2.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2033wo2.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4070/dscf2035ui2.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2035ui2.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8276/dscf2047iy2.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2047iy2.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4036/dscf2053jp0.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2053jp0.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/313/dscf2059wu4.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2059wu4.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6616/dscf2060tq3.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2060tq3.jpg)http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1753/dscf2064ms5.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2064ms5.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9630/dscf2065dj7.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2065dj7.jpg)

[Badge]

A very worth while project and a very amazing airplane with a short but important history.

[BHawthorne]

The landing gear shown here was salvage. 1 gear (pics 2+3) needs to be retrofitted with the B-52 gear pieces (picture 6) to be functional again.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8296/dscf2019ex6.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2019ex6.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1976/dscf2037bt5.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2037bt5.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8868/dscf2038cl6.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2038cl6.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9317/dscf2039hx6.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2039hx6.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6062/dscf2040ng5.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2040ng5.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/439/dscf2041zh8.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2041zh8.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9272/dscf2042op1.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2042op1.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4571/dscf2043jy3.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2043jy3.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6372/dscf2049bf4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2049bf4.jpg)

[Bob Reed]

I love this aircraft! PLEASE keep us informed of how this is going.

[Michael Carter]

Me and 30 other airman hand-polished one of those over 25 years ago at Whiteman AFB with Never-Dull.

No fun at all, but I too really like the airplane.

[BHawthorne]

Misc bits needed to complete the static display:
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1170/dscf2087qw8.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2087qw8.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7303/dscf2089ki5.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2089ki5.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/653/dscf2090fu2.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2090fu2.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/462/dscf2091rz6.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2091rz6.jpg)

Note: (Pic 1) Another project, "Doc" the B-29 nears completion in the background. It's a sin that project has no hanger. :(

[BHawthorne]

A few wing panels are missing and I'll have to waterjet out new pieces for them to replace the rotted bits. Also, the logistics of remounting the wings should prove interesting. :)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1318/dscf2015ft7.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2015ft7.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1272/dscf2017ub4.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2017ub4.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4475/dscf2021um5.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2021um5.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5599/dscf2022bf7.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2022bf7.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9041/dscf2023mw2.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2023mw2.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8504/dscf2024oh0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2024oh0.jpg)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8931/dscf2025kw1.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2025kw1.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4171/dscf2026yj6.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2026yj6.jpg)http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2484/dscf2027dm9.th.jpg (http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2027dm9.jpg)
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7594/dscf2045vw5.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2045vw5.jpg)http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1908/dscf2050ty4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2050ty4.jpg)http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6523/dscf2051zi8.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2051zi8.jpg)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2003/dscf2052iz5.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2052iz5.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1346/dscf2054hb1.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2054hb1.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/2118/dscf2055zt6.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2055zt6.jpg)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2446/dscf2056fj3.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2056fj3.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5403/dscf2057rc3.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2057rc3.jpg)http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7098/dscf2058fo6.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2058fo6.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1135/dscf2084xn0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2084xn0.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2197/dscf2085wa9.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2085wa9.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4272/dscf2086se9.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2086se9.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3876/dscf2088el2.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2088el2.jpg)

[BHawthorne]

Me and 30 other airman hand-polished one of those over 25 years ago at Whiteman AFB with Never-Dull.

No fun at all, but I too really like the airplane.

hehe, I'll probably doing that soon enough too. Too bad there aren't 30 other airmen for this plane. That's a bit a ways though. :D

[jmig]

hehe, I'll probably doing that soon enough too. Too bad there aren't 30 other airmen for this plane. That's a bit a ways though. :D

Did I see BSW raising his hand to volunteer in the back?

:D

I saw a B-47 make its last flight at Dyess, AFB. It became a static display.

[Michael Carter]

That wasn't my hand! I swear!

Once in a lifetime is enough.

[W9XE/Project777]

Michael

The B-47 is still their at Whiteman AFB. Our helicopter is next to it now as a memorial from a crash in 1982. There is a few other planes add around different parts of the base such as KC-97, F-111, and F-102.

The main gate which is now the Warrensburg gate has a B-29. A fellow sim flyer while he was active was in charge of maintaining it.

Paul Tibbets grandson is one of the 509th Commanders here.

[Michael Carter]

I heard that about the 509th. I think I saw it on The History Channel.

I miss the old place, but the last time I was there in 2000, I nearly didn't recognize it. No steam pipes!

I can remember hearing about the crash but not the details. Was he on a parts run to one of the LF's?

[BHawthorne]

Small update. The spring semester has started at school. I have recruited 6 manufacturing engineering students so far to sign volunteer forms so they can be able to machine parts for the project. I also picked up a set of line drawings for the first parts the group will cut on the waterjet to replace old/missing pieces. Next Wednesday a few of us will be going over to the museum to meet with the other restoration volunteers that are working on other projects, such as the B-29 Doc. :)

Current parts that I am working on. (http://laurenstephens.net/uploads/73a16b443d.pdf)

I have also gotten information back from the NASM, there are several sets of microfilm for the B-47E. If anyone would like to assist in helping purchase a few rolls to be used in project reference, please let me know. As a student I can only afford to buy 2 rolls a month. They cost $30 + $10 shipping and there are simply too many for me to humor buying at once. The relevant technical drawings are on "EDM: 76, Rolls: A to DD". I have purchased "EDM: 77, Roll: G" and "EDM: 76, Roll A" this month. I know it might be a long shot to ask the community assistance with this, but it's worth a shot asking. :)

[W9XE/Project777]

I can remember hearing about the crash but not the details. Was he on a parts run to one of the LF's?

It was a rainy day, missile convoy escort. Two flight crew and 4 security. Vibration felt, but before the UH-1F made it to the LCF the main rotor blade separated.

[BHawthorne]

I can't say much yet, but I might have an interesting addition to this topic soon. I'll release more information about it as soon as I nail down a few more details.

Hint: :D

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/2817/491901to6.jpg

[BHawthorne]

A bit about the pic above. Surprisingly enough the Navy owns that, and it was pulled of a bombing range years ago. I'm working out the specifics to get it contracted to KAM and moved. It's the last B-47A in existence. While the other B-47 is cool, this thing I'm taking on as a long term project. :cool: The idea is to design a custom cradle for it for transport, tare it totally down then rebuild it to be a cockpit display. It's going to take some doing to get that done though. It's gutted. This would be an imposable project if KAM didn't have the WB-47E and McConnell 1 mile away also has one for direct reference.

If anyone happens upon this thread that has B-47 reference material please send me a message here. I'm always on the hunt for information specific to these planes.

[dc8flightdeck]

Last spring KAM's B-47 was moved by a Tornado. Here are pics of it being put back into place.

[50fighterfan]

The Hill AFB Museum has a 47 that they recently put back together. They might be another good source for info. Just google Hill AFB Museum.