2017_2017_06_01_Day 1 of B-26 Marauder Historical Society Reunion

Thursday June 1, Day 1 Activities during the B-26 Marauder Historical Society Reunion in Reston VA.

The main event of the day was a tour of the Flak Bait restoration at the Udvar_Hazy Space Center followed by a social in the evening. Please excuse me if I got your name wrong in the following photos. With help from Phil Gutt, I tried to caption all the photos.

IMG_2566.JPG: Gathering in the back lobby while waiting for the bus to take us to the Udvar_Hazy Space Center.

IMG_2567.JPG: One of almost hundreds of planes, this one from WWII, that are hanging from the ceiling or parked on the floor of this huge museum.

IMG_2568.JPG: You are greeted by this huge SR-71 Blackbird spy plane that sits in the middle of the building, first to be seen when you walk in.

IMG_2570.JPG: The MIG-21, one of many late 20th century military aircraft on the floor. It entered service in 1960 with more than 6000 manufactured and flown by 36 nations. It could fly at Mach 2.04.

IMG_2571.JPG: The F4 Phantom also entered service in 1960 with over 5000 built by McDonnel Douglass. It could fly at Mach 2.2.

IMG_2572.JPG: The F-86 Sabre jet was American's first swept wing fighter, technology gleened from documents recovered from the Germans after WWII. This figher was used extensively during the Korean War when going into combat against MiG-15s. Its top speed was about 680 mph.

IMG_2576.JPG: This is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a twin engine supersonic variable-sweep wing fighter. It was first deployed to the Navy in 1974 and 712 built. Its maximum speed was around Mach 2.34.

IMG_2578.JPG: This WWII Navy carrier based plane was called the Curtiss Helldiver. They were designed to deliver bombs while diving toward a target. Dive bombing became obsolet as the war progressed.

IMG_2579.JPG: Another view of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. This very plane operated globally in hostile airspace with complete impunity since nothing could match its speed and altitude. This Blackbird accrued 2,800 flight hours. On its last flight from LA to DC it averaged 2,124 mph.

IMG_2581.JPG: Some of the WWII fighters hanging from the ceiling.

IMG_2582.JPG: The famous North American P-51 Mustang fighter. North American built the first Mustangs for the British RAF but it was soon adopted by the 8th Army Air Corp when it was used to escort bomber on raids into Germany. It continued in service into the Korean War. Behind is the tail section of the B-29 Enola Gay.

IMG_2583.JPG: Here is where it all started. A museum docent is explaining the operation of the 1903 Wright Flyer. The engine controls like most others on the plane were basic; on/off !

IMG_2584.JPG: This is one of the museum's jewels -- the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, the Enola Gay, named for the mother of Col. Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, Tibbets and his crew flew this bomber from Tinian, a small Pacific island airbase to Japan where they dropped Little Boy, a crude atomic bomb, on Hiroshima. In the years following the war, the plane had a sorted existence. It was given to the Smithsonian but the museum had no place to store such a large plane so it sat outside at various airfields, slowly getting picked apart by souvenir hunters. In 1960 it was disassembled and moved into the museum's storage facility in Suitland MD where it sat until restoration started in 1984. The forward section of the plane on exhibit in the Air and Space Museum stirred controversy over the role the a-bomb played in ending the war. Red paint was splashed on it by protestors. The current restoration was completed in 2003.

IMG_2585.JPG: The contrast - from the Boeing 707 sitting on the floor to the sky filled with early and current aircraft.

IMG_2586.JPG: Here is our group waiting our turn to go into the museum restoration shop where the B-26 Flak Bait is being restored.

IMG_2589.JPG: Karl Musselman used to build plastic airplane models to hang in his room. But, they were nothing like this collection in the hall leading into the workshop area.

IMG_2590.JPG: Pat Robinson, the lead on the Flak Bait restoration team briefed us on procedures - DO NOT TOUCH - inside the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hanger.

IMG_2596.JPG: This is only surviving Sikorsky JRS-1 amphibious seaplane. It was one of ten stationed in the Hawaiian Islands during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was used to search for submarines and enemy ships. The seaplane was moved from the Suitland facility to the Engen Restoration Hanger in 2011 where restoration work is going on.

IMG_2598.JPG: This is Apollo 11 command module Columbia in the restoration hanger where it is being prepared for a nationwide tour. After the tour it will become part of a permanent display in a new exhibit called Destination Moon scheduled to open in 2020.

IMG_2593.JPG: Wings of an early model airplane that is being restored. Behind is the B-26 Flak Bait.

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IMG_2602.JPG: Team leader working on the old plane

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IMG_2594.JPG: Bob and Angie Magruder.

IMG_2597.JPG: Restoration leader Pat Robinson pointing out several aspects of the Flak Bait restoration project.

IMG_2605.JPG: Front nose and cockpit section of Flak Bait. This B-26 bomber completed 207 missions over Europe during WWII, more than any other surviving aircraft. Its first pilot Lt. James Farrell flew more missions in the plane than any other pilot. He named the plane after his family dog, Flea Bait. The wing box and tail sections are further behind.

IMG_2609.JPG: Pat Robinson explaining some of the artwork and graffiti on the plane.

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IMG_2633.JPG: Crewmen left their mark on the plane

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IMG_2618.JPG: I failed to get this gentleman's name. He is the mechanic who restored the twin Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines. He said when he started the pistons were frozen in the cylinders. Asked whether it could be started, he thought a moment then said it would probably run with the additions of some components still not attached.

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IMG_2614.JPG: View from behind the engine. The large tank is for engine oil.

IMG_2621.JPG: Looking into the back of the cockpit area. The restoration team are restoring the plane to its flying condition the day it was decommissioned. They are not trying to "make a new plane".

IMG_2620.JPG: Looking into the cockpit from the flight deck windows. The overhead lights are reflecting off the glass.

IMG_2622.JPG: Some of the wiring, etc. along the port side of the plane. Flight surface control cables are dangling free since they have been disconnected where they connect to those in the wing box and tail sections. The racks were for the navigator's radios and other similar navigation electronics.

IMG_2623.JPG: This is looking into the wing box and bomb bay racks.

IMG_2624.JPG: This is an example of how shrapnel cut holes into the outer skin. There are also places where shrapnel pierced the structural ribs. These holes were covered by circular pieces of aluminum that were riveted on so the plane could quickly return to service.

IMG_2625.JPG: Port side of the wing box. The port wing attaches and covers this long hole.

IMG_2627.JPG: This is the underside of the starboard wing. The engine attaches to some of the internal structure that is exposed here.

IMG_2628.JPG: Looking down the tail section toward the tail gunner's area.

IMG_2630.JPG: Another view of the wing. The circular holes are to gain access to the fuel tanks.

IMG_2631.JPG: Member of the restoration team pointing out some of the flak damage repairs.

IMG_2632.JPG: Aren't many opportunities to get right next to real history so might as well get it well documented.

IMG_2636.JPG: Jim and Ann Downing

IMG_2637.JPG: The plane's name plate.

IMG_2640.JPG: After we left the restoration area, we met with Tom Jones, one of the space shuttle astronauts. He gave us a pretty good explanation of what life on the shuttle was like from takeoff to landing. For such a big machine, the crew quarters were about the size of 2 mini-vans.

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IMG_2643.JPG: One last look around before departing.

IMG_2645.JPG: Some of the WWI aircraft.

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IMG_2648.JPG: This was Samuel Langley's Aerodrome A that built about the same time as the Wright brothers built their plane. Its first launch was in October 1903. It never got off the ground. Langley blamed its failure on the launch mechanism. After the second disastrous launch attempt he gave up on aeronautics.