[ARC5] More on the "No HF" Myth

[Sean Barton]

OK, I found it.  Feb. 1992 issue of Air Classics magazine.  Article 
entitled "War Assets".  Has photos taken at Ontario (Chino) and Kingman 
showing B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26.  In 1946 you could purchase a B-17 for 
$13,750, a B-29 for $32,500, a C-47 for between $15k and $40k.  There is 
a photo in this article of a field of B-17s to be scrapped in Munich, 
Germany.  The article says that many of the planes that were scrapped in 
the U.S. were being transferred for use in the PTO but the war ended 
before they got there.

Sean






On Fri, Jan 25, 2002 at 12:17:16PM -0600, Barton, Sean Ryan (UMR-Student) wrote:
> 
>    Re: Aircraft being returned,
> 
>    I have an issue of Warbirds magazine or the like that has a listing of
>    various aircraft that were parked at airfields across the U.S. waiting
>    to be scrapped.  I'll try to dig that out this afternoon to see if
>    they
>    have a listing of B-17 and B-24 numbers.  However I think most were
>    training and transport aircraft.  If anyone has seen the film "The
>    Best
>    Years of Our Lives", the scene at the end takes place in one of these
>    salvage yards full of B-17's.
> 
>    Sean
> 
>    Paul H. Anderson wrote:
> 
>    > On Fri, 25 Jan 2002, Mike wrote:
>    >
>    >  > Todd Bigelow - PS wrote:
>    >  >
>    >  > > I realize it's long after the fact and things could have been
>    changed
>    >  > > since the 1940s, but I've been through two B-17s in the last
>    decade
>    > and
>    >  > > both had BC-348/BC-375/SCR-274N gear installed. I looked the
>    aircraft
>    >  > > over pretty well(spent two days in one) to see if anything was
>    >  > > missing(any large gaps, patterns of holes where shockmounts
>    could've
>    >  > > been mounted, etc), didn't see anything to indicate any other
>    gear had
>    >  > > been installed.
>    >  >
>    >  > I have read that *very* few B-17s and B-24s were returned from
>    the UK
>    >  > back to the US following the war.  Apparently they weren't worth
>    the
>    >  > effort and cost to reclaim.  The B-29 had come on the scene for
>    Pacific
>    >  > Theater use.  I wonder how many of the surviving B-17 and B-24
>    airframes
>    >  > now in the USA actually served in the UK.  This would be
>    critical,
>    >
>    > I agree: from what I've read, only one or two of the surviving
>    B-17's on
>    > the airshow circuit were used in WWII combat.  The history of most
>    B-17
>    > airframes indicates they were produced, sat around in the US for
>    awhile,
>    > then were purchased by either government agencies for transport or
>    > research use, or were sold directly to commercial interests, who
>    > presumably used them as fire bombers.  I've got some books (commonly
>    > available) that talk about the history of the airframes in detail,
>    and
>    > this might shed some light on the subject.
>    >
>    > If it is true that aircraft were produced new without radios (which
>    I
>    > _though_ was the case), then the first, apparently stock
>    installation in
>    > many of these airframes would be whatever was most appropriate for
>    thier
>    > immediate use.  If the survivors were mostly US based govt research
>    and
>    > firebomber use, then the choices might well be more skewed in that
>    > direction rather than what was used in the ETO.
>    >
>    > Returning the aircraft really would be difficult to do.  It was hard
>    > enough to get them over there in the first place (i.e. landing
>    midway in
>    > Greenland at a relatively small airstrip).  Dunno if the B-17's all
>    > stopped over or not - just remembering the story of the Lost
>    Squadron.
>    >
>    > Hope this helps... I'm very interested in reading all these
>    observations
>    > and theories.
>    >
>    > Paul
>    >
>    >
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