Makes you want to weep

[NutLoose]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPZ2ZxyzE4&sns=em



:(

[Boudreaux Bob]

This doesn't. But the thought of all those P-51's, P-47's, Mozzies, Spitfires, Lanc's, that got destroyed in much the same way after the War does break One's heart.

A visit to Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona will break your heart too.

Every one of those Birds that were scrapped out there had so many stories that need telling.

[500N]

Bob

"A visit to Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona will break your heart too."

At least the US seem to have a much better view of keeping things, especially any "historic" aircraft that were involved in significant actions.
ie Both aircraft from the Gulf of Sidra incident.

[Martin the Martian]

The pictures that get me are the shots of all those lend lease aircraft being pushed into the sea off aircraft carriers.

http://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/dh02.jpg

:{

[Martin the Martian]

But some do have a happy ending.

Gas up under the wings of Victory! Bomber Gas has been a landmark in the Portland area since 1947, when it arrived and became the region's most unusual filling station. It stopped operating as a gas station in 1991, and has since been associated with the adjacent restaurant, where visitors could grab a bite and a souvenir Bomber place mat.

Tipster Blair Shorney sent us this account of how the plane ended up in Milwaukie:

"Shortly after WWII a guy named Art Lacey went to Kansas to buy a surplus B-17. His idea was to fly it back to Oregon, jack it up in the air and make a gas station out of it. He paid $15,000 for it. He asked which one was his and they said take whichever you want because there were miles of them. He didn't know how to fly a four-engine airplane, so he read the manual while he taxied around by himself. They said he couldn't take off alone so he put a mannequin in the co-pilot's seat and off he went.

"He flew around a bit to get the feel of it and when he went to land he realized he needed a co-pilot to lower the landing gear. He crashed and totaled his plane and another on the ground. They wrote them both off as "wind damaged" and told him to pick out another. He talked a friend into being his co-pilot and off they went.

"They flew to Palm Springs where Lacey wrote a hot check for gas, then they headed for Oregon. They hit a snow storm and couldn't find their way, so they went down below 1,000 feet and followed the railroad tracks. His partner sat in the nose section and would yell, 'TUNNEL!' when he saw one and Lacey would climb over the mountain.

"They landed safely, he made good the hot check he wrote, and they started getting permits to move a B-17 on the state highway. The highway department repeatedly denied his permit and fought him tooth and nail fora long time, so late one Saturday night he just moved it himself. He got a $10 ticket from the police for having too wide a load."

Update: The B-17G, named "Lady Lacey" (after Art Lacey's British wife), has been undergoing a serious restoration effort since 2012, when the nose and cockpit were removed.

World War II Bomber Gas Station, Milwaukie, Oregon (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2968)

[Sandy Parts]

Great story - proves the usefulness of the co (other than for dishing out the imprest :)). Not quite as dramatic but you can also fill up 'under (well, near) the wings of victory' at the Buccaneer Filling Station in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. They are the rightfully proud owners of a surplus Bucc from when Lossie binned them post Gulf War 1. I remember seeing the rest piled up in sections in the scrappy where Asda now stands.

[Biggus]

Another inventive use for an airframe no longer airworthy:

Chef transforms grounded transatlantic plane into a la carte restaurant | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385115/Chef-transforms-grounded-transatlantic-plane-la-carte-restaurant.html)


There's more:

http://ghanarising.********.co.uk/2013/11/former-ghana-airways-aeroplane-now.html

(replace ******** with blog spot written as one word)

[Martin the Martian]

And don't forget the JumboHostel at Arlanda Airport. Mind, prices for staying in hostels seem to have gone up since I last used one.