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Corrosion corner FL and similar please

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Corrosion corner FL and similar please

Old 3rd Sep 2020, 16:08
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I certainly recall that amazing Howard 250 - apparently at Vacaville now. I saw quite few Lockheed twins on that trip as I recall.
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 22:25
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Those old Bluebell//Wrangler and then Tradewind CL-44 were retired and returned to lessor when Tradewinds acquired the one-off L-1011-1 N311EA. With no takers they languished at GSO for some years unattended. When snbowstorms hit (rarely) the snow on the tail would cause them to tilt back on their tails.
Finally, a South African gentleman (I believe) appeared having acquired them. I was Direcor of Quality Control at Tradewinds then and he rented our hangar and some of our mechanics moolinghted for him. He was going to fly thise CL-44 away.
I positively informed our FAA FSDO that Tradewinds had no connection, part or any interest in the restoration of two of the aircraft aside from the hangar lease. I also, being on good terms with the Feds asked them if they had any interest in this restoration process.
They had none since the the gentleman in question (GIQ) was the authorized airworthiness poobah of some Central African country and had an ornate, well sealed paper to prove it. He had a colorful history of flying merceneraries around in Africa and I smelled some CIA influence in the whole matter although that may have been my imagiation.
Two CL-44's were cobbled together using years old spares that had been stored in the aircraft and picking the bones on a third. The first took off on a test hop and landed in Bermuda. Not bad for the first flight after some years of sitting. Second leg was across the pond. Second plane left later and also made it.
One of the mechanics had accompanied one of the flights and kept in touch with the GIQ. He received a message about the fate of one of the aircraft. Apparently the GIQ was flying it sans copilot with a number of gentlemen in back (it was a freighter remember), their armament status not indicated. An engine caught fire (Tradewinds had sufferred a Tyne fire some years before). He lost control but, after some violent maneuvers he regained it just in time to plough into a clearing. All escaped. Not many aircraft have suchj an interesting career.
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Old 6th Sep 2020, 18:39
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A small corrosion corner at Sebastian, FL in 2002:
IM001593_resize by Jelle Hieminga, on Flickr
Marked as N136L.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 15:35
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Watson Island was the home of Chalks and always worth a visit on a MIA stop-over.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 15:37
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 15:38
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 15:40
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They even had their own Corrosion Corner.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 09:22
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I've found a few more from MIA.

Challenge Air Cargo ramp with two DC-6s, two Convairs and one of Jean Rich's C-46s flying past on take-off.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 09:23
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 09:24
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George T Baker aviation school.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 09:26
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Early model Martin B-57.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 09:56
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If I recall alright, the B-57 had been used by NOAA or whoever it was that had a couple of civvy weather research P-3s at Miami. There was also a civvy A-4 at George T Baker in '84.
Great pics! I'll have to clear my loft out soon (new roof ) so will go through pics stored up there and see if I have anything...
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 16:30
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Originally Posted by treadigraph
If I recall alright, the B-57 had been used by NOAA or whoever it was that had a couple of civvy weather research P-3s at Miami. There was also a civvy A-4 at George T Baker in '84.
Great pics! I'll have to clear my loft out soon (new roof ) so will go through pics stored up there and see if I have anything...
my breath suitably bated and fingers tightly crossed, Sir
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 16:50
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Found my log books... cough! Bloody dust...
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Old 12th Sep 2020, 06:53
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Bone yard; How many different types?
Copy and paste all of the following line, then search G__gle Maps in sat view:-
9QX8+89 Hangtianzhen, Jinta County, Jiuquan, Gansu, China

Also look here;-
8MGXCR83+4H
But not due for the scrap heap just yet ?
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Old 18th Sep 2020, 15:23
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Found another one. Lockheed Harpoon N6647D taken at Belize in 1975 when I was on the Belfast. It was originally a drug-runner which later got seriously modified by a hurricane. We were on our way to inspect it when we were told it was full of snakes!
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Old 19th Sep 2020, 22:57
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I first did a serious trip around Florida in 1991. Miami still had the C-97s though I didn't see them move, and every few hours there would be at least a DC-6 or piston Convair movement. Opa Locka had an immaculate DC-7, along with substantial numbers of 727s from bankrupted carriers. Kermit weeks museum was still down at Homestead, there was a nicely restored and immaculate C-46 there, which only some months later was reduced to beer cans when Hurricane Andrew came through - Weeks' museum moved to central Florida after that. It was all at the end of some fascinating final operations, some were apparently professional, others run by real cowboys.

A Boeing C-97, registered in Dominican Republic but operated out of Miami, crashed in 1987 on a cargo flight departing Mexico for the US, with serious loss of life on the ground. A Boeing spokesman said they had "no idea such antiquated aircraft were still operating". This seemed extraordinary for their actual manufacturer, when they regularly appeared in various magazines, and enthusiasts from Europe and elsewhere were to be seen at Miami every day, a major airport in their country of manufacture, specifically photographing them.

Originally Posted by tonytales
Those old Bluebell//Wrangler and then Tradewinds CL-44 ... One of the mechanics had accompanied one of the flights and kept in touch with the GIQ. He received a message about the fate of one of the aircraft.
There's quite a bit about these aircraft's subsequent exploits in Africa here http://www.ruudleeuw.com/search127.htm . They apparently got around a bit, were seen in Johannesburg, Lisbon and Sharjah, among others. One was still derelict at Brazzaville only some 10 years ago, but isn't on Google Earth now.

Slightly confusing is there were two Tradewinds operators of the big Canadair, yours in the USA and a completely different (unless you say otherwise) substantial all-cargo operator from London Gatwick to Africa and Asia all through the 1970s.

Last edited by WHBM; 19th Sep 2020 at 23:24.
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Old 20th Sep 2020, 19:51
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A few more from 1987:

C-46 HI-171: later unintentionally dropped during a heli lift.




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Old 21st Sep 2020, 09:10
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I guess this is a bit of a corrosion corner story but maybe it'll have a successful conclusion:

https://leehamnews.com/2020/09/21/po...stined-to-usa/
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Old 6th Oct 2020, 23:53
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Originally Posted by JW411

1981: DC-7B (front end only), C-46 & B-26.
Would this have been from Conner's yard?

T J
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