Responses: 4
Smoke bombers it’s a dangerous aviation endeavor. NC Air Guard lost a C-130 and crew some years ago.
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1SG Dean Mcbride (MPER) (CPHR)
Smoke Jumpers are also in that group of dangerous aviation endeavors. A very large Smoke Jumpers school is located in Missoula, Montana (my home town). I new a few of the graduates - balls of steel!
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A lot of old bombers became fire fighters. I think the B-66 was one of the most common one.
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SSgt Robert Atkinson
I worked on the restoration of a retired slurry bomber, (a B-17,) when I was in the 7th Bomb Wing, the objective was to restore it to original flying status, I worked on repair of the ARC-3 UHF radio.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
SSgt Robert Atkinson That's quite a project. I helped restore the B-29, The Great Artiste when I was at the 509th Bomb Wing. But that was just to be a static display at the main gate. I can't imagine the work involved to make a WWII era aircraft flyable.
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SSgt Robert Atkinson
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen it was flyable! That was one of our problems, it had four turboprop engines. The original engines were unattainable. It was listed as an active asset of the 7th BW. Unfortunately I went PCS to Thailand before the project was complete. I believe it's on static display at Dyess today. I can't remember the tail number. When I worked on it it still carried civilian markings.
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PB4Y-2 Privateer, the Navy version of the B-24. This version saw service in WWII & in Korea. It's an update on the PB4Y-1 Liberator. It was retired by the Navy in 1954, by the Coast Guard in 1958.
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