Promotional event for the film "Desert Rats." Taken on Times Square in New York City on May 10, 1953 by Peter Jingeleski
Found on http://www.shorpy.com/shared?page=9
Marc knows quite a lot about this plane, and shared in the comments that it was the 1st to go round the world with in-flight refueling, and the wings were damaged so badly during a landing that they were removed
Make what you can of this, but that very fuselage, or one just like it named the Lucky Lady, is at the Planes of Fame museum in Chino. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-quick-look-at-planes-of-fame-museum.html
As a plane guy I need to be annoying and say that's a Boeing B-50, not a B-29. That particular B-50 was the Lucky Lady II which was the first plane to fly around the world non-stop using aerial refueling...
ReplyDeleteWow, well... how can a novice tell the difference with a quick look? and why did the Lucky Lady 2 get used for a movie promo, but have the 2 removed from the side when stuck in the museum? Strange stuff!
DeleteWell the obvious ways to tell are to look at the engine nacelles or the vertical stabilizer, not much use here. In reality, the B-50 (originally designated B-29D) was just a B-29A with more powerful and reliable engines, stronger wings, and a larger tail, the fuselage is outwardly pretty much the same. The only way I knew is that I'd heard of the Lucky Lady II.
DeleteAs for why it was used for a movie promo, it was written off in a crash sometime after the round the world flight, although the fuselage was still in good shape. I assume the USAF tried to generate a little favorable publicity by showing off what remained of the first plane to fly around the world nonstop. Later, they likely sold it as scrap to the highest bidder.
By the way, for a truly mind-blowing variant of the B-29 that few have heard of, I present the Tu-4, a marvel of reverse engineering!
DeleteI'll have to look at that tomorrow... it's late!
DeleteAnd, yes, it is the same fuselage that you saw at Planes of Fame. The original wings were damaged beyond repair in a landing accident. The museum has a set of KC-97 wings (which are pretty much identical to the B-50s), with thoughts of mating them to this fuselage to make the only flyable B-50.
ReplyDeleteWell, wow! You are really familiar with this plane! Did you know it was in the museum, did you know it was used for this movie premier?
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