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Last B-24


Maj. McRoy
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Interesting, considering the last B-24 in the Air Force inventory was retired in the early 1970s and is now on display at the Lackland AFB parade ground.

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Interesting, considering the last B-24 in the Air Force inventory was retired in the early 1970s and is now on display at the Lackland AFB parade ground.

 

If you are talking about the B-24 that is at the parade ground where the graduation ceremonies are held, when I was there 7 years ago it was a full scale mock up and not an original aircraft. It's well done, but when I got close to it I realized the windows were painted onto it.

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So I also just read.

 

When I was at Lackland in 1977-78, the aircraft was real and there was a sign in front of it that explained the history.

 

If I remember correctly, it had been flown by Calspan.

 

I always was amazed by that because the last B-17 is now a gate guard at Grissom AFB. It had been taken right off the ramp in 1968 and put on concrete pylons at the front gate. The 305th OMS was, at one point, in charge of maintaining that aircraft.

 

When Sho, Sho, Sho Baby was being restored at Dover, they scavenged the fuel lines and a bulkhead from that aircraft.

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I would hope the real B-24 that was at Lackland during you time was recovered for a museum, given that there are so few of them.

 

The book Hidden Warbirds II has a nice section on B-24's that either survived or were recovered.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Warbirds-II-Recovering-Rebuilding/dp/0760346011/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506466876&sr=8-2&keywords=hidden+warbirds

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Not sure, it didn't say. I suppose if one wanted to do a little detecting it would be easy to do a find a grave check some of the names on the aircraft?

 

I think there was also a considerable B-24 production facility at Ford's Willow Run plant.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks, I wish there were more information regarding it. I'd guess it may have been taken at Ford's WIllow Run plant, but I think B-24's were also produced on the west coast?

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I believe I read..in a book...the planes leaving the assembly line, in 45, were often times flown straight to the boneyards ....not so much the B29s but the 24s and the 17s..the book referenced AAF heavies, not fighters nor Navy production...

 

what strikes me in the photo is the lack of activity overall...there are hundreds of production plant photos...but they all seem to be representing activity, ....

 

This pic with the sign, the tires stacked up, and of course the sweater girl relaxing...just says...hey we did it

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think you are correct, after the war there was no need for obsolete types like the B-24 or the B-17, though both did end up used in commercial ventures at the EAA's B-17 Aluminium Overcast can attest. The B-29 did go on a little longer though in reduced numbers as it was a newer design and pressurized among other advancements, however it's specific role and design made it unsuited to any commercial ventures at all . Sad to think about now, but really there was no longer any need for them and the metals were in high demand. From aluminium pots, to bombers to pots. Kind of a beating swords into plowshares analogy...

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She's really tempting fate perched on a file cabinet that's half off the truck it's sitting on. Perhaps it's bolted down or attached to the desk. She really would be on the way out. Anywho, I saw a plant in San Diego earlier this year which I was told was a B-24 assembly plant.

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So this is at the Ford Willow Run plant , Michigan in July 1945, when the last one was finished. The last official USAF flight of one was in May of 1959

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I was thinking the same thing about the female sitting on the file cabinet! I'm amazed she didn't end up on her butt or worse. Did OSHA exist in 1945?

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  • 1 month later...

That file cabinet was designed all-of-one-piece integral to one of those old totally welded government steel desks - which weighed about 300 pounds each > so the dolly it sits on would have gone over before the dolly sitting on it did.

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