An evening with a B17 in Atwater CA

[Lndwarrior]

Next Saturday, September 28th at Castle Air Museum they will be showing the movie the Memphis Belle on the lawn between the B17 and B29. They will be serving chili and sodas.

This is a great opportunity to treat your kids (or adults) to a fun evening under the stars among these amazing aircraft.

If you've never been to Castle Air Museum they have a massive collection of all the biggest aircraft the Air Force has flown. Also a huge collection of WW2 aircraft, and many modern ones. It's an amazing museum that many NorCal pilots aren't even aware of.

FYI - I have the honor of being the caretaker of the B17 for the museum.

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[iamtheari]

Is this a fly-in event? What is the airport code? I’ll be traveling probably the wrong direction that day, but if the weather is bad enough on my route I want to know where to divert.

 

[MBDiagMan]

Are these bombers airworthy?

 

[<RP><]

Is this a fly-in event? What is the airport code? I’ll be traveling probably the wrong direction that day, but if the weather is bad enough on my route I want to know where to divert.

It’s KMER. Park on the ramp abeam the tower. It’s a short walk to the museum, less than a mile.

 

[Aviatorbrew]

Castle -Atwater has an awesome collection, especially the b-36
Easy to fly into Kmer, nice long b-52 runway
Easy walk to the museum, one of my favorite valley destinations when I lived there

 

[Lndwarrior]

Is this a fly-in event? What is the airport code? I’ll be traveling probably the wrong direction that day, but if the weather is bad enough on my route I want to know where to divert.

It's not exactly a fly-in event. The museum is 1/2 mile from Castle Airport. Not a bad walk, but I fly with my scooter to get there and back.

 

[Lndwarrior]

Are these bombers airworthy?

No. But the museum does a good job of keeping the up, both inside and out. They have a dedicated restoration department.

They're getting a stealth fighter ready for display now but it won't be viewable for some time. The air force donated it with the fuse coating removed. Not sure what the reason was. Now they are working on cleaning the fuse and getting it ready for a paint that will look as close as possible to the original coating.

 

[Lndwarrior]

Here's a partial list of aircraft on display. I know of a few aircraft that are there that are not on the list. And yes, they really do have a thermonuclear bomb... or at least the exterior casing.

Avro-Canada CF-100 Mk.V Canuck

Avro Vulcan B.2

Beech C-45G Expeditor

Beech YT-34 Mentor

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

Boeing B-29A Superfortress

Boeing B-47E Stratojet

Boeing B-52D Stratofortress

Boeing F/A-18C Hornet

Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter

Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker

Boeing WB-50 Superfortress

Cessna C-150

Cessna O-2A Super Skymaster

Cessna T-37B Tweet

Cessna U-3A

Cessna UC-78 Bobcat

Consolidated B-24M Liberator

Convair B-58A Hustler

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger

Convair F-106A Delta Dart

Convair HC-131 Samaritan

Convair RB-36H Peacemaker

Curtiss C-46D Commando

de Havilland Canada L-20 Beaver

Douglas A-26B Invader

Douglas A-4L Skyhawk

Douglas B-18 Bolo

Douglas B-23 Dragon

Douglas C-47 Skytrain

Douglas R5D-4 Skymaster

Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior

Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless

Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar

Fairchild C-123K Provider

General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon

General Dynamics FB-111A Aardvark

Grumman A-6E Intruder

Grumman F-14D Tomcat

Grumman HU-16B Albatross

Grumman S-2 Tracker

Lockheed C-56 Lodestar

Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star

Lockheed F-80B Shooting Star

Lockheed F-104B Starfighter

Lockheed F-94A Starfire

Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk[25]

Lockheed MC-130P Combat Shadow

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star

Martin EB-57A Canberra

McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle

McDonnell Douglas VC-9C

McDonnell F-101B Voodoo

McDonnell F-4E Phantom II

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

North American AT-6 Texan

North American B-25J Mitchell

North American B-45A Tornado

North American F-86H Sabre

North American F-100 Super Sabre

North American RA-5C Vigilante

North American T-39 Saberliner

Northrop F-89J Scorpion

Northrop T-38 Talon

Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler

Republic F-84C Thunderjet

Republic F-84F Thunderstreak

Republic F-105B Thunderchief

Saab TF 35 Draken

Schweizer TG-3A

Stinson L-5 Sentinel

Vought RF-8G Crusader

Vultee BT-13 Valiant

Bell AH-1 SuperCobra

Bell H-13 Sioux

Boeing CH-47D Chinook

Kaman HH-43B Huskie

Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk

AGM-28 Hound Dog - Cruise Missile

GAM-63 Rascal - Nuclear Air-to-Surface Missile

MB-1C - B-58 Nuclear Weapons Pod

Kawasaki KAQ-1 - UAV/Target Drone

MK. 17 - Thermonuclear Bomb

NASA "Hyperglider" - Experimental Vehicle

Norden Mk. XV - Declassified Bombsight

Ryan BQM-34 - UAV/Target Drone

 

[asicer]

They're getting a stealth fighter ready for display now but it won't be viewable for some time.

I see what you did there!

 

[Silvaire]

I flew there in a Citabria once. Held it off as long as I could but still hadn't got to the end of the displaced threshold when it set down. After that I taxied through this virtual city of giant jet blast structures for about five minutes to the tiedown area were I used some ropes to tie off to these huge steel cables about the diameter of Arnold Schwarzenegger's forearms and walked a quarter mile to the terminal building where I caught a bus to the museum. When I left I think I was passing through 3,000 feet when I finally got to the end of the runway.

 

[3393RP]

What a list of aircraft! I'd like to see that collection.

 

[Lndwarrior]

I see what you did there!

Yeah, there is one of these displays at Castle - however, there is a real stealth fighter in the restoration hangar now!

 

[Lndwarrior]

I flew there in a Citabria once. Held it off as long as I could but still hadn't got to the end of the displaced threshold when it set down. After that I taxied through this virtual city of giant jet blast structures for about five minutes to the tiedown area were I used some ropes to tie off to these huge steel cables about the diameter of Arnold Schwarzenegger's forearms and walked a quarter mile to the terminal building where I caught a bus to the museum. When I left I think I was passing through 3,000 feet when I finally got to the end of the runway.

It's a huge runway and airport. But, in fairness, you can park right in front of the terminal building now.