Jennings Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Many years ago a friend from my Embry-Riddle days became something of an amateur aviation archaeologist. He's from California (aren't they all?), so when he returned to the left coast, he started hunting down crash sites and recovering bits of airplane. One of the more interesting pieces he gave me is an approximately 2x3 cm chunk of XB-70 #2 (62-0207) that crashed on 8 June 1966 (wow... almost exactly 44 years ago!). One side is still mostly covered with white paint, and on the other you can clearly see the imprint of the honeycomb material that the skin was made of. I scored a gorgeous 8x10" color photo of Ship #2 from eBay this week. Now I need to get the two framed together. Once I get it done I'll post a pic of it. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B52HVet Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 (edited) Very cool. Got an XB-70 in the stash, staring at me. I've got a few pieces of birds... I really should do something with them, instead of just hauling them all over the country. Edited June 13, 2010 by B52HVet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
splatcat Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 That is very interesting. I would love to see the pictures when you get done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oldHooker Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 (edited) That would make a very interesting conversation piece, congratulations! My prize possessions in terms of aircraft relics are the pilot's floor panel and belly skin sections, including a bullet hole patch from the sole suviving Boeing/Vertol ACH-47A "Easy Money", taken during the restoration at the first of the century. Edited June 12, 2010 by oldHooker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikar Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Here's something I got from my father: I have it in a frame now because the envelope is delicate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov-47 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 This is a piece of Francis Gary Powers' U-2. It was given to me by the deputy director of the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow on my last visit to Russia back in 1997. A Russian friend managed to get me a private VIP tour of the place when it was closed. I've always meant to do something with it, get it framed or something, but I just never get around to some things. I keep it in a zip-lock bag, thumb-tacked to a wall in my model room. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted June 13, 2010 Author Share Posted June 13, 2010 This is a piece of Francis Gary Powers' U-2. Oh MAN!!! I'd kill for that one!! The Hindenburg bits as well!! :P J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richter111 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Excellent stuff here folks! Keep on posting, love seeing these things! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 (edited) Stunning finds, folks!! I'm amazed...it's one thing to have a bit of Tomcat, Viper or F-4; another thing entirely to have bits of one-of-a-kind or similar, such as what you all have got. I'm totally stunned! Here's my pride and joy, given to me by one of my friends, one of the last living USS Arizona survivors. I was STUNNED to get this from him last December. No kidding, it's a piece of the iron armor decking from the wreckage of the USS Arizona, about 5" across or so. Apparently came from the last bit of topside decking removed from the boat deck (after the teak had burned away, of course) when they removed the last little bit to make room for the current Memorial built over the battleship's wreck. I call it "Sacred Wreckage." Okay, admittedly not from a plane, but most certainly destroyed by them. Edited June 13, 2010 by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Great artifacts, folks ! Although it's in storage, I have a piece of solid metal tubing from the Shuttle Columbia, it was removed during one of the Shuttle's early refits ... It was given to me by my neighbor back in California, he worked at Rockwell during the program .... My Grandfather on my Father's side was at Lakehurst Naval Station to see the Hindenburg come in that fateful day ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Satelliteman Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 All I have is a tail hook from an A6 Intruder. WAAAYYY too heavy to frame & hang. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 All I have is a tail hook from an A6 Intruder. WAAAYYY too heavy to frame & hang. Dude, you could make one heckuva bar rail from that! It'd be quite a thing for guests to lean on THAT as they enjoy their adult beverage.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clumber Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 (edited) We have a piece of an SB-17 that crashed up in the mountains in the gorgeous Cascades. It is waaaay up at the top of what used to be a terrific hike, and we also have several photos of each of us among the wreckage. Sadly, not long after we hiked there the land was apparently turned over to a private party and word is they bulldozed the crash site and covered the place with no trespassing signs. The piece I have includes some of the yellow paint and my intent is to display it with a finished SB-17 from the Minicrapft kit, but so far everytime I think about starting that project and look at the kit... I scare myself away. It is currently displayed on the hobby room wall beneath a terrific painting of an SB-17 dropping its lifeboat to a foundering ship in a storm. I'll try to get a photo of it and maybe upload some of the shots we have when we hiked there. Edit addition : Here is a site that gives info about the crash. And another just of some other folks who went up before access was lost. All is long before public access was ended of course. (I just gave myself some procrastination time for posting our pics, right? lol) Edited June 15, 2010 by Clumber Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikar Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 Great artifacts, folks !Although it's in storage, I have a piece of solid metal tubing from the Shuttle Columbia, it was removed during one of the Shuttle's early refits ... It was given to me by my neighbor back in California, he worked at Rockwell during the program .... My Grandfather on my Father's side was at Lakehurst Naval Station to see the Hindenburg come in that fateful day ... Gregg I'm not exactly sure where he was at the time of the crash ro how he got the pieces but he grew up in New Jersey and was living there at the time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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