FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1948
1948 - 2044.PDF
664 7 7 December ind. 1048 A few of the fifteen hundred cocooned ^29' at Daris-Monthan field, Tucson. REST IN PEACE — But Ready in Emergency • Cocooning Superforts W ASTAGE of weapons representing enormous sumsof money is inevitable after a war, and aircraftby the thousands have been scrapped since theGerman and Japanese surrender. American Superfortress bombers which cost about ^185,000 each were in full-scale production in 1945 ; some 2,800 had been produced, and the machine is still one of the best bombers in service in the world. Following demobilization, all but a few hundred of the B-2ys were parked and held in reserve, but the task of keeping them in condition was tremendous, and the cost in money and manpower prohibitive. Obviously, their size precluded the possibility of storage under cover. For this reason, research was made into methods of protec- tion, and a very satisfactory and economical system was evolved at the Warner-Robins field, Georgia. Plastic en velopes, airtight and completely covering the aircraft, are sprayed on in five separate coats. Each coat is a dif- Cortring 0 B-29 tail. The colour indicates that this is the t»«« application, having three. more coats for complete protection. ferent colour, so that there shall be no confusion about the number of applications, and the process starts with the protection and masking of all transparent panels. Open- ings are also "cobwebbed" before spraying starts. The fourth sprayed coating has an asphalt base which ex- cludes all moisture, and the final coat is aluminium to reflect the sun's rays and avoid excessive heat inside the. aircraft. The complete envelope is described as being seven times stronger than rawhide. In case of emergency the plastic cocoons can be removed quickly, and cleaning-up, inspection and the refitting of the equipment removed before cocooning would not take long. In all, 1,500 of the 2,800 total of Superforts are beingcocooned. Four hundred others are in service, and they are backed by a 100 pei cent reserve held in immediatereadiness. The protective envelopes are expected to remain effective for from five to ten years.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
