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March Field Museum Riverside, CA
This is the nose section of a B-47 that was used in the filming of the
move ’Strategic Air Command‘, starring Jimmy Stewart as
Col. Robert ”Dutch“ Holland and June Allyson as his wife Sally.
Holland was a WWII era flyer who was a famous and highly paid pitcher
with the Saint Louis Cardinals baseball team. He was called up for
active duty in the Strategic Air Command, where he flew the B-36
bomber. Holland eventually gave up baseball to fly the new B-47 jet
bomber, but after a long overseas mission, an injury from a previous
crash landing was aggravated, and Holland was grounded and no longer
able to pitch.
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The movie features fantastic flying scenes from the 1950s, with long
sequences of B-36 footage, early jet fighters, and a B-47 scramble where
several Stratojets take off in sequence. Of all the movies made about
bombers, this is, by far, the best there is. The B-47 nose section is now
on display at the March Field Museum in Riverside, California. I do not know
the history of this nose section. It might have been a trainer or test
article, but more likely, it was built for the movie. In any case, it is
fascinating to study.
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Authored by John A. Weeks III, Copyright © 1996—2016, all rights reserved. For further information, contact: john@johnweeks.com
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