Wednesday, January 26, 2005

B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUM in FORT WORTH

B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUM in FORT WORTH This is great news. The "Last Peacemaker" looks like it finally will have a permanent home. BUT - contributions are urgently needed. Click here to donate. Here's the story, in brief: The B-36 Peacemaker was the US's main heavy strategic bomber during the darkest days of the Cold War. 385 were built between 1946 and 1952. The last one was retired in 1959. Four survive today. The last one built, #52-827, was preserved in Fort Worth. During the 1970's it suffered extreme damage from vandals, and languished outside in the harsh Texas climate, slowly deteriorating. During the 1990s it was lovingly restored by a team of dedicated volunteers. Click here for before-and-after photos. However, plans to build a permanent home in which to display the massive aircraft have fallen through time and again. The current caretakers have been given space at the terminal of Ft. Worth's Meacham Airport to set up displays, and a promise of space on the airport to construct a building for the great plane, but they need to raise a construction fund of $2 million in order to convince the Air Force (who owns the plane) not to move the plane to the desert near Pima, Arizona. Click here to donate.

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