The Last #B36 Peacemaker Foundation's Attempt to Save "The City of Ft. Worth"!

In 1970 it was determined that the #B36Peacemaker at Amon Carter Field needed to be scrapped or moved to make way for the new DFW airport. Sam Ball on a flight out of Amon Carter noticed the Peacemaker and decided to form the Peacemaker Foundation for a one time flight to save the plane. Alvon Dahl and Team hung the propellers, he worked at Convair for 47 years. He told me of an attempt to start and I went to see the first start of #4 on 11/8/1970. #4 ran fine...matter of fact it did not want to stop! for about 30 minutes now in darkness, the engine would spool down but the come back to life due to a leaking primer. Fuel line was disconnected finally to stop it. I joined the Peacemaker Foundation that night even though I was attending TCU, and working full time at Fort Worth Police Department, 7-Eleven, AF ROTC, and TCU Marching Band. Doug and I worked on Weekends, and Holidays for 3 years and 5 months. March 11,1974 John Irons Group Started the process of disassembly for land based move. At this point we had run all of the engines and the jets were ready to be run. Not wise to run them in a grass field! Supplemental Information: #5 Carb Corrosion.... The carburetor #5 was falling apart due to corrosion. At one point the fuel tanks were filled with water to keep the plane from blowing away! Then because water is heavier than fuel it was drained. The fuel valve was open on #5. Ruining the carb. over the years. The Farmer that owned the XC-99 in San Antonino offered to swap a carb. We hopped into my 1962 Plymouth Belvedere and acquired a good carb. and a tour of the XC-99! Spark Plugs... When we joined we were assigned to Glen to prepare engines for starting under his supervision. Our skinny long arms were perfect to get in the deep and dark spaces where the Spark Plugs hid 56 of them on each engine. Up to this time the spark plug were removed and taken to Hensley Field to be cleaned of 15 years of oil. Then a blessing came from an angel... We were notified to be at the west side of General Dynamics and bring shovels and a pickup. A dump Truck arrived and It was dumping Brand New spark plugs in their hermetically sealed cardboard tubes. We shoveled spark plugs until the pickup springs were overloaded! Then the bulldozer covered the ditch with dirt. From that point on we used new spark plugs. Disaster ... We had become complacent... We had been running #3 and #2 at will to generate donations. The Idea proposed to run #3 and #2 at the same time for the News Media. That required Servicing the Tires, Bearings, and Brakes as well as lowering the plane onto it's own feet to take strain off of the landing gear. Normal procedure was for me to crawl through the wing to verify the Oil Shutoff Valve had moved to the open position. Due to media time constraints this was not done. I am on the ground with Glen on the intercom He called for ready on #3 , I responded with Clear, and counted off six blades Glen engaged ignition and the engine roared to life billowing smoke yet running smooth. Glen after about 20 seconds called out that he did not have oil pressure indication, Ed and Glen switched coax to #2 oil pressure gauge still no pressure or oil temp indication. I told Glen on the intercom that something did not sound right as the blades swished by in front of me. When Glen pulled back the mixture to idle cut off the prop stopped rotating immediately. The news crews left and with this it appears we lost confidence from our supporters and donors! I tried to move the prop but it would not budge. Glen engaged the starter but it also could make the prop move. Autopsy... Thinking it was oil starvation I climbed into the left wing crawl way out to the oil shut off valve for engine #3... it was in the open position and oil was filling the bottom of the wing. The oil line had been cut on the engine side of the valve with a fine saw! When the engine started it was sucking AIR not OIL!!! My Further investigation revealed that the oil lines on all 6 engines had been cut in the same manner! By cutting the oil lines in this manner the hundred gallons of oil in each tank would not leak and then when the valve was opened it would start to leak, then when engine start occurs the oil pump would suck air not cold oil from the tank! Glen and Ed verified my findings. Politics or Sabotage ??? J-47 Turbojets... They were cleaned and inspected during the return to flight effort. but, Glen and others had warned against starting them until the plane was on cement. Glens experience on the KC-97 was that they on occasion would throw a fireball and that would be very dangerous being surrounded with grass! The Airplane was given to John Irons Group who after much sweat and tears masterfully disassembled, transported, and reassembled the City of Fort Worth at Carswell. While return to flight failed, it bought valuable time! Hope you Enjoyed the video and information! Neil Dahl Thanks to Mary Ann for her support.