ew1usnr
March 15th, 2014, 07:10 PM
The local news carried a story that the world's only flying B-29 bomber would be at the Lakeland airport this weekend (about 40 miles east of Tampa). That seemed like something worth seeing, so we drove the Falcon over there this morning to check it out.
See: http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/lakeland/b-29-superfortress-visits-lakeland-through-sunday-as-part-of-caf-air-power-history-tour (http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/lakeland/b-29-superfortress-visits-lakeland-through-sunday-as-part-of-caf-air-power-history-tour)
3626
The B-29 was very impressive. The four engines make 2,000 horsepower each. The bomber itself weighed 58,000 lbs, but it weighed 133,000 lbs with a load of fuel and bombs and it had a 3,200 mile range.
3627
I liked the "Explore Florida" sign. I'm trying! I'm trying!
3628
Then we drove down to Fort Meade, a little one-street town about ten miles further south. It is a phosphate rock mining town. The rock is used to make fertilizer. The high school calls themselves "The Fighting Miners". Wikipedia says:
"Fort Meade is the oldest city in Polk County, dating its origins to 1849 when it was on an old military road from Tampa (then called Fort Brooke) to Fort Pierce during the Indian wars. Future Confederate General Stonewall Jackson (shown in the mural) was stationed at the fort in 1851. The town was burned by Union forces in 1864 and all of the original structures were destroyed, except the 2nd fort which was dismantled in the 1890s."
3629
This buggy stepping stone from 1918 was in front of the Fort Meade Historical Museum. The die-hard buggy owner must have been annoyed with all the Model-T's that would have been around by then.
3630
We added 150 miles to the odometer today and The Wonder Falcon got 18.8 miles per gallon. Old magazine articles that I have read said that 19 mpg was the top mileage for a 260 V-8 and Ford-O-Matic combination, so my little Falcon seems to be running exactly as it is supposed to.
See: http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/lakeland/b-29-superfortress-visits-lakeland-through-sunday-as-part-of-caf-air-power-history-tour (http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/lakeland/b-29-superfortress-visits-lakeland-through-sunday-as-part-of-caf-air-power-history-tour)
3626
The B-29 was very impressive. The four engines make 2,000 horsepower each. The bomber itself weighed 58,000 lbs, but it weighed 133,000 lbs with a load of fuel and bombs and it had a 3,200 mile range.
3627
I liked the "Explore Florida" sign. I'm trying! I'm trying!
3628
Then we drove down to Fort Meade, a little one-street town about ten miles further south. It is a phosphate rock mining town. The rock is used to make fertilizer. The high school calls themselves "The Fighting Miners". Wikipedia says:
"Fort Meade is the oldest city in Polk County, dating its origins to 1849 when it was on an old military road from Tampa (then called Fort Brooke) to Fort Pierce during the Indian wars. Future Confederate General Stonewall Jackson (shown in the mural) was stationed at the fort in 1851. The town was burned by Union forces in 1864 and all of the original structures were destroyed, except the 2nd fort which was dismantled in the 1890s."
3629
This buggy stepping stone from 1918 was in front of the Fort Meade Historical Museum. The die-hard buggy owner must have been annoyed with all the Model-T's that would have been around by then.
3630
We added 150 miles to the odometer today and The Wonder Falcon got 18.8 miles per gallon. Old magazine articles that I have read said that 19 mpg was the top mileage for a 260 V-8 and Ford-O-Matic combination, so my little Falcon seems to be running exactly as it is supposed to.