Propliners at Greybull by Rick Patton


Photos © Patton

 

Rick Patton wrote me in the summer of 2015, having read my pages on 'Greybull,WY aviation' (links at bottom page), volunteering to send some photo he'd taken over the years at KGEY.
Rick wrote: "I have worked there for years as their aviation planner and have bunches of pictures over the years of the aircraft. I am an old plane nut. I have been able to take a few tours inside of a 4Y and a -97 and have a few pictures of inside."
Naturally I accepted!

Hawkins and Powers Aviation was formed by Dan Hawkins & Gene Powers. They took over Christler Fire Service in 1979.
In 1994 I visited Greybull and when I had returned home I found many aircraft difficult to identify. Upon contact with H&P I found they were unwilling to coöperate, workers were sworn to secrecy. Allegedly H&P swapped parts between aircraft undocumented.
When I started my website, a page on the 'Greybull planes mysteries' was one of the first I compiled and led to numerous reactions over the years. And so my fascination for Greybull was kept alive.
H&P ceased operations, following USFS termination of firebombers contracts, in 2004 and was expected to re-emerge as a refurbishing company. But was liquidated in 11/2005 by Great AmericanGroup.Most of their aircraft were registered to the Pride Capital Group in 2005 for resale.
Before that, around 2000, most aircraft were reregistered to D&G Inc. D&G must have stood for Dan & Gene, probably salvaging what they could from the bankruptcy.
In 2014 I revisited the storage yard at KGEY, it had still many airframes stored from the 'H&P days'.


 

C82 Packet at Greybull,WY
C-82 Packet at Greybull, spreading its wings over the desert background
Exif data on the images, both the one above as well as the P-2 Neptune below, show photos been taken in 2004.

H&P Tanker 140 at Greybull, Wyoming.
N140HP is a P-2H Neptune (c/n 7102), which started its career as a patrol plane with the
US Navy (BuNo.140443). It was acquired by Neptune Aviation, another aerial firefighting company, and
reregistered as N445NA / Tanker 45 in 2006.
See my Photos by Friends & Guests #55 for preservation by the Yankee Air Museum (Sep.2018).

This one has 2006 in the exif data of the image:
A-26 'Lulu' at Greybull
A beautiful shot of A-26 Invader 'Lu Lu' 434520.

From WarbirdRegistry.org I have the following data:
Serial #: 44-34520
Construction no. 27799
Civil Registrations: N9420Z - C-GHCF - N94207 - N126HP
Model(s): A-26B, B-26C.
Name: 'Lu Lu'
Status: Displayed
Last info: 2006

History:
Manufactured by Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach, CA, 1945.
Delivered to USAF as 44-34520, June 22, 1945.
- Transferred to storage, Sacramento Air Materiel Center, McClellan AAF CA, June 1945.
- Transferred to Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach, CA, Nov. 1950.
-- Converted to B-26C standard.
- Transferred to Ogden Air Materiel Area, Hill AFB, UT, Feb. 1951.
- Transferred to 452nd Bombardment (Light) Wing (Far East Air Forces), Miho AB and Pusan AB Korea, April 1951.
- Transferred to 17th Bombardment (L) Wing (FEAF), Pusan AB and Miho AB, May 1952.
- Transferred to 6408th Maintenance and Supply Group (FEAF), Kisarazu AB, Japan, July 1952.
- Transferred to Sacramento Air Materiel Area, McClellan AFB CA, Sept. 1952.
- Transferred to Ogden Air Materiel Area, Hill AFB, UT, Jan. 1953.
- Transferred to 461st Bombardment (L) Wing (Tactical Air Force), Hill AFB (deployment to Wendover AFB, UT), March 1954.
- Transferred to 2347th Air Reserve Flying Center (US Air Force Reserves), Long Beach AFB, CA, July 1955.
- Transferred to Davis Monthan AFB, AZ for storage, Feb. 1957.
Jul 1958 Dropped from inventory as surplus A.S. Wilstrom Inc, New York, NY, 1963-1972.
- Registered as N9420Z.
- Converted to executive configuration by LeTourneau Co, TX.
Conair Aviation Ltd, Abbotsford, BC, Apr. 1974-1988.
- Registered as C-GHCF.
- Flown as tanker #28.
Hawkins & Powers Aviation, Greybull, WY, Nov. 1988-2000.
- Registered as N94207.
- Reregistered as N126HP, July 1989.
- flown as tanker #28.
D&G Inc, Greybull, WY, Aug. 23, 2000-2006.
- Displayed at Greybull, 1999-2000.
- Displayed in red white tanker #28 scheme on right side.
- Displayed in USAF/434520/BC-520/K Lu Lu on left side.
End quote from WarbirdRegistry.org

N126HP was sold at an auction in August 2006 for US$112.500,- It flew out of Greybull and was seen at Buckeye,AZ on 21Jul07. There is a museum for vintage aircraft, someone called Lauredsen took that initiative but I have yet to visit it; I believe it is located at Glendale Mun'l,AZ. -Webmaster

A few more of LuLu (from 2000)
Invader at Greybull
Invader 'LuLu' at Greybull

 


 

A selection of photos, taken at Greybull in 2000:
Propliners at Greybull (2000)

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
Tanker 127 (N6884C) on the ramp at Greybull,WY

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
I think these C-119s were used as gate guards, near the Hawkins & Powers office and reception desk.

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
This unmarked Beech 18 was also at the H&P reception office (as I seem to recall from my 1994 visit).

Propliners at Greybull (2000)

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
N29862 was bought at an acution on 23aug2006 by Clay Lacy, together with C-97s N1365N & N972HP.
See also my Oct.2014 visit to Greybull

Propliners at Greybull airport
A closer look at the big radial engine of this 'beast'.

Propliners at Greybull airport

 

 


More images from 2006 at Greybull:
Propliners at Greybull,WY 2006
The one in front is a Fairchild C-82 Packet, the others Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars.

C-82 N9701F was used by TWA in the 1960s, to ferry engines around Europe.
It probably featured at KGEY only in the museum, parked on H&P's ramp.
In Oct.2006 it was bought at an auction and flown (!) to Hagerstown,MD to become part of the Hagerstown Aviation Museum. It arrived on Oct. 15th and the purchase had been made for US$140.250,-

Ken Swartz came across N9701F at the Hagerstown Aviaton Museum in Oct.2018, see
the Kenneth I. Swartz gallery on my website!

 

C-97 N1365N at Greybull,WY 2006
Tanker 97, C-97 N1365N, a whale of a firebomber! Its appearance on the scene of
smoking and burning wildfires must have been very reassuring for the people fighting the fire on the ground!

Cockpit of C-97 Tanker 97
Cockpit of C-97 'Tanker 97'

Interior of T97
Interior of Tanker 97. Those barrels are probably to have some forward weight and balance, preventing it to tip.

Storage yard at KGEY Greybull, Wyoming.
Storage yard ('boneyard') at KGEY Greybull, Wyoming in 2006. Check out the 2014 scene via link bottom page!

 

PB4Y-2 Privateer at Greybull
Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer N2871G 'Tanker 121'

PBY4 Privateer
Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer N2871G (c/n 66302) 'Tanker 121'; that is one massive warbird!
It was saved from the H&P bankruptcy, found a new home in at Casa Grande Municipal Airport,AZ
and after some serious restoration has been seen on air shows in 2015, flying the 'warbirds circuit'.
It is now owned by a group who call themselves '4Y-2 LLC'.

C-118
C-118 N233HP in 2007, january according to the exif data of this image, some snow on the ground.

C-118 N233HP in 2007
C-118A N233HP (c/n 44661) in 2007. Ex/ BuNo.152689. Sold to Everts Air Cargo in 2005 for parts.
It was rereg'd as N747CE for Everts Air Fuel 28Oct08, having flown north the year before. It staged
thru Paine Field (PAE), probably for overhaul; and seen during 2009 in a very nice livery at Fairbanks,
fully operational. See for a detailed history my page 'Check Six'.

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
Rick wrote: "This is a friend, Robert Robinson, he lives in Cody,WY; he's a retired Merchant Mariner (Sailor)
who love airplanes like I do; he was with me a couple of times, walking the airport." Photo taken in 2000.

I think this is N314CF. The history is described on a webpage of mine, dedicated to days it was registered C-FDIL.
I copy a part of that text:
"The plane still retained its fire-bombing equipment and in 1999 there was some discussion with John Wells about operating the Catalina with his Airborne Fire Attack company but this did not come to fruition.
Another interesting idea came up when discussions were held to use N314CF in an epic expedition to find the wreckage of Russian Sigismund Lavanevski's long-range N-209 which disappeared on a flight from Moscow to Fairbanks in August 1937. It is thought that the aircraft went down in the vicinity of Camden Bay which is west of Kaktovik, Alaska. During the original search for the missing Russian, the famous PBY flying boat Guba was utilized in the search.
Although the modern search did not come about, Al and his crew did take the Cat north for the Wings Over Alaska Commemorative Flight, which celebrated the extensive use of the PBY in that State.
A project got underway, in 2004, at Greybull,WY. This PBY-5A was to be rebuilt for a unique mission: the search for the crash-site of Amelia Earhart."

 

Propliners at Greybull (2000)
'Wings over Alaska Commemorative Flight', by Al Hansen and crew.

N314CF became N206M, see below:N206M at Greybull in the summer of 2008
Catalina PBY-5A N206M (c/n 427) at Greybull, in the summer of 2008.
I have this Catalina/Canso as C-FDIL, see my page 'Blast from the past: C-FDIL in 1980s'. I had seen it
unmarked at Mojave in 1997. As N314CF it was reported, during 2001, at Lake Mead, Boulder City and
owned by Al Hansen. On 05Dec03 it was registered (still N314CF) for Alegre Air Inc of Santa Fé,NM.
It was reregistered as N206M on 24Aug04; this was for Alegre Air and was subsequently reg'd to Black
Cat Aviation LLC in Indianapolis,IN (08Jul08).
Funny enough, it was back at Greybull in june 2015 for further maintenance, after which it returned to Indiana.

 

 

Greybull,WY in 2008
A few pics from 2008, Greybull,WY seen from the air.
Greybull,WY in 2008
Compare it with the various aerial photographs I have on my 2014 visit to Greybull,WY
I don't think that white tented hangar was still there in 2014..?
Rick wrote me:"It was a temporary hangar for B&G to work on Lockheed C-130 in. They would leave the tail
and wings outside, but the fuselage was inside where they could work out of the weather."

Greybull,WY in 2008
Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, 'Tanker 127'; it had tailnumber N6884C (c/n 59701).
I found it on display at Greybull's aviation myseum, see my 2014 report.

A few images from 2010:
Greybull,WY 2010
Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, Tanker 126; N7962C (c/n 59882).
Part of the air museum at Greybull, see my 2014 visit.

N7962C Greybull,WY 2010

2010 KGEY Runway opening - T121 1st aircraft off of new runway!
Opening new runway Greybull 2010

Opening new runway Greybull 2010

Opening new runway Greybull 2010
Tanker 121 looks in splendid form; N2871G would continue to operate, as a restored warbird, based in Arizona.

Opening new runway Greybull 2010
Tanker 121 has officially opened runway 34 at Greybull.

 

 

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside
A look inside PB4Y-2 Privateer 'Tanker 124' (year 2000)

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside
Tanker 124 (N2872G) was purchased by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino,CA and flown to its new home in nov.2008.

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside

Tanker 124 at Greybull, a look inside

Inside Tanker 124 at Greybull

Tanker 124 at Greybull

Tanker 124 at Greybull

 

Now for a look inside a Boeing C-97 (also 2000):
Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull

Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull

Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull
The big 'office' the C-97 Stratofreighter!

Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull

Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull

Inside Boeing 97 at Greybull
Comments welcomed ! EMAIL - please state link/url you write about, thanks

Rick Patton's propliners at Greybull
Boeing KC-97G N29866 (c/n 16726), ex/ 52-2695 AZ ANG; but fitted with the tail of 0-22680, Utah ANG.


Other Greybull,WY pages on my website:
VISIT KGEY 1994
Greybull Log Reports
Greybull Revisited 2014: PAGE 1 + PAGE 2


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Created 31 july 2015; updated 05 sep 2015