Building B-52 flaps at the Buffalo Airport...How did they get shipped?

I just learned today that a distant relative had worked at the Buffalo Airport building flaps for the B-52. I don't know which building exactly but they are on the west side of the airport along Cayuga Rd. No direct rail service.

So, I'm wondering, how did they ship these out for assembly? I'm wondering if somebody here knows somebody that knows somebody etc etc that might know about the flaps and shipping.

Trucking all the way across the US is not likely. Trucking the flaps to a rail yard seems more likely. But, the West Shore and the LVRR had access to the airport on the east side [Curtis Wright/Westinghouse]. So maybe they trolleyed them across the field and shipped them out by rail that way.

This is just plain guessing at the moment. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Depending on what year, most of the B-52's were built in Wichita.

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eolesen wrote:Depending on what year, most of the B-52's were built in Wichita.

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While I agree with you on where the B-52 was assembled, it is likely that the parts were built somewhere else.

Yep, they were definitely assembled elsewhere. Just pointing out that trucking parts from Buffalo or Cleveland might not have been as much of a challenge to Wichita vs. Seattle. The interstates were just starting, so I'd imagine more of the parts went by rail than not.

SST wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 4:32 pm So, I'm wondering, how did they ship these out for assembly? I'm wondering if somebody here knows somebody that knows somebody etc etc that might know about the flaps and shipping.

Hey Dan... nothing that couldn't go out over the road on a truck.

There's a B-52 just outside the old Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome that you can walk right up to. The plane itself is impressively large - but the flaps themselves, there's 2 per wing, which aren't prohibitively huge. The inboard flaps are about 28' long and the outboard flaps are about 22' long.

When I worked in Buffalo in the early 70's, my engineering company rented a whole building out at the Buffalo airport. They called it the old airplane factory. We used all the big assembly bays for a replica of a small part of the Great Lakes. I remember the office section had huge offices with lots of old ornate woodwork and big old wooden desks etc.
Who was building airplanes during WWll, at the buffalo Airport? What plant was this?

It's been a few years since I've been out to the air base. Visiting the B-52 was the sole reason for going. Seeing a couple of 747's being dismantled was not a good sight to see. Awful!

I remember when I was a kid and the family would visit friends near Utica. We'd be cruising along the I-90 when suddenly a ROAR came over the car. I went nuts trying to look out the window trying to see what it was. I never saw the plane [The B-52 most likely}. One day, as I was in the back yard I hear the rumble of a jet....I look up and there is a B-52 with only 4 contrails in trail. Engines 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 were running and then he started the outer 4 engines. That was so cool.

Maybe I should take a short trip for another visit.

mowingman wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 6:18 pm When I worked in Buffalo in the early 70's, my engineering company rented a whole building out at the Buffalo airport. They called it the old airplane factory. We used all the big assembly bays for a replica of a small part of the Great Lakes. I remember the office section had huge offices with lots of old ornate woodwork and big old wooden desks etc.
Who was building airplanes during WWll, at the buffalo Airport? What plant was this?

Well It depends where on the field you were standing. If you were standing on the eastern side of the airport you were probably in the Curtis-Wright assembly plant that became Westinghouse [don't know the dates]. If you were standing on the west side of the airport along Cayuga Rd, then I don't know much about that or what was built other than what a relative just told me.

Do you remember which side of the airport you were on?

A lot of info and pictures online about this location - over 17,000 planes built .
Cheektowaga Historical Society page has great info.
Unknown to me was a second plant on Elmwood Ave in Buffalo .

It has been so long ago that I don't really remember which side of the airport we were on. I kind of think it was the west side. I remember a huge, old, 4 engine Constellation aircraft parked near that building. Someone said it was flown in there, then the owner disappeared or went bankrupt. I think that big old plane was red and white in color. That is all I can remember about the place.