This Day in Aviation History
November 24th, 1947
First flight of the Convair XC-99.

The Convair XC-99, AF Ser. No. 43-52436, is a prototype heavy cargo aircraft built by Convair for the United States Air Force. It was the largest piston-engined land-based transport aircraft ever built, and was developed from the Convair B-36 bomber, sharing the wings and some other structures with it. The first flight was on 24 November 1947 in San Diego, California, and after testing it was delivered to the Air Force on 26 May 1949. The Convair Model 37 was a planned civil passenger variant based on the XC-99 but was not built….

Source:
Wikipedia, Convair XC-99: http://gstv.us/1H1tHts

YouTube, Convair XC-99 First Flight: http://gstv.us/1H1tOVN

YouTube, 1956 XC-99 Sets Records: http://gstv.us/1H1tOoL

Today the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force has the only example of the XC-99 ever built. It is awaiting restoration. Here is a Warbird Information Exchange thread detailing what stage of restoration it is in and includes some photos: http://gstv.us/1H1u1Zd
 
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Photo from: http://gstv.us/2fuUIZX
 
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