>Just curious why their are different colors of silver/aluminum on various
>panels/sections.
>
>Does it mean that different metals were used in those areas?
>Yes, Aluminum and magnesium. The duller areas are magnesium.
>
Each panel oxidizes (dulls) at a different rate plus Mg oxidizes faster than Al.
The B-36 at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Nebraska sat outside at Offutt AFB for years. Some of the magnesium skin is corroded all the way through. You can stand in the bomb bay and see light through the top of the airplane.
Craig,
Yes, there were different metals used on various panels/sections. They used Aluminum and Magnesium panels in different area of the B-36. The Magnesium was used because it was light and stronger than Aluminum, however Magnesium has a low melting point and burns very hot. It is used in fireworks for its bright white light. Many B-36s burned up when they were in wrecks because of the Magnesium. Here is a good website on the B-36 and some accounts of there wrecks.
Both different materials, but then even two pieces of the same sheet does look a little different if they are turned just slightly in the light. If you want to discover if certain panels are really different materials, you'll need several pictures to judge from, and of different planes. The B-29 has a strip across the fuselage around the wings, that looks different in almost all the pictures I've seen, indicating a differen material. (Or look at a F-104 with titanium, steel and aluminum....)
Claus
"Craig" skrev i en meddelelse news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...
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