FAIRCHILD HILLER FH-227 —

An interesting sidenote concerning the Westinghouse building in the background ...
By the time I took this picture in '68 (when I was 18), Westinghouse had a factory in that building. However, back in 1941, that structure was the Curtiss Wright Plant #2. From 1941 until the end of WWII, over 17,500 aircraft rolled off the Curtiss Wright production line there, and included in that total were over 9,500 P-40 Warhawks and over 2,500 Curtiss Commandos.
Today, that building no longer exists. It was purchased from Westinghouse by the NFTA (Niagara Frontier Transit Authority) and demolished when an entirely new airport was built. As part of the new airport, KBUF's crosswind runway 14-32 was extended and the extended portion of that runway is located where that Westinghouse building seen in the background used to be.
Another trivia tidbit ....
Back in '68, whenever an airliner such as this one was parked on the ramp and was NOT being prepped for an upcoming flight, we would check in with a ground agent (of whatever airline the aircraft belonged to) and we could then go on board and sit in the pax cabin, take pics in the cabin or cockpit, or walk around it on the ramp to get photos. * The ONLY airline that did NOT permit us to do this was United (and even then, I knew a couple of UA ground gals who would allow me out on the ramp to quickly click some pics while they watched). * Yeah, man! THOSE were the DAYS!

Great comments and background info Gary!

Very cool, Gary!

Post flight walkaround for me included dressing the props! Keep'em coming Gary!

Howdy, Chris and Greg, and TYVM for the complis. Chris >> Back in the early 60s, whenever a propliner stayed overnight at BUF -- no matter which airline --, we noticed that the props had been dressed. However, if a propliner arrived but was not going to remain for any great amount of time, it seemed that the props of airlines such as UA (DC-6s and Viscounts) and AA (DC-6s and Electras) were dressed, EA always dressed them on their Electras even tho the Electras never did RON, and the smaller airlines serving Buffalo back then (Mohawk, Allegheny, Lake Central) did not worry how the props looked, probably because their old birds were merely turning around and leaving. Incidentally, until Mohawk began using these Fairchild Hillers and BAC-111s, the three small regionals serving KBUF flew hand-me-downs from the big airlines. Mohawk flew CV-240s and CV-440s; Allegheny flew CV-580s, and Lake Central flew DC-3s.

Great info Gary! One of my company's bases (actually Adelaide in South Australia) flew CV440's in the '60s and into the mid '70s, but that was a little before my time!