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A few new B-17 pictures


renfield
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Back to the PTO. It is a nice picture of a B-17 in flight. On the back of the picture is written

 

394th Bomb sq.(H) Nardi Fiji.( not sure of some of the spelling ) Carnly (?) field Guadalcanal My old airplane "Eight Ball"

 

I do know that the 394th BS 5th BG switched to B-24s at some point. Their nickname was "The Bomber Barons".

 

The tail number is 19156 the writing on the nose is "uncle" but I can not make out the rest.

 

 

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Steve Birdsall

Steve, that one's Uncle Biff . . . somebody misread that name on the nose. Easy enough to do. These planes were flying from Carney Field on Guadalcanal at the time.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here are some interesting pictures. This B-17 mock-up was used to train crews on how to exit a ditched B-17. I had never seen anything like this in the past. I had read about crews going through ditching practice, but until now I had never seen a photo of it.

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I made a post earlier in this thread with a few images but they've been converted to URLs, apparently due to changes made to the forum since I last visited. Anyhoo, I'll re-post 'em, starting with this shot of 2nd BG Y1B-17s overflying NYC shortly before their famous goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

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Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)

 

 

Fade to Black...

 

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Lets see if this all adds up! In the past my research as been at best hit and miss. I bought this photo on Ebay from a seller that claimed it came from an album that belonged to a man in the 5th AAF. The picture , he said, was taken in New Guinea in 1944.

 

According to Wallace Formans' book on B-17 names and nose art a B-17 named CAROLINE flew with the 43rd BG. the number he gave is 41-24420 and stated that there were no photos of the plane. The book was published in 1996.

 

In Mr. Birdsalls' book PRIDE OF SEATTLE plane 41-24420 was in fact a PTO B-17. He has the entire history of this plane up to the day in 1946 it was scrapped. Again no picture.

 

On the PACIFIC WRECKS website Mr. Birdsall expands his history of this plane. Soooooooo with all of that, this could be, the only know picture of the nose art of this plane. If it is the same CAROLINE, and if the pilots side art is the same.

 

Steve

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  • 6 months later...
oldandboring40

I came across post 248 on google and came to this message board. that plane is b-17f 41-24488. the banshee. this was my fathers plane. he was the navigator. shot down during the Bremen raid in 43. my dad spent 2 plus years pow . a good pic of the plane is in janes battles with the Luftwaffe on page 37. andy rooney went on a raid in my dads plane to cover one of the first raids in Germany. his article was titled "what it feels like to bomb Germany" in the stars and stripes.

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Here are some interesting pictures. This B-17 mock-up was used to train crews on how to exit a ditched B-17. I had never seen anything like this in the past. I had read about crews going through ditching practice, but until now I had never seen a photo of it.

 

These photos are from the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, Orlando Florida or Army Air Force Tactical Center. It changed names several times during the war first of which was the AAFSAT then in October 1943 changed to AAFTC. I am guessing this is in the 1943 time frame.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you Dustin for the info on the pictures I posted. It has been written down and placed with the pictures. I hope to post some of my "new" B-17 pictures soon. I have been neglecting my B-17 collecting and been getting more pictures of W.W.2 fighters.

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Here is a photo with a crew in training. They would first be aboard the mock up then given instruction on crash positions followed by instruction on evacuation technique, life raft inflation and boarding basically an entire series of an emergency situation.

 

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  • 3 months later...

I was reading through the posts and came across oldandboring40's. When I was a kid my grandmother had a picture of OAB40's dad shortly after his return to the states. She was his Aunt, making "Pete" my dad's cousin. As a kid Mr. Owens was my family's hero; almost a mythical figure. Sadly I can only remember meeting him once, and though I had a million questions, I couldn't bring myself to ask a single one.

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  • 1 month later...

attachicon.gifDoris_Mae_R.jpg This one is for all of us uniform collectors! Looks like an early 8th plane. Too bad the nose art is cut off.

Hi,

I am new to the forum and I know this is a long shot, but this photo really caught my eye because I have been researching the pilot I believe to be at the far right in the back. His name is Joseph Vander Haeghen and he was originally assigned to the Doris Mae as the Copilot. I have a couple pictures of him, but none with the crew in front of the aircraft he was initially assigned to. I believe the gentleman standing next to him was the pilot Llyod Armstrong. This crew was one of the original assigned to the 384th in Grafton Underwood and the only one to complete the required 25 missions. Vander Heaghen completed his 25th mission on 30 Dec 1943.

I would love to get a copy of this so I can post it on the 384th BG website.

Thanks,

Andy

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  • 9 months later...

I need to bump this thread back to the top. This is a picture of an unnamed B-17 just off of the target. The bomb bay doors are still open. looking at the picture this plane might be "Tail End Charlie". There are contrails above him, but no formations below or behind him. A very bad place to be. When I examined the photo with a jewelers loop I spotted a lone B-17 lagging behind and below, to the left of the picture. I would like to know if he made it back to England.

 

Steve

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I now have photos of both sides of THE OLD MAN. This plane is famous for a long running fight with up to thirteen Zeros. In the new book KEN'S MEN AGAINST the EMPIRE there is a great description of this combat. Also check the Pacific Wrecks website.

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This is my picture of LISTEN HERE TOJO! She flew with the 5th AAF 43rdBG 65thBS. The plane and crew were lost on Sept.15 1943. They flew into bad weather returning from a mission and was never seen again.

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A pretty good picture of the B-17F The Mustang. she flew with the 5th AAF, 43rdBG, 63rdBS. I know there are many pictures of this AC but it is nice to have a period picture in my collection.

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This is a very nice, clear, picture of B-17E CALAMITY JANE. This plane had a long history of missions in the PTO early in the war. She fought from bases in Australia, Guadalcanal, and New Caledonia until mid 1943. Returned to the USA only to be salvaged in 1946.I wish all of my pictures were as sharp as this one. Thanks for taking the time to look at these great planes and brave crew. I will be posting more B-17 snap shots soon. Steve

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Steve Birdsall

Steve, that's a really nice shot of 41-2440, which arrived in Hawaii in December 1941 and was flown to Australia by Lt Harry Spieth in February 1942. It flew with the 435th Bomb Squadron (and its predecessors). in the early days.

 

On 25 October 1942 41-2440 was one of 12 B-17Es that began taking 19th Bomb Group airmen home from Australia. Piloted by Capt. Maurice Horgan, she got to Hickam Field about the beginning of November where it was decided that 41-2440 would be one of several of the old planes that would be held over in Hawaii, spruced up and ultimately reassigned to the 394th Bomb Squadron of the 5th Bomb Group.

 

Capt. Morris Slack and his crew flew the plane, by then named Calamity Jane, from Hawaii to Fiji early in 1943. They flew missions from Fiji and Guadalcanal over the following months.

 

Lt Charles R. Stewart, (originally Slack's co-pilot), flew 41-2440 back to Hickam Field in September 1943.

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Thank you for the information Mr. Birdsall. Only recently did I find out that SUPER SNOOPER and CAROLINE were the same plane. This plane, B-17F 41-24420 was first assigned to the 19th BG 28th BS. She ended the war as an armed transport with yet another name, G.I. Jr.

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post-5349-0-89046500-1460827157.jpg And now for something completely different. I had never seen this before. What I bought is a large transparency. I assume this is a painting. I think it is a memorial for Ployer Peter Hill. He was a test pilot killed on 30 Oct. 1935 testing this prototype B-17. A boeing employee, Les Tower was also killed.

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