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Planes, Names and Dames


Hawk914
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Like many folks, I'm a nose art fan and always like to see what others have in their collections or what they've found on the net. I naturally have a preference for scantily clad ladies and such, but there's a lot of other subjects as well, so please post whatever you have... girls or not...

 

I'll start with my absolute favorite piece of artwork... this is B-24J 44-40428, 'Cocktail Hour' from the 64th BS, 43rd BG.

 

CocktailHour001a.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

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This PTO L-5 is a close second for my favorite bit of artwork...

 

L-5Pacific001z.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
SOMEWHERE WW2 DESERT AFRICA NEVER SEEN, DO YOU WANT THEM

Uh... do I want what? :blink:

 

If you mean you have photos to post, sure go ahead! Or are you referring to the fact that I'm looking for P-40 photos and you have some? I'm sorry, I really just am not sure what you mean...

 

 

Here's 'Shady Lady', an F-6D-10-NA from the 109th TRS, 67th TRG, IX AF. I don't have an exact serial number, but I think it might be 44-14095 or 44-14099.

 

This ship was assigned to a Lt. Slonneger.

 

ShadyLady001.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

ShadyLady002.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

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LIFE Magazine

DEC 14, 1942

These all appear to be ships from the 92nd and/or 97th Bombardment Groups. I say 'and/or' because in August of 1942 the 92nd lost all of its new B-17Fs to the 97th BG, receiving the latter's old B-17Es in return. This was indignantly referred to as 'The Rape of the 92nd' in that unit's group history.

 

So I guess it depends on when these photos were taken as to which unit they belonged to. (I'm master of the obvious, ain't I?) There's no doubt about the second to last shot, however, because that's the 407th Bomb Squadron's insignia on the nose... the 407th was attached to the 92nd BG.

 

__________________________________________________

 

Here's a selection of 30th Bombardment Group B-24s...

 

B-24J 42-72999 'Poontang', 38th BS

 

B-24J42-72999Poontang.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

B-24J 'Dream Boat', 392nd BS

 

B-24JDreamBoat392BS30BGa.jpg

Mel Harms via Jim Ridge via Project 914 Archives

 

 

B-24J 44-40518 'The Captain and the Kids', 819th BS

 

B-24JTheCapitanandTheKids44-4051881.jpg

Mel Harms via Jim Ridge via Project 914 Archives

 

 

B-24J 44-40528 'Hell From Heaven', 819th BS

 

B-24JHellfromHeaven44-40528819BS30B.jpg

Mel Harms via Jim Ridge via Project 914 Archives

 

 

B-24J 44-40532 'Night Mission', 819th BS

 

B-24JNightMission44-40532001a.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

All of these are from my 30th Bombardment Group Website. Please check it out... it's a small, humble work and needs a bit of updating as well as a few corrections. But it's still pretty neat to look through... IF you can put up with all the damn ads and some pop-ups. Hopefully I'll get better hosting someday...

 

 

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Night Mission...hahaha...

 

the only night missions I see these days involve NVGs, and insertion means getting off the dammed truck and walking into the AO

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Heh-heh... uhhh, Beavis... he said... insertion... heh-heh... :rolleyes:

 

 

Here's one of the most well-known B-25s to serve in the CBI...

 

BarbieIII002b.jpg

RT Smith photo (from Pacific War Eagles in Original Color by Jeff Ethell & Warren Bodie)

 

 

And here's the real Barbie...

 

0701008_2a.jpg

RT Smith photo

 

 

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CNY Militaria

Here is a close friend of mine, a 1st LT. in the 20th AAF in WWII. He was a bombardier and navigator. He is giving me all of his items soon, and I have pictures of me and him together, and will post them in a separate topic eventually. His plane was titled "ME---Worry?" after the MAD Magazine reference. He has a LOT of photos from when he walked all around the base and took a picture of every plane with nose art on it.

 

Justin

art3.jpg

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I suspect Mad Magazine may have taken off on this nose art. Mad didn't make an appearance until the late 1950's or so I thought. (I first remember seeing Mad while in Jr. High School in the late 1950's. - but that doesn't mean it couldn't have come out earlier.) Maybe we have some Mad magazine gurus on the forum that can shed some light on this. I was suprised to see Alfred E. Newmans mug on that B-29!

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CNY Militaria

When I talked to him and asked about it, he said that they all came up with it after reading MAD magazine. He may have been mistaken, as I know nothing about the magazine and whenit started.

 

Justin

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usmcraidergirl

Very nice picture, Justin!

 

Not sure if this will help, but here goes some info...While MAD magazine did not come out until later, apparently the picture of the boy (now called Alfred E. Neuman) has been around since the early 20th century. The image "Me Worry" was taken from a popular picture of the period that shows up in print and sometimes on postcards. So, he probably is telling you right when he got it from a magazine or newspaper. He just didn't get it from MAD... If I am not mistaken, I believe at least 4 bombers during the war bore that picture (or some similar version of it).

 

Here is a postcard with the exact image as on the plane:

 

1.jpg

 

 

 

Here is a link with more information about the "Alfred E. Neuman" character:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman

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Dangit... you beat me to it, gal! LOL

 

Anyhoo, MAD first appeared in 1952 so it was probably the post card shown above or some other similar manifestation of this grinning kid that inspired the artwork.

 

Speaking of... this B-29 is totally new to me. What group was this fella with Schottzie? I'm looking forward to whatever else you can share...

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest thirtybg

nice site on the 30th bomb group!

 

Do you have any photos of a B-17 named Sally? That was General Kenny's personal transport if I'm not mistaken.

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nice site on the 30th bomb group!

 

Do you have any photos of a B-17 named Sally? That was General Kenny's personal transport if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks, glad you like the site! I take it you have a connection with the 30th?

 

As to 'Sally', I do have one photo in my collection as well as some which are in a publication. I can get those scanned over the next week or so.

 

Until then, here's an image sent to me by an acquaintance.

 

sally1.jpg

Greg Mann collection

 

And here's a link to a web page with several images of 'Sally', including a larger and cleaned up version of the one above.

 

B-17E FLYING FORTRESS "SALLY"

 

I've noticed some discrepancies among all of these images as well as those which I'll be posting later on... mostly it has to do with the name. There are at least two distinctive styles of lettering shown in all the photos I've seen of 'Sally'. Also, at some point it seems that the ship was fitted with a glass nose from a later variant, as seen in the photo above. This photo shows a stylized block-type of lettering, while most of the photos show a cursive style. However, the same type of lettering as shown in the photo above is present in the photo I have in my collection, which was taken while the aircraft still had its original nose. I haven't really tried to figure this out yet, but perhaps I may give it a go this week.

 

 

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I have some negitives from a guy at work from 30 yrs. ago. ( somewhere ) he took photos of every plane in his groop with nose art. I am not sure how to post them into this forum. I will work on it, maybe you can send me an email, I can find them and scan then send them to you. Sorry for the mis-understanding.

 

Dave

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From the photo of "Sally", she was built as a B-17E. (Look at the framed top turret which was only on the E model. Also the 3 small windows on the cheek are standard to the E model.) She appears to have had a F or G model nose cone added. Typical type repairs/up-grades for long serving aircraft in those days. Very nice photo of a special plane. thumbsup.gif

USMC RaiderGirl & BlackWolf3945 : Many thanks for the info on Alfred E. Newman's ugly mug. I didn't realize that Mad Magazine came out as early as 1952 nor that the "Me Worry" face had been around nearly as long.

Heck, ya learn something new everyday if you'll just read this forum! :D

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  • 3 weeks later...
CNY Militaria
Dangit... you beat me to it, gal! LOL

 

Anyhoo, MAD first appeared in 1952 so it was probably the post card shown above or some other similar manifestation of this grinning kid that inspired the artwork.

 

Speaking of... this B-29 is totally new to me. What group was this fella with Schottzie? I'm looking forward to whatever else you can share...

Fade to Black...

 

 

He was in the 331st BG of the 20th AAF. He let me borrow some photos of nose art on planes he took one day while on base. He took all of these personally.

 

Of note...The "Me--Worry" was his plane, and he flew back to the US after the war on the "Victory Jean" which incidentally, was and is his wife's name... He got a kick out of that.

 

mil222.jpg

 

mil218.jpg

 

mil219.jpg

 

mil220.jpg

 

mil223.jpg

 

mil224.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice stuff Schottzie! Several of those ships are new to me...

 

A couple of photos show tail markings of other ships in the background, with at least two showing aircraft from other groups...

 

'Diamond L' - 331st BG

 

mil231.jpg

 

 

'Diamond H' - 502nd BG

 

mil230.jpg

 

 

'Triangle U' - 462nd BG (The rudder is red, dating this photo as no earlier than May '45)

 

mil234.jpg

 

 

The 331st and 502nd were attached to the 315th Bombardment Wing alongside the 16th and 501st Bomb Groups; all were based at Northwest Field on Guam.

 

The 462nd BG ship is somewhat out of place here because that group was attached to the 58th BW, and based at West Field on Tinian. But it's possible that a 331st BG ship could have diverted to Tinian on the way home from Japan, thus giving this fella the chance to photograph some aircraft from other groups. (a not uncommon occurrence)

 

 

Here's a color shot of a 331st BG B-29B with jet black undersides.

 

B-29B331BG001b.jpg

Click for larger image

Harold E. Gronenthal photo

 

 

And a color shot of one of the aircraft you posted above...

 

OhBrother2b.jpg

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Harold E. Gronenthal photo

 

 

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Okay... long overdue, but I've had a rather crappy past couple of weeks, so I'm playing catch-up...

 

Here's some photos of 'Sally' that I promised. There's some others which are in a magazine that I can hopefully scan soonly.

 

This first image is somewhat poor quality, as it was taken from a small format proof... looks similar to 35mm but smaller I think.

 

scan0008b.jpg

Project 914 Archives

 

 

This one is much nicer...

 

scan0009b.jpg

Click for larger image

Project 914 Archives (Don Marlatt photo)

 

 

I have yet to sit down and try to figure out some of the discrepancies, such as the different artwork, and when the glass nose was replaced. I'm thinking that the artwork in the second photo was the first version, because the other style is present in photos which show the original 'E' nose as well as the photo I posted earlier in the thread showing the later nose installed. I also seem to recall that there may have been a third version of the artwork, shown in the magazine I have, but maybe I was just imagining things. We'll see when I dig the rag out...

 

 

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