YB-40 identification help/"Best Years of Our Lives"

[turretguy]

Greetings,
In the "graveyard" scene near the end of "The Best Years of Our Lives," you can catch a glimpse of a YB-40 with U-95 in very large letters below the serial number. Of course, the serial number is obscured by the wing of the aircraft in the foreground, and therein lies the root of my question.

Using the Roger Freeman/David Osborne book "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story" and looking at the record cards, it appears that 13 TB/YB-40s went to Cal-Aero Field (Ontario AAB) for scrapping, and some were captured on film for "The Best Years of Our Lives."

I've seen a photo of YB-40-VE 42-5741 at Ontario with U-48 on the tail shot by Emil Strasser. You can find this photo in Joe Cupido's book "Chino."

Does anyone have any TB/YB-40 photos, in particular any of U-95 or any of the other Yuma gunnery trainers? Is there any way to match the serial number to the "U" numbers?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Nick

[tulsaboy]

Turretguy-

Here's what one of our WIX regulars has posted on the subject...

kevin

http://www.aerovintage.com/bestyrs.htm

[turretguy]

Kevin,
Thanks, I've seen that page, which is what got me interested in researching the YB-40s. Let me know if you come across any YB-40/TB-40 photos.
Nick

[tulsaboy]

Nick,

I have (so to speak) quite a few YB-40 photos, though most are from the Douglas factory in Tulsa that converted the Vega built B-17F models into the YB-40. I think that I have a photo on the line of most all of the YB-40s that were modified in Tulsa. Nothing from the training bases. I have contacted Maxwell AFB, NMUSAF, and NASM for the photos that they might have of the YB-40, and they didn't come up with much of anything. I don't know if there are many resources out there where YB-40s have been actually identified as YB-40s and not just B-17s. I have a hunch there are a bunch of those types of photos that are hiding in the aforementioned collections, just misidentified.

kevin

[turretguy]

Kevin,
PM sent.
Nick