Second Air Force B-29 Tail Codes

[Second Air Force]

I've been researching the B-29 training program in the U.S. during WWII. I have seen photos of training Superforts with tail codes, but have not been able to determine which codes went with which Bases or whether every Second Air Force airfield coded their aircraft.

The tail codes are usually white in a black box, however, in at least one instance the code is black in a white box. Thus far I have only seen the codes applied to natural metal aircraft.

Thus far I have seen the following codes: D, G, P, Q, and W. Grand Island AAF also used a GI tail code stenciled directly on the tail at some point, and there were aircraft with a C, also with no color box background. Some of the codes are fairly easy to match- P= Pratt,etc., but I would like to have definitive references to go to.

Thanks for any help in advance,
Scott

[Tulio]

This is not exactly what you seek, but a good source of information nonetheless:

Buzz Numbers
Peter M. Bowers and David W. Menard
Specialty Press
2006
ISBN 13-978-1-58007-103-1
www.specialtypress.com


Saludos,


Tulio

[Second Air Force]

Tulio,

Thanks for the book reference- it just might help, as these codes seem to have been used late in the war and possibly shortly thereafter. One of the photos I've seen was of a 330th Group crew out of Walker, Kansas in an aircraft coded "Q". This would date the use of the codes to late '44 to at least early '45.

One of the problems with my search is the fact that training aircraft were transferred out of stations at a fairly high rate for depot overhaul, etc. They were then transferred to other fields as needed.


Thanks again!
Scott