Willow Run construction/production dates for specific B-24
Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:10 pm
Tried Googling for this but no luck.
I'm trying to write the story of a specific B-24. I have the middle and the end, (combat history and disposal) but now I'm looking for the beginning.
Is there a WIX-er out there who can link a USAAF serial to a construction number, production/completion date etc? Or is there someone who has a copy of a/the record card for the machine?
The machine in question is Willow Run B-24J-1-FO 42-50535, accepted by the USAAF in early Summer 1944, as near as I can tell.
Rob / Kansan
I'm trying to write the story of a specific B-24. I have the middle and the end, (combat history and disposal) but now I'm looking for the beginning.
Is there a WIX-er out there who can link a USAAF serial to a construction number, production/completion date etc? Or is there someone who has a copy of a/the record card for the machine?
The machine in question is Willow Run B-24J-1-FO 42-50535, accepted by the USAAF in early Summer 1944, as near as I can tell.
Rob / Kansan
Mon Nov 21, 2005 4:28 pm
Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:07 pm
ww2John wrote:Have you gone to this site for a construction #?
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/usafserials.html
DOH!
I missed the c/n range under the block ID. Now I have c/n 2398. Thanks. Still don't know when was it built at Willow Run, though. Any advice, anyone?
FWIW Joe Baugher's entry for 42-50535 is wrong. The a/c wasn't lost in Germany - I wonder if the existence of an MACR was misleading. 44BG history says 3/23/45 one of the crew was killed unloading supplies on a supply drop - was dragged out of the a/c (thru the ball turret well) when his chute opened accidentally.
Rob / Kansan