WIX Archive: A few familiar B-17's ...

[daviemax]

Here is 44-83842 when it was on the ground undergoing maintenance at Halifax, N.S. on its planned route to Israel, date is 23 July, 1948. Aircraft was later interned in Portugal. Note crewman hiding his face behind flight jacket! Other crew members weren't so concerned with publicity!

[daviemax]

42-32076 in the hands of Danish Air Force (may have been known as Danish Army Air Corps at the time) as number 672 Store Bjørn. Later went to Danish Navy, then to IGN. Recovered from derelict condition and restored, this is the famous Shoo Shoo Baby earning her living after retirement from Swedish Airline service.

[daviemax]

This IGN aircraft (44-85643 F-BEEA) appears earlier in this thread and has been the subject of many different photos. Here she is with a side-scanner under fuselage. Date is unknown but judging from the markings, it appears to be late in IGN service.

[daviemax]

Another highly-photographed B-17, 44-85828, the "last manned B-17 in U.S. military service" which was retired from the USCG after its last operational flight on 14 October 1959. She was then sold as surplus. This photo depicts her with the legend "U.S. Industries" on the nose but she was never registered to that entity. Identity of aircraft is given away by the longitudinal strakes below aft fuselage which were unique to this air frame due to the camera installation used by the Coast Guard for photomapping.

[JimH]

Here is a 2004 view of F-BGSO...Since the WWII gallery is revamped I wonder if it is on display to the public. This was taken in the Storage hangar across the airport at the Musee de l'Air



Jim

[Chris Brame]

I made some still images from two short films by the French Institut Geographique National showing their B-17s. (Good thing I did; couldn't find them on YouTube last time I looked). Here we go:
44-85643/F-BEEA undergoing maintenance:


44-83729/F-BEED, scrapped early 70s:


44-85733/F-BEEB, crashed March 11, 1949 in Cameroon (note the serial has been repainted in a very Gallic font):


44-85718/F-BEEC, still with us as the Lone Star Flight Museum's Thunderbird:


And more without ID:

[daviemax]

Here are a few more, starting with five-engine favorite 44-85813. External fuselage reinforcements, needed to cope with the loads imparted by the large nose-mounted engine, are clearly visible in this photo.

[daviemax]

Need help identifying this one. Photo taken during overhaul at Tampa, Fla. Aircraft serial number and date of photo are unknown but the auto appears to be from the 1940's. It is possible - but not verified - this is 42-3470 when she was owned by California-Atlantic Airways (see photo later in thread).

Last edited by daviemax on Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[daviemax]

Also need help identifying this aircraft. There were at least three B-17's with this configuration - 44-83461; 44-83587; and one other (this is it). Unfortunately the left-side view only reveals enough of the serial number on the data block to confirm it isn't one of the two above. Photo taken at MASDC about the time it arrived for storage - in 1955.

Last edited by daviemax on Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[daviemax]

This is 44-83864 during her time registered in Mexico as XB-BOE. Note auto, which appears to be a 1952 Chevrolet; however this aircraft was in Mexican service from 1958-1964.

[daviemax]

This 42-3470 in her final configuration as HK-580 registered to Columbia's Aeropesca. Note row of small rectangular windows. She apparently crashed in 1962.

[Chris Brame]

Great find on that last one - first photo I've seen of XB-BOE in Mexican markings. (The car's a '50 Dodge, by the way.)
I posted this on Aero Vintage, but I might as well share it here.
Re: 44-83439/N131P, the tropical fish hauler:

Daviemax, do you have a photo of this one?

[daviemax]

Thanks for the post Chris - I'd not seen that article before. I'll take your word on the Dodge. Meantime, I have been searching for a photo of 44-83439 when in USAF service and have found only one example (below). This was taken at Bell Aircraft, Niagara Falls, N.Y. apparently in 1945. Although the aircraft is disarmed there is a lot of interest around some feature of the tail (I count 9 heads). The word "FIDO" and an indistinct drawing are visible under magnification. My copy of the available record card (it is incomplete) indicates the aircraft was designated as an EB/JB (exempt from certain maintenance routines) until sent to Davis-Monthan in August of 1958.

[Mark Allen M]

Here's four of the Tora, Tora, Tora, B-17's 3-4-1969


And a batch of the other planes.

[The Inspector]

Thanks for the post Chris - I'd not seen that article before. I'll take your word on the Dodge. Meantime, I have been searching for a photo of 44-83439 when in USAF service and have found only one example (below). This was taken at Bell Aircraft, Niagara Falls, N.Y. apparently in 1945. Although the aircraft is disarmed there is a lot of interest around some feature of the tail (I count 9 heads). The word "FIDO" and an indistinct drawing are visible under magnification. My copy of the available record card (it is incomplete) indicates the aircraft was designated as an EB/JB (exempt from certain maintenance routines) until sent to Davis-Monthan in August of 1958.

The first car with the guy under the hood is a pre war Dodge product, maybe Dodge, DeSoto, Plymouth, the styling beading on the front fender gives that away and except for grills and engine sizes they were all the same basic car from the firewall back (CHRYSLERS and IMPERIALS were different bodies, post war 46/48 Dodges used prewar Chrysler bodies as they moved upscale). The car parked under the wing looks like a 51/52 CHRYSLER hardtop coupe (need to see the grill/headlamps to differentiate).