B-17

[jankees 917]

I darkened the cheeks a bit more:

and have been busy scratching paint off the wings:

and around the filler caps:

and giving the engines a bit more wear and tear:

[mutley 4,495]

The wear and tear is looking good

[jankees 917]

another update:

engine 2 received a few new cowlflaps:

and I added some more oil stains to the engines:

[mutley 4,495]

Incredible detailing JK, every repaint is a cameo for its original.

[jankees 917]

and she's just landed on OZx, enjoy her

[jankees 917]

44-2102518 JD-K "Damn Yankee" flew with the 545BS/ 348th BG from Grafton Underwood, and completed no less than 142 combat missions

[PanzerFodder 0]

Stunning

Cheer's...Graham...

[brett 2,310]

Love the paint jobs(all your work), but the seal around the nose bubble really sticks out as a bit brite looking. Is there a way to darken it?

[jankees 917]

I don't think it is part of the paintkit, at least I haven't found it (yet)...

Meanwhile, this is very much work in progress, any idea what it is going to be??

[mutley 4,495]

A very mixed up aircraft!

[hurricanemk1c 195]

I know - it'll be a B-17!

Great repaints Jankees!

[SEATAC 400]

Excellent job on all of the repaints. You are a very talented artist.

[aeromax 10]

baah, very good work and shots. congratulations ! well done !

On B-17G-10-VE 42-40000 Quad Zero - think this cute girl you can see on BA747 aicraft today, isn´t it ?

cheers

[jankees 917]

B-17G-35-BO 42-32076 rolled off Boeing's production line in Seattle in march 1944. This was around the transition from camouflaged to bare metal aircraft, which led to the odd situation that the datablock was stencilled onto a OD panel, while the rest of the aircraft was left bare metal. This was because the datablock was sprayed on right at the beginning of production. The aircraft was

assigned to the 401st BS of the 91st BG, and was collected at the depot in Burtonwood by Paul McDuffee, who was so impressed with its smooth handling that he asked to be assigned to it. The

aircraft was named by its crew chief, Hank Cordes, and was named after a popular song by the Andrews Sisters. Originally, the name was 'Shoo shoo baby', applied in gothic letters, which was later

replaced by a Vargas girl and an additional 'shoo', painted by Cpl. Tony Starcer. McDuffee flew 13 missions with 076, before completing his tour of duty. On completion of his last flight, he buzzed the

airfield and flew so low that fencing wire became entangled in the tail wheel.

Here she is one one of her missions:

On the plane's 23rd mission, on 29 may 1944, Lt. Robert Guenther was flying 076 on a raid to Poznan when he suffered engine failure on one engine, and a while later, flak knocked out a second engine. 'Shoo shoo shoo baby' started to fall behind, and when a third engine started to falter, Lt Guenther decided to turn to neutral Sweden, with the crew jettisoning all loose equipment. A group of FW190's clossed in, but did not open fire, peeling away. By the time 076 reached Bulltofta airfield near Malmo, it had only one engine left, but it did manage to perform a safe landing. The crew were interned, and the aircraft was impounded. The crew returned to the UK in october 1944, and 'Shoo shoo shoo baby' remained in Sweden.

Here she is in Bulltofta:

and what I painted:

[jankees 917]

B-17G-35-BO 42-32076 was interned in Sweden on 29 may 1944, after losing two engines during a raid on Poznan. At the time, Sweden maintained an aerial connection with Prestwick in the UK, using orange painted DC-3. These were slow, and always in danger of being shot down. After one was shot down, the Swedish Government decided to try and look for alternatives, and a deal was struck with

the US: They released several interned flightcrews in exchange for 10 B-17 bombers that had landed in Sweden. In the end, only 9 B-17's became Swedish property, and 42-32076 was one of those. Seven of these B-17's were then converted to airliners by SAAB at Linkoping, the other two were used for spares. The conversion inclued the removal all all military equipment, the addition of a longer,

closed nose, and the installation of a bagage compartment in the bombbay and two passenger compartments, one forward and one in the aft fuselage. At the back of the cabin there was room for a

small toilet. In addition, they installed extra windows in passenger cabins. This rebuilding lasted 5-6 months. Thus converted the aircraft could carry 14 passengers. They were now called F-17's, after

Felix Hardeson, the US military attache in Sweden who was vital for the conclusion of the deal. Most aircraft received a camouflage paint job, with the registration and the word 'Sweden'in large yellow

letters on the fuselage. The first operational flight to Prestwick took place in october 1944, continuing until the end of the war. After the war, the F-17's were used for flights to New York, Europe, Africa and South America, but the availability of the new DC-4's after the war meant that the F-17's were retired in Sweden in august 1947. 42-32076 in the meantime never received a coat of camouflage paint, but was left bare metal, with just the registration on the wings and fuselage. It was sold to the Danish Air Line in november 1945, being registered OY-DFA.

Here she is as SE-BAP:

and what I painted:

I couldn't rebuild the nose, or remove the turrets and guns, so you'll have to make allowances for that, sorry.

B-17G-35-BO 42-32076, now registered SE-BAP, performed test flights on November 2, 1945 and November 6 the aircraft was transferred to Heathrow Airport and surrendered to the Danish Air Line

(DDL). Here it was registered OY-DFA and on November 13 the aircraft was deployed in flight on the UK – Copenhagen route.

Here she is with here new Danish ID:

During one flight, upon arrival to Blackbushe Airport on 28 November 1945, with 22 persons aboard, the left landing gear would not come down and the pilot, Captain Emil Damm, executed a one wheel landing with little damage and no injuries. During the repairs, it also received a new paintjob and the name "Stig Viking".

Here she is in her new paintjob:

In September 1946 “Stig Viking “ was used on the Copenhagen Nairobi in route, which from February 1947 was expanded to Johannesburg in South Africa. In 1947, the DDL also started flying DC-4, and the days of the F-17 as a passenger plane were numbered.

This is what I painted:

In late 1947 the Danish Army Air Corps started to look for an aircraft that could be used for aerial photography assignments on Greenland for the Danish Geodetic Institute (DGI) and in April 1948

they purchased B 17G OY-DFA “Stig Viking” from DDL.

[jankees 917]

B-17G-35-BO 42-32076, now registered OY-DFA was bought by the Danish Army Air Corps in April 1948 to be used for aerial photography assignments on Greenland for the Danish Geodetic Institute (DGI). The plane was rebuilt with 3 cameras in the nose - one for vertical shots and two to oblique recordings - plus space for a photographer behind a pivoting glass covered nose. An additional

1,400-liter fuel tank was installed in the bomb bay, and fi nally the plane got the registration 67-672 and was named “Store Bjørn” (“Big Dipper, or Ursus Major”).

Here she is back in military colors:

In 1949 it flew a navigation tour to Sweden and Norway, went to Greenland and Canada to examine the route and alternate aerodromes. After returning the plane had an overhaul, and from July to

September it was stationed on Greenland, where it flew a total of 108 hours of aerial photography for GI. When the Navy vessel “Alken” disappeared on Greenland, “Store Bjørn” assisted in the

search from 23 October - 12. November and flew 48 hours total as a SAR aircraft.

1950 was a busy year, from July to the end of September it flew a total of 137 hours of aerial photography. Moreover, on the 14th-17th September it flew again as a SAR aircraft for 25 hours

in search of Loftleiðirr’s missing DC-4 “Geysir”.

Here she is in action over Greenland:

The Danish Geodetic Institute (DGI) did aerial photography and surveying on Greenland using “Store Bjørn”. In 1950 low-level vertical aerial photography was carried out in the region around Mestersvig,

with the main purpose of constructing detailed topographic maps in connection with lead-zinc prospecting. Oblique aerial photography was also carried out over much of the region between latitudes 69°–81°N in the years 1950 and 1952.

After the Royal Danish Air Force was established in 1951 “Store Bjørn?” was assigned to 721 Squadron at Air Base Værløse. It flew a rescue flight to Greenland to evacuate a seriously injured man. During the summer photo flight on Greenland, June to September the weather was not co-operating and only 56 hours of aerial photography was flown. In 1952 54 hours of photo flight was done again on Greenland. When the great flood disaster in Holland happened in 1953 “Store Bjørn?” flew blankets, boots and rubber boats from Heathrow to Valkenburg. During the 1953 summer Greenland flight, from June to September it flew a total of 101 hours of aerial photography for DGI and on the first October of 1954, the plane was officially decommissioned.

Here is what I painted:

The plane was in storage for two years and was then sold to the Institut Geographique National, a French aerial mapping company based in Creil outside Paris, and it was flown there by a Danish crew on 5 april 1955. After the sale to IGN, 42-32076 was again modified so that it would corresponded to the rest of IGN’s 12 B-17's, with the installation of 2 cameras in the belly for Aerial Photography Survey. IGN put the aircraft into service in January 1956 with registration F-BGSH and used it for its worldwide aerial photography program until 15 July 1961, when the aircraft was damaged in a collision and was stored in a corner of the airfield in Creil with a total flight time 3364 hours. Here, the plane was slowly cannibalized to keep the other IGN B-17's flying.

Here she is back in civilian clothes:

and after the accident, slowly being cannibalized:

and here is what I painted:

[jankees 917]

In 1968, the ancestry of F-BGSH was discovered by the Australina aviation historian Steve Birdsall, who notified the USAF museum, that this was a combat veteran that had flown operational missions, in contrast to most other surviving B-17's. Following negotiations, the B-17 was donated to the US by the French Government. Interestingly, its Swedish heritage attracted interest from Sweden as

well, but nothing came of this. The aircraft was disassembled at Creil and trucked to Frankfurt and flown to the US in 1972, where it arrived, packed in 27 crates.

Here she is, being swallowed by a C-5 Galaxy:

No plans or funds for restoration were present at the time, but in 1977, Mike Leiston, a technician at Dover AFB contacted the museum about the possibility of restoring one of the museum's aircraft by volunteers at Dover AFB. With the project approved, 42-32076 was transported to Dover, with the aim of restoring it to a stock wartime B-17G.

Upon arrival, Paul McDuffee, who had flown her for 13 missions, was present, and the reunion was clearly an emotional one as he commented "I've just got to go over and kiss her", which he did.

Here she is, undergoing restoration at Dover AFB:

The restoration continued to 1988,and after some 60.000 ma hours, "Shoo shoo shoo baby" took to the skies again for the first time on 11 september.

Here she is back in the air:

On 14 october 1988, she flew for the last time, to the USAF museum near Dayton, Ohio, where she can still be seen.

Here she is in the USAF museum:

Even the nose art was recreated by the original artist, Tony Starcer, although she looks a bit different from 1944.

The main difference however with her wartime looks is the fact that she currently sports an olive drab camouflage paint, which was necessary due to all the metal work needed to bring her back to a stock B-17G condition.

and finally, here is what I painted:

So there you have it, the amazing story of one B-17 combat veteran that survived to the present day.

[mutley 4,495]

That's the kind of history lesson I like.

Superb post JK, your repaints are spot on!

Cheers

Joe

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Love the history - love the repaints!

[brett 2,310]

She is a beautiful bird, they did a fantastic job on the restoration. You have really done her the justice she deserves. I am getting closer to caving in on purchasing this AC just to get your repaints.

[jankees 917]

hey, why not another civilian B-17?

[jankees 917]

It is now on Ozx:

CF-HBP was B-17G used by Kenting Aviation for Aerial photography surveys in 1957 and 1958. Originally delivered to the USAAF as 44-83814, it spent 1947 to 1951 in North Dakota, before going to California Atlantic Airways as N66571. In 1953 it was acquired by Kenting Aviation Ltd of Toronto Canada and registered CF-HBP. It was was converted for high altitude aerial photography, and was used for mapping large parts of Canada and Australia. In 1971, she went back to the US as N66571 and was used as a tanker aircraft, fighting forest fires with Black Hills Aviation, where she flew as tanker #A18, #18, #C13 and #09. She went to NASM in 1982, and was displayed at Pima Air Museum, Arizona between 82-84, before going in storage at NASM. At present, the aircraft is undergoing restoration for static display as "City of Savannah" with the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

[jankees 917]

one more, a request from the 91st BG:

B-17G-45-BO 42-97276 "SWEET 17 The Spirit of St. Louis"

Arriving at Bassingbourn on 7th March. 1944 this silver Boeing-built B17G survived more than a full year of combat in the freezing skies over Northern Europe. Named by her first crew, whose pilot Alexander Thomas hailed from St. Louis Missouri, Sweet 17 sported an unusually austere piece of nose art for one painted by Tony Starcer whose reputation as an artist had, by this time, been well estabished. The Spirit of St. Louis was, of course, the name of Charles Lindberg's famous plane in which he had made his pioneering flight across the Atlantic single handed in 1927. Many of the young and inexperienced aircrews that took off from the east coast to fly across thousands of miles of featureless sea must have felt as though they, too, were taking that first pioneering flight into the unknown.

Sweet 17's first mission was not flown by the Thomas crew but by that of 1/Lt. Benjamin Bruce. He took the ship to Brussels in occupied Belgium on 1Oth April to bomb a coking and chemical works. It was not until the fourth mission, on 18th April to Oranienburg, did Alexander Thomas fly his Sweet 17 into battle. It was the first of 14 missions he would fly in the plane including two trips to Berlin.

Almost exactly one year after its first combat sortie, Sweet 17 flew its last mission of the war to Neumunster on 13th April 1945. By then the veteran Fortress had flown more than 84 missions with at least 36 different crews. One crew that flew the ship in late December and through January was John Flynn's. Sitting beside Flynn was George Kesselring and he recalled several missions in Sweet 17, the first was Christmas Eve to strike airfields at Frankfurt. In his diary he described the mission as "horrible" As a consequence of the instrument takeoff in poor weather and the accurate flak they encountered over the target. Landing back at Bury St. Edmunds they spent the night there before returning to Bassingbourn the following day.

The first day of the New Year saw George Kesselring back in the seat of Sweet 17, this time heading for Kassel. "A plane blew up on takeoff all killed," he wrote, " Two planes collided over the Channel, one ship went down in flames. There were eight chutes but poor kids couldn't possibly last more than 10-15 minutes. The other ship ditched and life boats were seen." This was a 398th Bomb Group plane and six of the crew were rescued.

George continued "Flak on entrance into Denmark. Couldn't bomb primary so went to secondary. On second pass over target - flak! We got 5 different bursts.... shot out glycol system in No. 2 engine - couldn't feather. Just missed the No. 4 gas tank. A hole 3 inches in diameter within 8 inches of ball turret. A hole 2 inches in diameter about one foot below my seat!!... fighters were seen but none attacked our group". It was a rugged mission and George concluded "What a day, what a way to start the New Year!"

Sweet 17 was repaired and patched and sent back into action five days later, again with Flynn's crew. But as the plane climbed away after takeoff, to assemble for the mission to Cologne on 6th January, a fire started in the top turret. Quick action by pilots Kesselring and Flynn turned the fully laden ship around and brought it back to, Bassingbourn without too much damage. There was another mission in it on the 10th and then on 14th January George noted "We caught flak at the front lines and were under fire for 15 minutes. Longest and most accurate flak encountered.... our No. 2 wing ship blew up..." He continued. Flynn had 4 holes close to him. One grazed his hand - I thought he'd had it! Three holes in right wing, two in left wing, chunk out of prop, hole in waist upper turret.... worst mission yet!!"

One month later, after several more missions for both Kesseiring and Sweet 17, he was back over enemy territory in the ship again on 14th February. "Boy, what a mission!" he wrote, "Just about wilted when we saw the target ....... The target that day was Dresden but a combination of high winds, navigational errors and towering smoke from RAF night bombing took the formation to Prague instead. "We went over the target and started back.... found ourselves about 150 miles off course. We had gotten very little flak over the target but we were running short of gas. We finally came to our lines (Rhine River) and started to get lots of flak. John caught a piece in his right thigh that came up under my seat Curtiss got John down from the cockpit.... I kept Russell in the cockpit just in case.... I dropped out of formation and leaned out the mixture to save gas.... decided to land at the nearest available field." They made it and John Flynn was hospitalized with his wounds. Sweet 17 had 178 holes in her and had to be left there in Belgium while George and the rest of the crew went back to finish their tour in other planes. They would not fly in the ship again but others would, although not for six weeks and after a liberal sprinkling of flak patches and other repairs.

"Story taken from Plane Names & Fancy Noses, by Ray Bowden"

[jankees 917]

and I continue with another 91st BG B-17:

B-17G-10-VE #42-39996 arrived at Bassingbourn to join the 91st BG on 14 january 1944. She was assigned to the 332nd BS and after completing a few flights, she received the name 'Boston Bombshell' after the original aircraft carrying that name was brought down near Munster. Tony Starcer painted the nose art, based on Esquire's August centrefold by Varga. On 16 August 1944, on its 47th mission, "Boston Bombshell" was attacked by a group of 25 fighters before reaching the target, Halle. All four engines caught fire and she went down in a blazing inferno. Only two crew members survived, pilot Lt. John Dunlap, and navigator Lt Hubert Carpenter.

[jankees 917]

B-17G-85-BO #43-38348 LG-O "Roxy's Special" of the 322 BS/ 91st BG based in Bassingbourne UK. #348 arrived in Bassingbourne on 18 August 1944, and very quickly received her nose art, by Corporal Tony Starcer. By 5 September, it had flown four missions to Germany. The next mission, on the 8th of September, was to the I.G. Farben Chemical Plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. On board this mission was David McCarty, pilot, Neil M. Mylin, co-pilot, Donald L. Brazones, navigator, Frank S. Bolen, bombardier, John Cangemi, top turret, Frank F. Trim, Jr., ball turret, Charles E. Beebe, waist guns, Floyd Z. Dillon, tail gun, and Henry R. Schuls, radio operator. Around 11.35 hours, short of the bomb drop near Ludwigshafen, “Roxy’s Special” took a hit ripping off a wing. A spin ensued pinning Bolen and navigator Don Brazones in their nose bubble followed almost immediately by an explosion blowing them free of the aircraft. Bolen and Brazones were the only two survivors of “Roxy’s Special.” They both parachuted down, but not together, therefore neither knew the fate of the other until later. Bolen eluded capture for 7 days before being picked up and carted off to Stalag Luft 1 near Barth, Germany after interrogations. Brazones had been picked up before Bolen and processed through the channels to Stalag Luft 1. The two were reunited at Stalag Luft 1 where they spent the remainder of the war. On Sept. 14, 1944, the day Bolen was captured, his wife Frances gave birth to their first child, Linda, in Selma - a child Bolen would not see until returning from imprisonment and the war. The “Roxy’s Special” crash site was near a Lutheran Church in Ludwigshafen. A very respectful group of Germans removed the remains of the air crew and buried them in the local cemetery. After the war, the remains were turned over to American authorities and they moved them to a National Cemetery in Northern France. In 1947, Bolen served as casket bearer for David McCarty when he was brought home to rest in Birmingham.