| Title | Fighter Squadron |
| Studio | Warner Bros. |
| Date of Release | November 27, 1948 |
| Producer | Seton I. Miller |
| Director | Raoul Walsh |
| Actors | Edmund O'Brien, Robert Stack, John Rodney |
| Aerial Coordinator | Paul Mantz, Stan Reaver, F.H. Nolta |
| B-17 Filming Locations | Southern California |
B-17s Used
B-17G 44-83842 (N1212N)
Movie
Fairly standard fare about a fighter squadron in England during World War II flying P-47 Thunderbolts. Shot in color, the film also uses some Van Nuys Air Guard P-51D Mustangs to fill in for the German Me-109 fighters, a stretch but that's what you do in 1948 when there are no enemy fighters available and you don't want to use models. (For all the complainers in 2008, would you rather see P-51s now or Me-109 wooden models in the movie?) The movie is a pretty good flick and has some great Mustang and Thunderbolt footage. If this were a Mustang or Thunderbolt website, we might go into the details of the where all that stuff was filmed, and who did it, and all the little vagaries of such minutiae. Just a bunch of fighters, though. Who cares? What about the B-17 stuff?
Okay, interesting bit of B-17 stuff in this film, if only for the use of a very fresh-from-the-surplus-yard-at-Altus B-17G 44-83842 shown in air-to-air footage shot somewhere over Southern California, probably in the Santa Clarita Valley west of Van Nuys and east of Oxnard. The B-17G as shot is in the natural metal finish and is basically unmarked except for the tail serial of "483842". It has both gun turrets installed and appears with maching guns (or mock-up guns) mounted. It is used in the film to depict a B-17 returning from a mission, its number one engine shut down and feathered, providing escort protection to a damaged P-47 Thunderbolt as it is attacked by German fighters (P-51s).
As is noted below, the airplane had come out of the dozens of brand new B-17s stored at Altus straight from the factory, and had been purchased in May 1947. The owner of the airplane at the time was noted aircraft broker Charles Babb, and it was used in two films shot back to back in the spring of 1948, Fighter Squadron and Command Decision.
Anecdotal
- It is thought that the air-to-air footage of the B-17 used in the film was shot by Paul Mantz, possibly using his Lockheed Sirus photo plane. This remains unconfirmed. Mantz was one of the aerial coordinator for Fighter Squadron.
- One of my best sources for postwar B-17 information has been the late Malcolm Gougon. His records indicate the following about 44-83842: It was sold as surplus out of Altus AAF in May 1947 to Bob Sturges (dba Columbia Airmotive) of Troutdale, Oregon, and registered as NL1212N. In February 1948 he sold it to aircraft broker Charles Babb operating from the Grand Central Air Terminal in Southern California. Babb leased it to Warner Brothers for Fighter Squadron in the late spring of 1948 and then to MGM for Command Decision a month later. The airplane retained the gun turrets at this time. It was then sold in late June or early July to Israeli interests represented by Al Schwimmer, who had already smuggled three B-17s out of the U.S. bound for Israel. A crew tried to fly NL1212N out of the country during the second week of July. During the first week of July arrangements were made by a company named "World Air Ferries" at White Plains, New York, to purchase 6,500 gallons of avgas to be used to fuel two B-17s and four A-26s. When NL1212N showed up on July 11 at 0800, it was marked with the bogus registration of NL7712M. It was fueled and, after a short test flight, immediately departed bound for the Azores. It suffered some engine problems and ended up landng at Halifx, Nova Scotia, where it was imppounded. After a minor international incident, it was released for a return flight to the U.S. on July 16. During that flight, which apparently heaed east instead of southwest out of Halifax, ended early when three cowlings blew off the B-17 and it returned to Halifax. After repairs, the Canadians only would authorized a depature if the B-17 was escorted back to the U.S., arrangements for which were made for a July 18th departure. Shortly before midnight on the 17th, though, the airplane departed Halifax without permission and ended up in the Azores. There, Portugese authorities impounded the airplane and crew, the crew later being released to return to the U.S. The airplane's fate is not confirmed, but the best sources would indicate that it was shortly afterwards covertly obtained by the Dominican Republic. Some reports suggest that it was flown into the Domincan Republic in 1951 and became part of its air force flying as FAD 2301. However, Dan Hagedorn's excellent Central American and Caribbean Air Forces notes the arrival of a B-17G in the Dominican Republic in mid-September 1948, which makes more sense in the timeline. Two sources suggest this B-17G later carried the Dominican air force serial of FAD 2301. It remained in service until at least July 1954 but its ultimate fate is unknown.
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Links
Acknowledgements
- Bruce Orriss' fine book When Hollywood Ruled the Skies
- Jim Farmer's fine book Celluloid Wings
- Pete "Digger" Johnston, who provided me with a copy of the film after waiting 28 years for a chance to see the film.
The natural metal finish B-17G, 44-83842 (NL1212N), providing an escort for the damaged P-47 in the short B-17 sequence that appeared about fourteen minutes into the film. This is a screen capture from the movie and was probably shot in early June 1948 west of Van Nuys.
Warner Brothers had a B-17 cockpit mockup that was later used in The High and the Mighty and this might be the same mockup in its first use. The top turret is shown in operation in this screen capture.
Interior of the cockpit with unusual stenciling on the armor plating behind the pilots.
A ball turret was filmed in action for the sequence that appeared in the film. Other interior shots were done for the film and integrated into short segments of actual combat footage.
Photo of what is probably the B-17G, s/n 44-83842, after being interned by Portugal in July 1948 on its way to Israel. That's a bogus tail number, NL7712M, on the vertical fin.