Aero Vintage Books

And this one, from the same source . . .

It could be one of these B-17Es modified for the sea search role. This photo of 41-2473 came from Al Lloyd, but no details of when or where.

And here is 40-3060 in its variation of the Hawaiian Air Force multi-coloured camouflage scheme.

That seems like a fair call, based on what we know.

For the record, 41-2437 was ditched by Lt Robert B. Smith on February 18, 1943. The crew was picked up by USS Fletcher two days later.

I agree, this should not be a mystery. Apparently there was a late plane change after the B-17 that was originally scheduled for the Rickenbacker flight had brake problems. I suspect that that plane was a B-17E flown in from Kualoa, maybe 41-2433, but I can’t be 100% sure. Moving on . . . the record...

It’s not 41-2437. At the time that B-17E was assigned to the 98th Bomb Squadron of the 11th Bomb Group. It completed tactical missions on October 23, 24 and 25, 1942 and was photographed by Life’s Ralph Morse about December of 1942.

http://img-cdn.filefactory.com/embed/xl/5ejr2ro6e05e.jpg For the record . . . Edward Rogers recently discovered this photo, taken at Mareeba, Australia in October 1942. It reveals that 41-9235, originally bound for Britain, retained its original standard Olive Drab and Neutral Gray camouflage in se...

Thanks Chris, good to finally get that one sorted out.

http://img-cdn.filefactory.com/embed/xl/5mj1z6rt4rti.jpg Not 41-9234, but as close as we’ve been able to get so far. This remarkable photo of 41-9243 shows exactly what it would have looked like immediately before it was reclaimed by the United States. The two B-17Es were delivered just two days ap...

Has anybody ever established the purpose of the cutout in the bomb bay door on the 8th Photo Squadron’s R.F.D. Tojo, 41-2627?



Interestingly 41-2666, Jay Zeamer’s Lucy, seems to have something similar.

Another year has passed and the fabled Blue Goose remains . . . fabled. A footnote to the story is this press item, published on August 30, 1942, that is unique and interesting because it describes the Waskowitz plane as navy-blue rather than "baby blue". http://img-cdn.filefactory.com/embed/xl/1o2a...

This is the best image I can get – there are clues there, but not enough for me to want to take a stab at the RCN. The original poster said his father was an instructor in flight engineer school.

Things are pretty quiet but an interesting photo of a couple of Chanute trainers turned up on Facebook posted by Steve Leyden, whose father took the photograph.

http://img-cdn.filefactory.com/embed/xl/5241aebvlyok.jpg A high-resolution version of the NARA Kodachrome image of Redmond Annie turned up recently. Unfortunately, the serial number is still unclear, but I believe I can read enough of it to establish that it’s a Douglas Long Beach B-17F, serial beg...

I agree that some earlier published information has since been clarified or corrected, but I believe Roger was refering to the Spaatz October 1942 order that you also quoted. So far I’ve identified at least ten early 306th Bomb Group B-17Fs that had the yellow fuselage rings, with examples from all ...