Aero Vintage Books

B-17G 44-8479 ‘Susie Sag Sump’ crash landed on the Firestone Rubber Plantation at Harbel, Liberia, January 1946. There is a YouTube film which includes shots of the plane being fuelled and later after salvage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boolRZStpJs ‘1948, crashed B 17G, "Susie Sag Sump", Firest...

42-5153 is not recorded at Chanute but 42-5158 was asssigned to Chanute August 1943.

The USAAF Monthly Inventory Reports have a column for special use codes, typically ‘WW’ for ‘war weary’. There are other codes to denote equipment fit and I am trying to rationalise the following codes for the B-17G: ‘SH’ - believed to denote equipped with H2X radar system. [eg; 42-97986] ‘SO’ - bel...

One that didn't quite make it.
42-5737. On its way from England back to the US, the plane force landed in Lisbon, Portugal 24 October 1943 and was interned.

42-5871 was also assigned to Yuma. Typically for the period, FY44 history is not recorded on the IARC. It was at Tulsa April 1943 then next reported with 3036 Base Unit at Yuma May 1945 and at RFC Ontario 15May45.

The February 2013 edition of RupaNews has the attached photographs of Boeing B-17 aircraft which passed through the UAL Modification Center at Cheyenne, WY. The lower photo is of the last B-17 which was handled by UAL and named "Our Parting Shot at Tokyo". It seems to have a radar dome under the rea...

The following website states that the crew of a B-17 Fortress force landed in Portuguese Guinea, West Africa March 1943. https://www.portugal1939-1945.org/en/portfolio/a-flying-fortress-b-17-landed-in-portuguese-guinea/ The extract quoted below from the Kisamore file on the 306BG website makes some ...

"Dave Osborne’s data doesn’t seem to fit with it being in Japan in September 1945"

The IARC records the aircraft assigned to Bolling Field Aug45 and departing the US 6Aug45. It returned to California by 23Oct45.

4901st Support Wing, Special Weapons Command, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM 30Mar52. 4901st Support Wing, Air Research and Development Command, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM 1Apr52. Ferried to Yucca Lake airstrip at the Nevada National Security Site. Instrumented and subjected to three atmospheric n...

The IARC has an entry against Tinker suggesting this plane was assigned to Buckingham before going to Boca Raton in what appears to be July 1944.

Stewart