Ok so this isn't a diesel thread, but I'm pumped about it!!!
I'm a BIG World War II buff and I have had a picture of my grandad and his crew standing in front of their B-17 Bomber during the war. I have been searching for about 2 years for what happened to the B-17 named "Butch" and tonight, I stumbled upon another picture that I hadn't really noticed, it is the same picture, but it is clearer. So I got on the glasses, and got out the magnifying glass, and could rather easily make out a serial number underneath the navigators window that is about 1/4th the size of a pencil tip.. So I spent about an hour looking for it on the net, and finally came across it's fate....It was on Midway Island during the Battle of Midway and I assume it was damaged, so it was flown back to the states and salvaged...It isn't the best outcome, but it is still amazing that I could find it! I was about to give up! I am so happy now!!

 

Neat!!

Now that you have the SN, you should be able to trace that plane. Much more than just the Midway info you have gotten from the net.

Those ol' planes took a hell of a beating before they were scraped/salvaged. If it was able to fly from Midway to the states, I do not think it was just salvaged.

Try looking harder in places other than the net as the main info spot.

I wish you luck and would like to hear if you do find more info on your grandad's plane.

 

Cool. I found my Grandfathers BG group on the web.
http://www.486th.org/index3.htm#

MikeyB

 

I am going to look deeper today...I e-mailed the AMARC public relations last night and I hope that get's me somewhere, It would be really awesome if at least a little part of the plane is still in one piece! Anyone have any other ideas where I could look? Thanks!

 

You should be able to find out a good deal on it. The thing about Midway was that in the early days of the Pacific there weren't very many B-17's in the Pacific... and during the later part of the war, mostly after 1942, there weren't hardly any B-17's at all in the Pacific. After '43 you saw B-24's and around the end of '44 the B-29 started operating from bases in China and India (later from the Marianas).

Most B-17's during this time were personal aircraft that belonged to a general, MacArthurs was a B-17 named Bataan and Kenney I know had a B-17 too. Most other Pacific B-17's at the time were DUMBOs and carried an A-1 lifeboat. With that I will suggest you check out a website www.armyairforces.com go to the forums then go to the heavy bomber section. There are a few individuals there with a LOT of experience in this matter that can really help you find what youre looking for. If it made it back to the US it may have been salvaged to provide parts for other B-17's, particularly if it was an early model such as a D. If it wasnt in the best of shape it may have been scrapped after the war at a place like Kingman AZ.

When you post to that site you should give the SN of the aircraft, most likely someone will get back to you pretty soon. The guy there that'll probably help you out will be a Mr. Peters who was a FE/Top turret gunner on a B-17 in the Mediterrainian in WW2. Hes a really great guy and is always interested in helping out.

 

I happened to pick up a book at Barnes and Noble a few weeks back about "Rattlesnake Bomber Base" in Pyote, Tx. (spitting distance from Monahans,Tx.). The name was very descriptive of the native inhabitants.
During and especially after the war, the base was quite loaded up with B17's and later B29's . (including Enola Gay and the "Swoose"!)
This desolate spot in W Texas was where they later ripped apart(with bulldozers), and smelted thousands of those noble ladies down to scrap aluminum! The 900lb. aluminum ingots were supposedly sold to Detroit who probably made pistons etc, out of many a noble warbird...

K.

 

I recently just found out a lot about my family back ground. Both of my grand fathers were in WWII. One was a photographer in a b17. Two days ago while visiting my grandmother, I saw for the first time I can remeber two photo albums of all kinds of things. My grand father flew 5 missions on D day over the beaches, he got 5 awards for being in certain battles all over europe. It amazes me. There may even be pictures of your grand father or plane in there. Mine was in the 550th. I have no real other information as I have just started looking.

the pictures are amazing, many of the sky filled with planes , bombs falling, gun fire etc....then many of the country, from the sky and the ground.

 

Hey thanks for all the help guys! I actually e-mailed the Air Force Research and Historical division at the Pentagon about this, and within about 30 minutes I got a response from them with A LOT of information! I was fairly impressed! I didn't even think I would hear back from them! The guy who e-mailed me back even said he e-mailed some other people about it and is waiting to hear back from them. He said the oldest aircraft they have on the AMARC roster is a B-57 built in 1952 so there really isn't much chance any of my grandad's B-17 is still around because most of them were smelted down after the war, but he said he will dig a little deeper and hopefully he will find me some more info later. This is really cool! I am so glad people are actually willing to help me with this...I figured they would just ignore the e-mail I sent them!
I will try www.armyairforces.com and see what I can come up with!
Thanks again!

Patrick

 

I fly big RC warbirds. Back a few years ago I had a 94 inch span Corsair that was painted in the scheme of the Bunker Hill planes around 1944. I was at an event and an older gentleman came up and said "I like your Corsair but the color is wrong and the markings are wrong for the period" He went on to say that he flew off the Bunker Hill and told me a bunch of stories from WW 2. I told him to send me a picture of his plane and I would repaint mine to match. About a week later I got a handfull of pictures and I repained my Corsair and returned his pictures with some of mine. I got a letter of thanks from him a bit later. I saw him again at another meet later and he about had a tear in his eyes. The club interviewed him and I had him stand with me as I flew my plane. One happy gentleman.