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B-17G Little Miss Mischief ??? After rear fuselage damage over Cologne?


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The 91st went to Cologne several times.  Are you referring to the October 15, 1944 mission to Cologne when she took the damage that eventually made her half-n-half or are you referring to a 1945 mission?

 

If you're talking about the October 15, 1944 mission, then she had the standard tail stinger at that time (LMM was B-17G-35-VE, serial no. 42-97880, DF*F).  She retained the standard tail stinger up until some time in 1945 when she was fitted with the pumpkin turret.  She would have had red vertical and horizontal tailplanes (sans rudder and elevators) and wingtips from July 1944.  Yellow was never a color used by the 1st CW, 1st AD (91st, 381st, 398th BG's [McDowell, 24]), to identify their aircraft.

 

LMM failed to return, landed on the Continent, January 6, 1945. January 6, 1945 mission number 278 was to Cologne so this is the last time LMM went to Cologne.  She was reunited with the 91st on February 26, 1945.  LMM Crash landed at Bassingbourn April 4, 1945 and was salvaged [Haavelar, 221] (and subsequently repaired and sent to the 306th BG in May 1945 [Bowden, 122-123]).  She had the pumpkin turret on her last mission. Unfortunately, absent any substantiation, there's no way to definitively determine whether she had the pumpkin turret during the January 6 mission to Cologne or not.  My educated guess is that the pumpkin turret was fitted after she was returned to Bassingbourn at the end of February.  Take that for what it's worth, I cannot substantiate that guess.

 

I know of no 1/48 pumpkin turret conversions that are currently available but if you're not doing her as she appeared during her last few missions, you shouldn't need it.

 

Nlbo3Re.jpg

 

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REFERENCES:  Havelaar, Marion. Ness, William N. (1995). The Ragged Irregulars of Bassingbourn, The 91st  Bombardment Group in World War II. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA (pp. 206-207, 221)

                               Bowden, Ray. (1993). Plane Names and Fancy Noses, The 91st Bomb Group (Heavy) United States Army Air Force. Design Oracle/USAAF Nose Art Research Project. Dorset, Great Britain (pp. 122-123)

                               McDowell, Ernest R. (1987). Flying Fortress, The Boeing B-17. Squadron/Signal Publishing, Carrolton, TX. (p. 24)

Edited by timc
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Köln.  Gotta have the umlauts.  For you PC users, <alt>0246 gets you "ö".  I have no idea how to do it on an Apple product.  Several years ago, I tried to find an app similar to Microsoft's Character map but was unsuccessful.  Maybe there is one but I didn't use the proper search term in the Apple Store.

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8 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Köln.  Gotta have the umlauts.  For you PC users, <alt>0246 gets you "ö".  I have no idea how to do it on an Apple product.  Several years ago, I tried to find an app similar to Microsoft's Character map but was unsuccessful.  Maybe there is one but I didn't use the proper search term in the Apple Store.

 

Fixed... edited the Köln right out of the post.

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 Nickname for the tail gun position as modified at the Cheyenne modification center-'cause it looks a bit like a pumpkin.

 

 

3.jpg

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On 7/3/2019 at 9:55 AM, Slartibartfast said:

Köln.  Gotta have the umlauts.  For you PC users, <alt>0246 gets you "ö".  I have no idea how to do it on an Apple product.  Several years ago, I tried to find an app similar to Microsoft's Character map but was unsuccessful.  Maybe there is one but I didn't use the proper search term in the Apple Store.

 

Much easier:  <option + u> + o = ö

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5 hours ago, 11bee said:

For a B-17 novice, what is a "pumpkin turret"?

 

 

The original stinger simply  had an opening where the guns protruded out the back that was covered with a canvas boot.  The "Cheyenne" turret (so named because it originated at the United Airlines Cheyenne, Wyoming modification center where almost all B-17s cycled on their way overseas for the latest updates and mods) had a nearly spherical dome as you can see in the photo above.  And as noted, it reminded someone of a pumpkin in shape, so "pumpkin turret".  Somewhere on the interwebs there is a great film showing them with a giant Sawzall chopping the tail turrets off and installing the new turret at the Cheyenne center. Nothing subtle about i.

 

Just as an aside, Boeing didn't start adding any of the forward fuselage "cheek" gun positions until very late in B-17 production.  Almost all of those were done at the UAL mod center at Cheyenne as well.  They didn't want to slow down production by implementing such a significant change on the production line, so it was more expedient to simply send the aircraft to Cheyenne to get the work done while Boeing kept pushing them out the door.

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