Author Topic: Silver B17s for Sp4de (Read 655 times)

Guppy35 · « **on:** February 13, 2005, 02:46:39 AM »

Hope these help

Dan/Slack

oboe · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2005, 07:51:16 AM »

Dan,

Do you happen to know why B-17 noseart seems to vary which side of the fuselage its on? Fighter nose art seems to invariably be on the left side, unless the plane is shared by pilots in which case there may be a different nose art on each side. I think this was because the fighter cockpits were entered from the left side normally.

But with the big bombers, I think I've seen as many photos of left side nose art as right side. My first thought was the the photo images got reversed somehow, and it really is on the left side in all cases. Then I started wondering if maybe it depended on the location of the bomber's revetment, and which side the crews normally saw as they approached the plane from the dispersal huts...

Got any ideas about that?

Guppy35 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2005, 12:31:24 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by oboe
Dan,

Do you happen to know why B-17 noseart seems to vary which side of the fuselage its on? Fighter nose art seems to invariably be on the left side, unless the plane is shared by pilots in which case there may be a different nose art on each side. I think this was because the fighter cockpits were entered from the left side normally.

But with the big bombers, I think I've seen as many photos of left side nose art as right side. My first thought was the the photo images got reversed somehow, and it really is on the left side in all cases. Then I started wondering if maybe it depended on the location of the bomber's revetment, and which side the crews normally saw as they approached the plane from the dispersal huts...

Got any ideas about that?

More often then not, the Crew Chief used the right side of the plane and 'allowed' the flight crew to use the left on his bird

Since Bombers were used by many crews if they lasted beyond the 25-35 missions flown by a bomber crew, it really 'belonged' more to the crew chief.

This was true on fighters too as you'll often see the crew chief's nose art on the right side.

Dan/Slack

oboe · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2005, 01:03:27 PM »

In particular, I'm thinking about this Fort from the 384th BG:
http://www.384thbombgroup.com/pages/2107148.html

Friend of mine's father served aboard as navigator before she was lost. When I feel really good at natural metal (and maybe after the B-17 is redone for AH2) she's going to be my subject. Then I am going to invite the friend over and show him Aces High.

I assume the larger image of the Vargas girl is on paper, and served as a guide for painting her onto the fuselage, and I'm guessing then that the fuselage left side is blank

Guppy35 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 13, 2005, 01:44:34 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by oboe
In particular, I'm thinking about this Fort from the 384th BG:
http://www.384thbombgroup.com/pages/2107148.html

Friend of mine's father served aboard as navigator before she was lost. When I feel really good at natural metal (and maybe after the B-17 is redone for AH2) she's going to be my subject. Then I am going to invite the friend over and show him Aces High.

I assume the larger image of the Vargas girl is on paper, and served as a guide for painting her onto the fuselage, and I'm guessing then that the fuselage left side is blank

I'm thinking the Varga Girl is what was showing on the left side of that 384th bird with Dark Angel smaller writing. Right side had the larger writing. Seems like you can see stenciling on the 17 in that image.

I grew up with a friend whose Dad had been a tail gunner in the 384th. He was the first vet I talked to. I was able to look through his photos etc. This was back when I was in High School. He'd flown on the first Berlin raid etc.

I still have the 384th BG Association hat he gave me from back then

Dan/Slack

Sp4de · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2005, 02:01:33 PM »

Sweeeet thanks DAN!!