Warbird Information Exchange

At Aero Vintage, Dan Johnson recently posted a terrific photo of a large formation of sixteen B-17F and G trainers based out of Rapid City AAF in South Dakota, all carrying the "RC" tail code. As I was looking at the images of individual planes, one plane's serial looked familiar:



Sure enough, it turned out to be 42-3463, the plane Dana Andrews climbs into in the scrapyard scene in the movie The Best Years of Our Lives:


The Round ? Trip name and mission markings were added by the studio; '463 spent its career as a stateside trainer. As far as I know, this is the first photo of it in service that has turned up.

See more here:
http://www.aerovintage.com/forum/viewto ... f=1&t=4503

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Now that is pretty cool.

Good find!

Awesome find!

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Good eye.

I love that movie.