If you could own a B-24...
Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:58 pm
...what you you paint it up as?
Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:15 pm
Lady Be Good......
Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:55 pm
Probably as an assembly ship.
local favorite
Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:02 pm
I'm biased, but I'd paint it up as the "Tulsamerican", the last B-24 off the Douglas lines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The plant workers had a bond drive to pay for it themselves, and had a naming contest as well. 
Built by Oklahomans, flown by Oklahomans...
Built by Oklahomans, flown by Oklahomans...
B-24
Sun Jul 02, 2006 3:28 pm
One of the lead form up ships with crazy paint jobs 
Sun Jul 02, 2006 4:56 pm
Great question !
If you have a copy of Osprey's Combat Aircraft ~ B-24 Units in the Pacific ~ color plate number 1 on page 48 ~ it illustrates ..........
B-24A / 40-2371 / 88th Recon Squadron ~ Pearl Harbour Dec 7th 1941 ~ it was the first aircraft destroyed during the Japanese attack on Hickman Field that morning. Some of the members of its crew became the first American casualties on that fateful day ~ 2 were killed and three more were wounded.
This was a 'short nose' Liberator which was unarmed ~ no top or tail turrets were fitted. It wore a black overall paint scheme with earth / dark green top surfaces. It didn't have any nose art as such ~ but a big ( I mean BIG ) stars and stripes flag below the nose.
Why this airplane ? It's just a wild idea of mine ~ specifically to paint the CAF's LB-30 ~ without the need for any external modification.
It would look great sitting on the tarmac ~ plus it would look really stiking in the air and then ~ just think about the 'showtime' possibilities !
For examle ~ being chased be a Zero before the cavalry ( in the form of a P-40 or two ) come to its rescue ....... can you see it too ?
If you have a copy of Osprey's Combat Aircraft ~ B-24 Units in the Pacific ~ color plate number 1 on page 48 ~ it illustrates ..........
B-24A / 40-2371 / 88th Recon Squadron ~ Pearl Harbour Dec 7th 1941 ~ it was the first aircraft destroyed during the Japanese attack on Hickman Field that morning. Some of the members of its crew became the first American casualties on that fateful day ~ 2 were killed and three more were wounded.
This was a 'short nose' Liberator which was unarmed ~ no top or tail turrets were fitted. It wore a black overall paint scheme with earth / dark green top surfaces. It didn't have any nose art as such ~ but a big ( I mean BIG ) stars and stripes flag below the nose.
Why this airplane ? It's just a wild idea of mine ~ specifically to paint the CAF's LB-30 ~ without the need for any external modification.
It would look great sitting on the tarmac ~ plus it would look really stiking in the air and then ~ just think about the 'showtime' possibilities !
For examle ~ being chased be a Zero before the cavalry ( in the form of a P-40 or two ) come to its rescue ....... can you see it too ?
Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:56 pm
Warbirdguy et al--
I like these "what-if" threads...wistful though they make me! A Lib, eh? Hm. For starters, the choice of overall livery would depend partly on what Lib version it was. Ex USAAF/AF J? Probably one of the 5th AF ships with the Al Merkling nose art. "American Beauty" springs to mind with its Vargaesque pinup girl superimposed on a profile of Uncle Sam...of course the PC crowd would absolutely hate that one, which is all the more reason to paint a Lib that way! Ex RAF/Indian J or L? Probably RAF CBI-theatre livery as the aircraft would have looked during WWII. Canadians flew Libs with the RAF in Asia (one of those Canadians, Harry "H.V." Smith, was the chief of the CWH Cessna Crane restoration crew years ago). Ex-RCAF GR-whichever? RCAF coastal livery, of course, as a Battle of the Atlantic tribute. LB-30? Perhaps that Pearl-period livery as noted above. That setpiece at an airshow would be very moving indeed. And it would be very tempting, if "my" Liberator were a fresh rebuild, to fly her first in a temporary primer-based leadship livery, before going to the permanent finish. Maybe one of Col. Stewart's Libs?
One detail that wouldn't be in dispute, in the (sadly impossible) event of my acquiring a Liberator, is where she'd be based. Any Lib of mine would fly in perpetuity from the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run, Michigan. A very large portion of the B-24 production run originated at the Ford plant there and the museum has, of course, wanted a Lib "forever"...I so wish one could be brought "home" to Yankee.
S.
I like these "what-if" threads...wistful though they make me! A Lib, eh? Hm. For starters, the choice of overall livery would depend partly on what Lib version it was. Ex USAAF/AF J? Probably one of the 5th AF ships with the Al Merkling nose art. "American Beauty" springs to mind with its Vargaesque pinup girl superimposed on a profile of Uncle Sam...of course the PC crowd would absolutely hate that one, which is all the more reason to paint a Lib that way!
Ex RAF/Indian J or L? Probably RAF CBI-theatre livery as the aircraft would have looked during WWII. Canadians flew Libs with the RAF in Asia (one of those Canadians, Harry "H.V." Smith, was the chief of the CWH Cessna Crane restoration crew years ago). Ex-RCAF GR-whichever? RCAF coastal livery, of course, as a Battle of the Atlantic tribute. LB-30? Perhaps that Pearl-period livery as noted above. That setpiece at an airshow would be very moving indeed. And it would be very tempting, if "my" Liberator were a fresh rebuild, to fly her first in a temporary primer-based leadship livery, before going to the permanent finish. Maybe one of Col. Stewart's Libs?
One detail that wouldn't be in dispute, in the (sadly impossible) event of my acquiring a Liberator, is where she'd be based. Any Lib of mine would fly in perpetuity from the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run, Michigan. A very large portion of the B-24 production run originated at the Ford plant there and the museum has, of course, wanted a Lib "forever"...I so wish one could be brought "home" to Yankee.
S.
If I had a B-24...
Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:57 pm
Could there be any doubt? Uncle Bud's (Sgt. Bernard Seglin, ball turret gunner) plane:
F-7B 44-40967, 2nd Photo Charting Squadron at Puerto Princesa, 1945
F-7B 44-40967, 2nd Photo Charting Squadron at Puerto Princesa, 1945
Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:20 am
Trey, you beat me to it!
A "join-up" aircraft would be great!!
Saludos,
Tulio
A "join-up" aircraft would be great!!
Saludos,
Tulio
Re: B-24
Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:56 am
Trey Carroll wrote:One of the lead form up ships with crazy paint jobs
you mean one of these?
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personally, I kinda like the more oddballs, like a captured bird flown by Germany.... ( how many of these will you EVER see at your local airshow....)
(42-78247)
The plane was captured by Germans and used for German radars tests. Camouflage: upper surfaces - White, lower - Yellow, markings - Black no White background.
or this one: Captured B-24H-5-DT Ser. # 41-28641.
Used to fly supply missions to the Island of Rhodes in late 1944.
This Liberator was recaptured by U.S. troops at Salzburg, Austria.
Camouflage: green upper surfaces/yellow under surfaces. White insignia.
Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:37 am
APG85 wrote:Lady Be Good......
excellent answer!
TT
Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:48 am
My B-24 would be painted up half as "Cocktail Hour" 43rd BG, 64th BS, 5th Air Force, and the other half would be "Alley Oop" from the 465th BG, 780th BS in order to honor two different theaters of war on one plane. Now, I just can't decide if I would paint the engine bowls red or keep them silver/ bare. They are red on "Alley Oop" but silver/ bare on "Cocktail Hour".
Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:02 am
Do the engine bowls half and half too....
Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:17 am
I'd paint it as a PB4Y-1, I'd have to search for a specific one. I'm sure there are a few choice ones out there.
Tim
Tim
Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:24 am
Tim,
If I was doing a pb4y it would be "Torilla flats" - a pb4y with the emerson style (?) nose and tail turrets
If it was a B-24 I'd vote for either "Nip Nipper" - my grandfather got a ride on this B-24 in Kwelin China; or the "Sharon B" of the 489th BG - its pilot, Col. Leon Vance jr., was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Sorry I do not have pictures of either bird
Tom P.
If I was doing a pb4y it would be "Torilla flats" - a pb4y with the emerson style (?) nose and tail turrets
If it was a B-24 I'd vote for either "Nip Nipper" - my grandfather got a ride on this B-24 in Kwelin China; or the "Sharon B" of the 489th BG - its pilot, Col. Leon Vance jr., was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Sorry I do not have pictures of either bird
Tom P.