In an obscure little corner of the B-17 story are the B-17s used by the air arm of the Dominican Republic in the late 1940s and 1950s. These aircraft have been shrouded in mystery through the years, partly on purpose and partly because of their location and time period. There has also been some incorrect information published about these aircraft, so I though it worth taking a closer look at what we now know. While much of the following has been sifted out from my own records gathered over the years, some of it also comes from two other aviation historians: Dan Hagedorn, who wrote a definitive book entitled Central American and Caribbean Air Forces back in 1993, and aviation historian Luis Puesan who has written extensively on the Dominican military.
A short point of history: by 1947, the Dominican Republic was run by dictator Gen. Rafael Trujillo, who had been in power since 1930. The country had somewhat joined the Allied cause during World War II and had received some benefits of Lend-Lease, with other American support. Its modest air force was called the Cuerpo de Aviación Militar Dominicana (AMD), and was mostly equipped with T-6 Texans and other light trainers. Trujillo had his enemies, both domestic and foreign, and sought a more impressive air force for the Caribbean nation. He tried to obtain direct military aid from the U.S. and other nations but was rebuffed in the immediate post-war period. Looking about, he had his agents working to quietly procure surplus fighters and bombers from the civil market, primarily in the U.S. Toward that end, he did get ahold of eleven P-38s in 1947, primarily arranged and purchased by an agent of Trujillo, American George Stamets.
Argentinian B-17 Confuser
Trujillo was also looking for a bombing force, and had Stamets and others look for available B-17s and B-25s. The U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo kept its eyes open and reported the import of aircraft to the FBI in an effort to cut off the flow of aircraft, not entirely successful as it happened. In March 1947, the embassy reported back to Washington that two B-17s had shown up at the main airport, Andrews Field, in the Dominican capital of Ciudad Trujillo (better known as Santo Domingo prior to 1936 and after 1961). In the ensuing years, reports have suggested that these two B-17s were destined to the AMD, but that was not the case. These two B-17s, B-17E 41-2438 and B-17E 41-9142, were surplus RCAF aircraft serialed, respectively, RCAF 9205 and 9206. They were ultimately destined for Argentina, where they were delivered in April 1947 and went on the Argentinian civil registry. But that’s another story.
Gen. Rafael Trujillo Wants B-17s
According to research done by Luis Puesan, efforts by George Stamets in August 1948 to obtain B-17s from the U.S. surplus market had resulted in arrangements to quietly purchase six B-17GS from the L.B. Smith Aircraft Co. in Miami Beach, Florida. That deal evidently fell apart due to an ongoing FBI investigation of Stamets.
A contributing factor to the heightened interest in surplus B-17s and other warplanes being procured from the U.S. civil market for foreign military forces was the illegal export of three B-17s in July 1948 for the infant Israeli air force. This occurred nearly at the same time Stamets was trying to purchase six surplus B-17s from L.B. Smith Aircraft Co.
B-17G 44-85756
However, in early September 1948, Stamets was able to obtain one B-17G, s/n 44-85756. Research by Luis Puesan indicates that this airplane did come from L.B. Smith Aircraft Co., though details are sparse. The identity of this aircraft is only confirmed by a Dominican Army document reviewed by Pusean that shows that serial number on the aircraft upon arrival in early September 1948. Pusean also notes that this Dominican Army document and other similar documents had numerous errors on them, but we shall assume that the serial number of s/n 44-85756 is correct.
If so, the brief history of that aircraft is documented on its AAF aircraft record card. It was built by Lockheed (that had absorbed Vega in 1943) at Burbank and accepted for service on May 25, 1945. It was one of the many late-production Douglas and Lockheed-produced B-17Gs that rolled off the production line in the early summer of 1945 and flown directly into storage at Syracuse, New York. Deemed unneeded, s/n 44-85756 was flown to the government Reconstruction Finance Corp. (RFC) storage lot at Altus Field, Oklahoma, in October 1945, and declared excess to needs the following month. It sat at Altus along with hundreds of other virtually new B-17s for the next two years. It was gone from Altus by November1947 according to a detailed inventory of the B-17s at Altus at that time by the U.S. Navy. Where it went, though, remains a mystery.
Most B-17s sold for flight purposes from Altus by the War Assets Administration (successor to the RFC) were allowed a one-time ferry flight from Altus to the new owner’s home base where the airplane could be inspected and licensed for civil operations. A good number of B-17s came out of Altus in that way but were never registered with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration. Where and why they went and who owned them is an enduring mystery in many cases, and s/n 44-85756 is a good example. It never made it on to the U.S. civil register, so no U.S. ownership information is available. Presumably, the L.B. Smith Aircraft Co. obtained it and sold it for export to the Dominican Republic, all under the radar of the U.S. authorities. It was delivered by George Stamets to Andrews Field in late August or early September 1948.
B-17G 44-83842
Dominican agent George Stamets obtained a second B-17G very shortly afterwards. This was s/n 44-83542, built by Douglas at Long Beach and accepted for service on June 29, 1945. Like s/n 44-85756, it was flown directly into storage at Syracuse, New York. It was also deemed as surplus and flown to the RFC storage lot at Altus Field, Oklahoma, in October 1945, and declared excess to needs the following month. It was sold on May 26, 1947, to J.W. Coleman, E.M. Jannsen, and R.M. Sturges for the sum of $250. R.M. “Bob” Sturges ran Columbia Airmotive at Troutdale, Oregon, and the B-17G, essentially in new, stock condition with turrets and all (no guns), was registered with the CAA as NL1212N.
No known use of this B-17 is recorded in the remainder of 1947 or early 1948, but on April 21, 1948, it was sold to the Babb Company, located at Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California. Charles Babb and his company were a well-known post-war aircraft broker of surplus aircraft of all types. The Charles Babb Company is well-deserving of an in-depth research project in itself. In any event, the next appearance of NL1212N is before the cameras in the Warner Bros. 1948 film Fighter Squadron. It appeared in the film as it had flown out of Altus…standard AAF markings over a natural metal finish with gun turrets installed. It only appeared briefly in the film in an air-to-air shot, but there is no mistaking it as 44-83842. No civil registration number is visible. Fighter Squadron was reportedly filmed between May and July 1948, with the B-17 scenes most likely filmed in mid-to-late June.
Next, it appears that NL1212N made a similarly brief appearance in the MGM 1948 film Command Decision. This film was shot between mid-April and late-June 1948. Paul Mantz evidently leased or otherwise borrowed NL1212N from Babb and used his own B-17F, s/n 42-3360, to provide the filmmakers a pair of B-17s for an airfield scene. For the brief scene, reportedly shot at Metropolitan Airport (now Van Nuys Airport), NL1212N appears in the foreground of the shot, and represents a B-17F so the chin turret has been removed. The airplane is camouflaged and carried the name Impatient Virgin III.
Luis Puesan records s/n 44-83842 as being sold to George Stamets on September 22, 1948, and it was delivered by pilot Lorenzo “Wimpy” Berry to the General Andrews airport at Ciudad Trujillo that same day. There is no recorded bill of sale from Babb to Stamets or anyone else . The civil registration file just indicates that Babb filed paperwork by September 29, 1949, with the CAA to cancel the registration due to it being exported to the Dominican Republic. Legally or not, the airplane appears to have left the U.S. openly.
(Contrary to what has been written about 44-83842 by me and others in the past, this B-17 was not the fourth Israeli B-17G that ended up being interned in the Azores in August 1948; that aircraft was conclusively B-17G 44-85764…another story for another day.)
B-17Gs In Service With the AMD
B-17G s/n 44-83542 joined s/n 44-85756 as a second essentially stock combat-ready B-17G. Both aircraft arrived will all military equipment intact, including at least two power turrets each and all bombing equipment. These airplanes lacked machine guns and a bomb-sight but were otherwise fit for military service.
In short order, both aircraft lost their old identities. They gained AMD serial numbers. Luis Puesan records that s/n 44-85756 gained the serial of 106, and s/n 44-83842 became serial number 107. A few years later they were issued new serial numbers, and s/n 44-85756 then became 2301 and s/n 44-83842 became 2302.
These two aircraft were the pride of the AMD, and they were put in service immediately. The first pilots of the aircraft were Americans, probably George Stamets among them, who both flew the bombers and worked to train a small cadre of Dominican pilots. In later 1948, the Dominican government requested the sale of 28 Browning 0.50 caliber machine guns from U.S. sources to arm the B-17s.
The aircraft were initially operated in a natural metal finish with standard Dominican insignia. Later photos of the B-17s show chin and other turrets installed, however lacking guns, with the aircraft finished in an olive drab and neutral gray scheme reminiscent of the wartime AAF scheme. Luis Puesan records that the B-17s were crewed with ten individuals similar to that of the AAF crews earlier in the decade: two pilots, bombardier, navigator, engineer/gunner, radio operator, and four gunners.
The two B-17s were favorites of Gen. Rafael Trujillo and he exercised tight control over their operation. They were assigned to the Escuadron de Caza-Bombardero as part of the AMD bombing force. The AMD otherwise operated a variety of surplus World War II equipment including P-38s, P-47s, P-51s, Mosquitos. and Beaufighter. At least several B-25s were also purchased covertly from U.S. sources in the late 1940s.
As noted above, Trujillo himself had to approved any flights of the B-17s, probably as a measure of self-protection so he would not be bombed. It does not appear that the B-17s actually participated in any of the several little conflicts that involved the Dominican Republic in the later 1940s or early 1950s. The airplanes remained based at the Gen. Andrews Field at Ciudad Trujillo until a new military air base was opened at San Isidro in 1953. Through the 1950s, the AMD continued to acquire a hodge-podge of cast-off equipment, expanding with more P-51s and deHavilland Vampire jets.
Dominican B-17s In Service Until 1957
However, at least one B-17 continued to soldier on. Evidently s/n 2301 was grounded in 1954, probably to provide parts support for s/n 2302, B-17 operations were known to have carried forth through at least 1955. Luis Puesan has the logbook records for Gen. Sanchez Perez, an AMD pilot, who flew eight B-17 sorties in s/n 2302 in 1954, and one additional one on April 18, 1955.
According to Gen. Sanchez Perez, s/n 2302 was actually operational up until December 1957. After that, both aircraft remained parked in front of the General Staff building at the Base Aérea Trujillo at San Isidro. They remained there until 1968 when they were both sold and broken up for scrap. No traces of either aircraft appear to have survived. In the meantime, the benefactor of the B-17 force, President Rafael Trujillo, was assassinated on May 30, 1961. And so ends the story of the Dominican B-17s.