In the course of doing research on civil and post-war B-17s, I occasionally come across material that fills in some holes in the history of a particular B-17. This is what happened in the case of B-17F 42-30921. This B-17 was one of many educational transfers made by the War Assets Administration to qualifying schools, mostly made in late 1945 and 1946. In the case of 42-30921, it was transferred to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and later went to Bolivia as a meat hauler with the Bolivian registration of CB-71 and, later, CP-571. What we have now is more information, via the FAA registration file, of how the airplane went from Minnesota to Bolivia. (This text was revised on October 1, 2023, with updated information.)

AAF Service History of B-17F 42-30921

This B-17F had a bit of an unusual utilization by the Army Air Forces. It was built by Boeing and accepted for service at Boeing Field on August 17, 1943. It was assigned to Wright Field for use in special weapons development. As part of that program it was assigned to Tonopah Field, Nevada, in June 1944 for use the development of remotely controlled drones and bombs. Photographic evidence shows it in use earlier, probably as a mother ship, in a program utilizing Fleetwings PQ-12 remote controlled aircraft, probably at Muroc Field (now Edwards AFB) in California.

In November 1944 it was reassigned to the same mission at Wendover Field in western Utah. That same month, on November 18, 1944, it had an incident with an inflight fire while assigned to the 216th Base Unit at Wendover. It remained at Wendover for the next eighteen months. In May 1946, it was deemed excess to needs. It was assigned to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposal on May 31, 1946.

War Assets Administration to Carleton College in May 1946

42-30921 was transferred to Carleton College at Northfield, Minnesota, located about 45 miles south of Minneapolis. Reports show its arrival at some point in May 1946, that date actually pre-dating the record card disposal date. It was flown into the Stanton Airport, a small strip owned by the college. Reports say it was displayed outdoors at the small airport alongside another War Assets educational transfer, P-51K 44-12825.

Carleton College to Babb Company in 1950

Numerous accounts show that Jack Lysdale of Lysdale Flying Service obtained the aircraft in 1950 and rebuilt it to ferry condition. Those reports say it was flown out to Fleming Field at South St. Paul.

The official record in the FAA registration file tells a different story, though the two stories may, in fact, be compatible. The FAA file shows that Carleton College purchased the aircraft from the General Services Administration for $5,300 on January 4, 1950. As has been told elsewhere on this website, the 1946 agreements that transferred surplus airplanes to schools did not allow a title transfer and the colleges could not subsequently sell the airplanes…unless they did what Carleton College did and directly purchase the airplane.

B-17F 42-30921 becomes N5723N

Three months later, 42-30921 was sold by Carleton College to the Babb Company of Newark, New Jersey. What probably transpired, though, is that Babb wanted the airplane and knew that Carleton College could not legally sell it to them. So, they arranged for Carleton to purchase the airplane from the GSA and Babb supplied the money to do so. Then, they took title to the B-17 when the deal was done. Similar transfers occurred elsewhere. In any event, Babb had the airplane registered as N5723N.

The Babb Company and its founder, Charles Babb, was a well known world-wide aircraft broker that dealt with all manner of aircraft deals from the 1930s onwards. In the post-war years, Babb was heavily involved with surplus warplane sales, both domestic and international. Its main base was at the Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California, but it had other offices around the country and around the world.

It is probable that Babb hired Jack Lysdale to get the airplane ferried out of the Stanton Airport and flown to Fleming Field for further work. There are several reasonably contemporary accounts that it was Lysdale who flew the airplane out, and Lysdale was also involved in several other B-17s transactions during the same period.

To Bolivia as CB-71 in December 1950

Whatever course the airplane actually took, it was then sold by Babb by the following December to a Bolivian company. The FAA files shows that on December 11, 1950, the Babb Company reported that N5723N was sold to “Major Fernando Guilarte of Cooperativa Agropecuaria Industrial Chapare,” of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Latin American aviation historian John Davis reviewed Bolivian aviation records in 1967 and he notes that its first Bolivian owner was actually Frigorifico Co-operativo “Los Andes.” John also records that 42-30921 received the Bolivian registration of CB-71 in January 1951 with delivery to Bolivia on February 26, 1951. It later went to Aerovias Tunari, and finally Aerovias Moxos. The civil registration was changed to CP-571, most likely in June 1953.

B-17F CP-571 Crashes in January 1962

B-17G 42-30921 lasted a bit more than eleven years flying in the harsh Bolivian environment of high altitudes and primitive facilities. It crashed on January 16, 1962, at Viacha, Bolivia. One online account found here describes the accident as follows: “Shortly after takeoff from La Paz-El Alto Airport, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and was forced to attempt an emergency landing in Viacha, some 17 km southwest of the airfield. All four crew members evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.”