A photo recently appeared on Facebook the raised a few questions. The identity of the B-17 depicted in the photo revealed just a few clues, among them that it was a Bolivian-registered civil B-17 and that it appeared to be a B-17G. From there, little else could be discerned other than the rough date of the photo and some background airplanes that added spice.

After a close examination of the photo and a comparison to other photos available for review, I think a case can be made that the pictured airplane is B-17G 44-83861 operated in Bolivia as CP-741.

Is it CP-741?

Well, the short answer is…probably. A close look at the nose shows a skin patch where a chin turret was once mounted…thus most likely a B-17G. The right side of the underwing clearly indicates the “CP-7xx” of a Bolivian-registered airplane. The “xx” being the mystery. As a matter of interest, the B-17Gs that are known to have received civil registrations are CP-741, CP-742, CP-762, and CP-767. There are other Bolivian-registrations earmarked for B-17s, including B-17E CP-753 and three civil numbers assigned but not taken up, CP-763, CP-768, and CP-780.

A close look at the underwing markings suggest the second digit is actually a “4” and not a “6”, reducing the choices down to CP-741 or CP-742. Looking at other photos of both aircraft indicate a near match in the paint scheme for known photos of CP-741. Similar photos of CP-742 show a black or dark anti-glare panel forward of the nose, and possibly an installed astrodome on the upper nose, neither of which is indicated in the mystery photo. It should be noted that CP-741 was registered in Bolivia in early 1964 and it crashed in Bolivia on October 30, 1964, after just eight or nine months of service. CP-742 was leased to a Bolivian operator beginning in June 1964 and it crashed in Bolivia in February 1965, again after just eight months of Bolivian service. Many of the Bolivian-operated B-17s had short operational use due to the conditions they were flown in.

So, I am making a reasonable conclusion that this is CP-741.

History of CP-741: B-17G to Navy PB-1W

Like most civil B-17G, CP-741 took a long and winding road from the Douglas plant at Long Beach to a Bolivian airfield. It was delivered to the AAF as B-17G 44-83861 on July 4, 1945, quite near the end of Douglas production of B-17s. It was one of twenty new B-17Gs earmarked to the Navy to become radar-equipped airborne early warning PB-1Ws. It went to the Navy on July 31, 1945, and assigned a Bureau of Aeronautics serial of 77229. It was modified to the PB-1W standard with the installation of an APS-20 radar unit, a bulbous radome covering the antenna beneath the bomb-bay, and other equipment.

It served with VPB-101 and VX-4, and was retired to NAF Litchfield Park, Arizona, on December 20, 1954. It was stricken from the Navy’s inventory in July 1956 and offered up for sale.

Navy PB-1W to N5227V

Navy 77229 was among thirteen surplus PB-1Ws sold to American Compressed Steel Corp. of Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 2, 1957. It had two civil registrations reserved, N6563D and N5227V, the latter being taken up and painted crudely on the fuselage. It and the other surplus PB-1Ws were ferried from Arizona to Dallas-Love Field, Texas, where they were parked in a corner and offered for sale.

It was sold in March 1958 to G.J. Towle of Alamo, California. Towle added four external 450-gallon and two 170-gallon bomb bay tanks, along with underwing spray booms, and operated N5227V as a sprayer. Two years later the external tanks were removed and a borate tank installed for use as an air tanker. It did not seem to enjoy much use, and retained most of its faded Navy paint scheme, for the subsequent three years.

N5227V to CP-741

In October 1963 it was sold to Bellomy Aviation of Miami, Florida, and early the following year, sold on to Compania Boliviana de Rutas Aéreas. The U.S. civil registration was cancelled on May 15, 1964, the Bolivian registration of CP-741 being issued earlier. As noted, its operation was short-lived in Bolivia, and evidently was used as a cargo carrier. It was damaged or destroyed in a reportedly non-fatal October 30, 1964, crash at San Borja, Bolivia.

Most of this information comes from B-17 In Blue, an oldie but goodie book on the Navy PB-1Ws and Coast Guard PB-1Gs. This book is long out of print but is available as an eBook download for the reasonable sum of $10.00.