44-83785A

[terveurn]

This picture just showed-up on e-bay -- wondering if she is 44-83785 A -- look at the weird shaped nose glass .....

44-83785a BB.JPG

This is the earliest photo I could find of 44-83785 A

44-83785a.JPG

[aerovin2]

The one on top, the Mary Winn II, is 44-8990. It's the airplane that carried Winston Churchill around the U.S. in 1946.

[terveurn]

Scott

interested.....

Tell me more about this ship.

Why did the number on the nose, not match the tail number....

[aerovin2]

I'm away from my files but 44-8990 went on to fly as N3678G (marked inexplicably as N3578G) and was used as an a airtanker from 1960 to October 1962 when it crashed near Fallon, Nevada. It was used as a CB-17G and, later, VB-17G in USAF service.

[terveurn]

from osborn, she was also supposed to have been assigned to the USN

Still do not understand the nose number -- should be the last three of the tail

Dave

[aerovin2]

I have some photos of that airplane I will try and dig up and see if those show the nose number.

[terveurn]

tail 44-83237 nose 37

44-83237 bb.JPG

[aerovin2]

Check out this forum posting:

http://aerovintage.com/forum/viewtopic. ... ff0#p11330

It would appear the airplane gained the nose number later after it was USAF, and the mystery as to why the cheek window fairing overlies the number remains....

I do have a bunch of photos of this airplane in the files (not available for me until the weekend) and I'll see if any show the nose markings and the tail number in the same photo.

[terveurn]

not sure

in the shot of 44-8990 she is missing both the life raft spot light as well as the ADF loop on the cockpit. There is also another VHF antenna behind the upper turret on 44-8990 which is not visible on 35A

Both shots are presumed to be the same aircraft, so these missing items should be clear


Just wondering if there was two aircraft used on this tour (WInn I & Winn II)

44-8990.JPG

[aerovin2]

Could be two aircraft but if my memory serves me correctly, I had corresponded with the pilot who flew Churchill and there was no mention of a second airplane. I'll see what my other photos show. The two views of the airplane(s) are from different years (Churchill used the airplane in 1946, the other photos are post USAF).

[aerovin2]

So, I looked through the photos I have of 44-8990 taken in 1946. There were none that had both the nose and the tail number in the same view. I also reviewed the file I have and the correspondence I had with Richard Fitzhugh, the pilot who flew Churchill around in February 1946 in 44-8990. He notes that the Mary Winn II was named by Maj. Gen Frederick Anderson as the Mary Winn II after his young daughter who was crippled with polio. Anderson was assigned the airplane at the time, and Fitzhugh was his pilot. He had sent a bunch of clippings along also, one of which is this:



Based on what he remembers, there was only one B-17 used to transport Churchill, and it was the Mary Winn II. This does not explain the later photo with the nose number nor the way the cheek window plate covers the number. The way the name is painted on the nose appears to match exactly the earlier photos, though, so I would think they are the same airplane.