Aero Vintage Books

I found a handful of pictures on the internet of B-17G 42-38160, Lonesome Polecat. The aircraft ditched in a Swiss lake in 1944 due to battle damage. Here the plane is photgraphed from its salvage in 1952, to its reconstruction and display, to its final resting place where it was scrapped in the early 1970's. Today, 2 engines, a few cockpit items and the noseart are all that remain.

I remember when I was about thirteen reading about the scrapping of this b-17. Even that young i thought what a waste.Dinah mite was scrapped a few years before then and everyone has seen the pics of her.You gotta remember that a b-17 fling was maybe 100 grand so this stuff was pretty much junk in everyones eyes except a few 13 year olds. Very sad.

It is sad that it met the fate that it did. Ten or fifteen years later when all things-WWII became more nastalgic, it probably would have been saved.

I've never heard the story about Dinah Mite. I've heard the name, but was thinking it was a B-29. Was it a B-17?

Back around 1970 the dutch were reclaiming land flooded by the zyder zee. There she was all intact and they scapped it. Was on its first mission.The pic of it was a head on shot and was really cool looking.Lots of stuff has been recovered through the years from around holland and they didnt save a bunch of it.

It's funny you mentioned the Dinah Mite story. I was at Barnes & Noble last night looking through airplane mags and it just so happens that the latest issue of Warbirds Int'l has an article on the Zuyder Zee. Low and behold, there was this picture of Dinah Mite.

Great job Bill. I wish there were more pictures to be found of this plane but I have never seen any.How about everybody else?

Air Classics had an article entitled "Harvesting the Zuider Zee" in '73 or '74 with a couple pictures of Dinah Mite. Unfortunately it didn't specify when the photos were taken, or that the aircraft had been scrapped. Too bad the Air Force Museum (or anyone else!) didn't rescue it, even for an "as found" display like that Halifax...