Aero Vintage Books

Came across this one recently. What not to do when landing your B17B apparently. Writing on the back of the photo says "Joe Wilfley plane" so at least something to go on for the mystery of this photo.



Note the officers standing around while the enlisted do the work



And of course a classic prewar officer look. Doubt those showed up in the Air Corps post Pearl Harbor

Good catch, Dan! I LOVE seeing photos of early Forts I haven't seen before.

I've been involved in a couple of "off in the soft ground" incidents with jetliners and I can see some things don't change--they started with lumber that wouldn't hold the weight of the airplane and now they're re-thinking things....... I reckon they need a couple of farm kids to requisition some heavy timbers!

I keep hoping to find "Mary Ann" before the paint went on

It occurs to me that this one is upgraded or am I misidentifying it.

Could be upgraded; it's got the bathtub underneath. Where did you find the original? Looks like you were zooming in on some areas. If you can zoom in on the nose, that data block might just barely be readable. Zoom in on the aft fuselage below the wing and you might see the lower edge of the patch for the new gun window.

I'll get the scanner going on engine 1 later tonight

This big enough?

It appears that this MIGHT refer to John Joseph Wilfley, of the 30th SQD, 19th BG who enlisted in 1941 and who died in 1943. He was a Crewman, not an Officer.

The eBay listing said that the name was of someone who was KIA so I imagine you are correct.

So this is airplane #5 of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron?

Wikipedia notes: ...upgraded to the B-18 Bolo in 1938, and in 1939 to early-model Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress for long range reconnaissance patrols. Moved to Fort Douglas, Utah in 1940 when the short runways at Hamilton proved inadequate for B-17 operations, with a secondary move to Salt Lake City Army Air Base in January 1941 where it was upgraded to the B-17E.

Fort Douglas meaning aircraft actually based at what is now Salt Lake City Intl.

That would suggest that this photo was taken at Hamilton as the short runway issue may explain this incident

Note that the .30 cal nose gun sockets had yet to be installed.

Duane

DryMartini wrote:

Thanks for the closeup. Definitely looks like an upgraded B-17B.

Bill, Is that the 1820-51 engine?

**EDIT: Answering my own question, yes that is. -51 has the offset location for the prop governor, and no forward lower oil sump.

-65 and -97 are a little more difficult to tell apart, the visual difference appears to be the style of the Prop governor mounting pad?

Scanned it at a higher resolution and focused on the engine detail.