The "Hawaiian Air Depot" Camouflage Scheme

[Steve Birdsall]

That was later. Here's a clip from the photo of 41-2408 and 41-2421 . . .



The photo is undated but must have been taken after March 1942 while the planes were at Townsville.

[varsity07840]

That was later. Here's a clip from the photo of 41-2408 and 41-2421 . . .



The photo is undated but must have been taken after March 1942 while the planes were at Townsville.

Could the photo have been taken in Hawaii BEFORE the tail stripes were applied?

[Steve Birdsall]

In a word, no.

[varsity07840]

In a word, no.

Ok. Just a thought.

[terveurn]

Steve

Believe this is 41-2444

41-2444.jpg

[Steve Birdsall]

Yes, it is, with the 42nd Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group. Those Ralph Morse photos were taken in December 1942.

[Steve Birdsall]

In the interest of keeping this thread alive, here's a photo of 40-2063, the plane Bruce Allen landed at Hickam on 7 December 1941, after it returned to the United States.



Tom Michel spotted this in a 1943 training film and it's obvious that 40-2063 still carries the multi-coloured camouflage that was applied by the Hawaiian Air Depot soon after it got to Hawaii. Exact date of this shot is unknown but 40-2063 was written off after crashing at Sebring, Florida on 20 May 1943.

[jmkendall]

I've been trying to find it, but there is a pic in an older ( 70s) B-17 book with a B-17D fusalage in Camo,about 1944, I think in Colorado. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

[Chris Brame]

Do you mean the William T. Larkins photo of the fuselage of B-17B 39-001 The Goldbrick (with the tail of 38-212 in the background) at Lowry Field? It's on Page 35 of the third edition of Final Cut.

[DryMartini]

I've been trying to find it, but there is a pic in an older ( 70s) B-17 book with a B-17D fusalage in Camo,about 1944, I think in Colorado. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

Yes! In "Fortress In The Sky" by Peter Bowers.
I'll have to look/scan it when I get home.

[DryMartini]

Found it!


Description:

[aerovin2]

The one he might also be referring to is the scrapped B-17D fuselage marked "4F" that I think is in the same book and taken by Bill Larkins. It was at Lowry Field, I think, in Colorado.

[DryMartini]

Scott, that one is B-17B 39-001, and the picture shows OD/Neutral Gray,
although it indeed was Lowry Field, Colorado.

[Chris Brame]

Thanks for posting the shot of 40-3092 - never saw it before and always wondered what it looked like. Wish somebody had saved it!

[Steve Birdsall]

That one, 40-3092, was flying with the 31st Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. When the Hawaiian Air Depot camouflage was applied to unpainted B-17s like 40-3092 they naturally did not display the darker OD 41 “saddle” which was common on the already-painted planes.