XPFR's B17 - the original

[Nicola_M]

I don't know if Khamsin and Arno based their B17 "Blue Champagne" on a real one, and I haven't seen anything from them on this aircraft's history.

From a brief google, I found this: http://www.b17warhorse.fws1.com/photo3.html  which mentions two aircraft called "Blue Champagne" but the second one, from 549th Sqn looks to have the same nose art as XPFR's one.

It started out originally called "Latest Rumor."  It would be nice to know if Khamsin and Arno did any research on the original, but I'll keep googling over the next few days and see what I can find.

Also, from http://forum.armyairforces.com/4237977-B17-Blue-Champagne-m78868.aspx

M. Drue Gillis and was the ball turret gunner on "Blue Champagne." Also an artist, he painted the noseart on both their aircraft.

[arno54]

This is the behaviour we did hope and see from at least ONE of the users  ;D

Well done Buddy ! Go on googling ;-) You might not be that far...  :

[flyinhawaiian]

I haven't looked to see if there are any alternate liveries, but if there are, I see a shark's mouth in my near future on the nose of that airplane.

Only question I have is the Latest Rumor/Blue Champange B-17 (for which the tail code is the same as XPFR's) is listed as a B-17F-75-DL 42-03547 and construction number 8483.  I thought your model was supposed to be a B-17G?  What's the difference?

[Nicola_M]

Okay guys, here's what I've found so far.  It's incredibly hard to find much info, as it would seem either people were too busy fighting the war to keep much of a record of the guys, or much of it hasn't found its way onto the web.

From what I can tell, there were 2 B17's called Blue Champagne and they both were based at Great Ashfield, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Great_Ashfield

The first, 42-37977, was shot down in early 1944 and all ten crew made POW. (http://www.b17warhorse.fws1.com/photo3.html)

The second Blue Champagne, B-17F-75-DL 42-3547, began life as "Latest Rumor" of the 549th BS/ 385th BG, Great Ashfield. As Latest Rumor, in late 1943 this shark-mouthed B-17 was assigned to the 385th BG and named by the Vandiver crew. The patch below the forward window covered a hole punched through the fuselage by flak, which killed navigator Phil Vockerath. After months of near-daily missions to Germany, Latest Rumor was salvaged on 11th April 1944 and renamed Blue Champagne (second).

It carried the same nose art as the original (shot down) Blue Champagne (42-37977) but with the girl's clothing colour changed and she was 'sat' in a glass and surrounded with bubbles. Anne Hayward painted the nose art on this machine, as she did with many other 385th BG B-17s.

Google "Anne Hayward nose art" and I got a great book site about her with lots of photos of the aircraft she painted, including Blue Champagne.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MI5H1pxPuH4C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=Anne+Hayward+nose+art&source=bl&ots=YLY6j6aGxX&sig=6i4sR6btgfqUIHBlchW-AhLyZb8&hl=en&ei=CuOTTfvtEYaChQei1oDwCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Anne%20Hayward%20nose%20art&f=false

It would be nice to have a crew list, or know what happened to this aircraft, but at least I cannot find anything which says it was Missing In Action.

Regarding the differences between a B-17F and a B-17G, there seems to be something about the chin turret, but also lots of info saying that both variants often had that too.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=125730

I wasn't looking for holes in Khamsin & Arno's work, merely that with aircraft like this there's a human story behind the serial number.

Sources

http://www.war44.com/allied-bomber-planes/512-b17s-their-history.html

http://www.markstyling.com/3ad_b17s2.htm

http://www.bradenton.com/2010/11/11/2729605/blue-champagne-classic-tune-rekindles.html

[Nicola_M]

An extra story, about Anne Hayward, who painted the nose art, taken from "Aircraft Nose Art: From World War I to Today"

Annie, as she was known to the crews, was lively and vivacious enough to be well admired but her ability to paint large, well-proportioned female figures propelled her into great demand.

Living with her mother and sister Joan in a thatched cottage near the field, Hayward's primary diversion was exercising her two riding horses, a token of her prewar string of ponies and love of amateur racing. While attending an English finishing school, she was planning to go to Paris and study art but the war broke out and that was that.

When she went to work serving coffee and doughnuts at Great Ashfield, the mess officer heard about her artistic talents and asked her to decorate the mess. Then, working in the enlisted men's aero club, she set about enlivening things up a bit by painting women rhumba dancers on the walls. In short order she was requested to decorate the officer's club in similar fashion. So enthusiastic was the reception that, with what little spare time she had left, she was out on the ramp painting nose art for B-17s: Dragon Lady, Thunderbird, Pregnant Portia, Shack Bunny, and Madame Shoo Shoo to name a few.

By December 1943 Hayward was in such demand that the 385th Group Commander, Lt Col Elliot "Pete" Vandevanter Jr, requested the British Ministry of Labour allow her an extension since "she has been rendering very valuable service in this Command... with certain essential work in lettering and painting designs on the B-17s at this station."

She ended up doing a great deal of work. She recalled, "I was responsible for painting the pet names on nearly all the Great Ashfield Fortresses, the leather flying jackets of most of the crewmen, and, I suppose, nearly all the interior murals on the walls of the mess rooms." Eventually, a B-17 was named after her and it flew a record number of missions without a single engine failure.

Hayward ended up spending so much time on the flight line painting beautiful women that her immediate superiors and more sedate co-workers would remind her the primary job of the Red Cross was to serve coffee to returning combat crews. Too young to worry that the veiled resentment mattered very much, she kept painting. To keep the situation from boiling over, the base commander issued a statement saying Hayward was "a great morale builder."

Other bomb groups got wind of her talent so they began to recruit her to paint their aircraft. Once, according to 385th historian Christopher Elliott, when she took her paint pots and palette over to the 447th Bomb Group at Rattlesden, upon her return she was told, "Anne, you're a first class traitor."

After the war Hayward married to become Mrs Anne Gordon and earned a degree in art history from Oxford University. Today she continues to paint, and recalls her close association with American bomber crews in the fondest of terms. When asked by writer Phil Cohan about current opinions that nose art is an offense against women or other groups, Hayward was quick to answer, "Its purpose was worthy, to bolster military morale in a terrible time. The members of each crew came to feel that their plane and their painting were somehow special and would bring them luck, a safe return from hostile skies. The art may have been frivolous at times, but it was never anti-social."

Sadly Annie Hayward died in 1999.

More information, and more photos:

http://www.usaaf-noseart.co.uk/hayward-ann.htm

[Nicola_M]

Taken from http://www.b17warhorse.fws1.com/photo5.html

B-17 Group Identification Markings

Each heavy bomber group flying out of English Airdromes was identified by a large marking on the vertical stabilizer. A smaller letter or number was placed below the group marking to identify each bomber in a squadron. Squadrons were also color coded to further identify a cartain bomber.

The letter "G" identified the 385th Bomb Group.

The War Horse had a small "S" below the "G" and was code-named "Sugar." The 549th Squadron was also code-named as the "Yellow" squadron. Other squadrons in the 385th were color coded - Blue - Red & Green.

In February of 1945 the 385th tail marking was changed to a checker-board of red squares. If the bomber was silver ( aluminum color ) there was no further painting. However - if the B-17 was painted olive drab white paint was used to fill in the red and white checker-board.

The checker-board not shown here.

[deckboatguy]

Okay guys, here's what I've found so far. It's incredibly hard to find much info, as it would seem either people were too busy fighting the war to keep much of a record of the guys, or much of it hasn't found its way onto the web.

From what I can tell, there were 2 B17's called Blue Champagne and they both were based at Great Ashfield, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk http://en.wikipedia...._Great_Ashfield

The first, 42-37977, was shot down in early 1944 and all ten crew made POW. (http://www.b17warhor...com/photo3.html)

The second Blue Champagne, B-17F-75-DL 42-3547, began life as "Latest Rumor" of the 549th BS/ 385th BG, Great Ashfield. As Latest Rumor, in late 1943 this shark-mouthed B-17 was assigned to the 385th BG and named by the Vandiver crew. The patch below the forward window covered a hole punched through the fuselage by flak, which killed navigator Phil Vockerath. After months of near-daily missions to Germany, Latest Rumor was salvaged on 11th April 1944 and renamed Blue Champagne (second).

It carried the same nose art as the original (shot down) Blue Champagne (42-37977) but with the girl's clothing colour changed and she was 'sat' in a glass and surrounded with bubbles. Anne Hayward painted the nose art on this machine, as she did with many other 385th BG B-17s.

Google "Anne Hayward nose art" and I got a great book site about her with lots of photos of the aircraft she painted, including Blue Champagne.

http://books.google....e%20art&f=false

It would be nice to have a crew list, or know what happened to this aircraft, but at least I cannot find anything which says it was Missing In Action.

Regarding the differences between a B-17F and a B-17G, there seems to be something about the chin turret, but also lots of info saying that both variants often had that too.

http://www.arcforums...howtopic=125730

I wasn't looking for holes in Khamsin & Arno's work, merely that with aircraft like this there's a human story behind the serial number.

Sources

http://www.war44.com...ir-history.html

http://www.markstyli...m/3ad_b17s2.htm

http://www.bradenton...-rekindles.html

My dad Lt. Wayne D. Corbin was the co-pilot of the Blue Champagne and spent 13 months in Stalag Luft ! after they were shot down.

[Nicola_M]

wow, small world. welcome.

[clavel9]

Brilliant research, well done Nicola.

[Nicola_M]

Thanks Merisi. Just a shame I wasn't able to find out what happened to the second Blue Champagne, whether it survived the war or if/when/where it was shot down.