10 Awesome B-17 Nose Art Pictures
This Is Probably The First Installment, As There Are Too Many To Put Into One List!
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby!
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The original nose art on this B-17 was painted by Tony Starcer who was a line mechanic for the Ragged Irregulars, a squadron in the 91st Bombardment Group.
Idiots‘ Delight
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This creatively named girl belonged to the 332nd Bomber Squadron of the 94th Bombardment Group but after being transferred to France, she was hit by flak where most of her crew perished.
Sweet & Lovely
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This warbird was assigned to various groups during her combat career. She was pulled out of service in June 1945 and designated ‘W W,’ meaning war weary.
Sentimental Journey
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Sentimental Journey was built in late 1944, but did not see any combat during World War II. Serving as a photo mapping plane for a while, she is now flown by the Commemorative Air Force.
Texas Raiders
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Texas Raiders was built in 1944 and while she has never seen combat, she has flown throughout her life in different capacities. As of now, she is hailed to be the best restored B-17 in the airshow circuit.
Memphis Belle
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The original Memphis Belle historically flew one of the first 25 completed missions over Germany without losing a crew member. The name was derived from pilot Robert K. Morgan’s girl, who lived in Memphis, Tennessee.
Miss Ouachita
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This tough girl was part of the 8th Air Force when she was shot down by a Nazi ace pilot. She was restored by the following year in 1944, only to be shot down again over Nazi territory where she crashed and her pictures became part of Nazi propaganda.
Yankee Lady
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This aircraft was built in 1945 and was used predominantly by the U.S Coast Guard. Her nose art does not actually represent or replicate any known B-17 that flew during World War II. She’s still cute though!
Hells Belle
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This bad girl was part of the 749th Bomb Squadron which got hit by flak and needed to make a forced landing in Switzerland. She and her crew remained there until the end of the war.
Liberty Belle
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The great name and nose art of this warbird was actually given to a total of four B-17s that flew combat during the war, all of which tragically went down. There is one commemorative Liberty Belle on display as of this writing, while another which was airworthy, sadly crashed in 2011.
