Post by TRM on Jul 30, 2014 7:07:21 GMT -5
Hello Folks,
In an effort to salvage some of the content from MHISC, I will bring over the individual remaining entrants for the Wingy Challenge and their builds to MSC in case they wish to continue to participate in the contest.
If you are one of the contestants and you wish to revive you build and have this content under you own name as the Thread Originator, simple follow the same instruction for moving posts from one forum to MSC outlined HERE and you can start a new thread and easily copy and past the information into the new thread. Any questions, please do not hesitate to PM me and I can help you through the process.
The B-17D "Swoose," a survivor of the debacle at the PI in 1941, was
cobbled together from several aircraft, and went on to serve in combat,
then as a high-speed VIP transport. It survived the war and is being
restored by the Air Force Museum. It is also the subject of an Academy
1/72nd scale kit that i intend to build for the contest. On this one,
my plans are to fully detail the aircraft on the inside, using resin
(plus metal landing gear, gun barrels and some pre-colored PE). I don't
usually build stuff that nobody can see, but this time, I'm moved to do
so, just for the pure cane hell of it. I enjoy modeling, and that's
modeling. Win, lose or draw, I intend to have fun with this one. Got
the kit, the decals and most of the after-market - waiting for the
Legend inner-goodies resin set and I'll be ready to go. I'm also going
to play with techniques like pre-shading the interior by spraying it
black before spraying it chromate green and weathering it with washes
and such. More to come.
I'm writing a novel about the air war in
the Pacific in the first year after Pearl Harbor, and I'm trying to
build kits that reflect that topic - this will be one of them.
Ned in Vegas
Thank you, gentlemen, for your support and interest. This is going to
be a fun build. It does indeed have a history - B-17D sn: 40-3097 was
the 38th of 42 B-17Ds built by Boeing - a transitional aircraft between
the very similar C and the first "modern" B-17, the E-model. Accepted
into service on April 25, '41, it was ferried to Hawaii less than a
month later, and in September, it was sent to Clark Field in the PI,
14th BS/11th BG, tail number 21. When the Japs struck on 12/8/41, "Ole
Betsy," as it was known then, was one of 17 surviving B-17s (18 were
destroyed). It flew bombing missions for a month, until its last one on
11-January '42, targeting Borneo (pilot for that mission was Major
Cecil Combs, CO of the 19th BG).
It was evacuated to Australia to
repair battle damage (and because the PI was falling) and there, the
tail of B-17D sn: 40-3091 was grafted onto the fuselage of "Ole Betsy,"
and pilot Captain Weldon Smith re-named the rebuilt plane "The Swoose"
after the popular song "Alexander the Swoose" made famous by big band
leader and movie musician Kay Kyser, about a creature that was
"half-swan, half goose." On the starboard fuselage just aft of the
door, the name was painted, along with an image of this rare
half-swan/half-goose bird, along with the hopeful slogan, "It Flys". It
flew anti-sub missions and provided navigation for long-range fighter
missions, but in March it was retired in poor condition.
It was
repaired and became the personal mount of Captain Frank Kurtz, a
well-known pre-war US Air Corps aviator and record-setter (and author,
and Olympic athlete), and became the VIP transport of General George
Brett, Deputy Commander (under MacArthur) of Allied Forces in Australia.
It flew many VIPs, including Congressman (later President) Lyndon
Johnson (a gutless wonder and glory hound - but not related to this
story). When that jealous God MacArthur dumped General Brett, he and
the Swoose headed for DC, setting a number of speed records along the
way, and the plane continued to be General Brett's VIP transport,
through December '45, being rebuilt to almost E-standards at one point
(but without the turrets) and later designated RB-17D.
The plane figured prominently in WL White's best-seller, "Queens Die Proudly," his follow on to "They Were Expendable."
Post-war,
Kurtz persuaded the city of Los Angeles to buy the surplus bomber as a
war memorial, and it was later donated to the Natioanl Air Museum, and
Kurtz flew the refurbished bomber a museum storage site in Illinois in
1949. It finally flew to DC on only three engines in 1953. It suffered
at the hands of neglect for decades, but it is now being restored by
the Air Force museum for ultimate display - but disputes remain. it may
be restored as Ole Betsy, or as Swoose - historians with the Air Force
favor the former, while warbird lovers favor the latter. While I'm
building the Swoose, if I was the museum, I'd restore it as the bomber
that helped defend the Philippines. But that's just me.
Finally,
Col. Kurtz's daughter, Swoosie Kurtz, was named after the plane, and
later went on to become an actress, and wrote a book about, in part,
growing up the daughter of a war hero and being named for his plane.
His wife, Margo, wrote a wonderful book about aviation, "My Rival, The
Sky" about her love-affair with a pilot (she was a pilot, too). I
strongly recommend that book.
Anyway, I'm modeling Swoose, and I can't wait to get started.
Ned in Vegas
In an effort to salvage some of the content from MHISC, I will bring over the individual remaining entrants for the Wingy Challenge and their builds to MSC in case they wish to continue to participate in the contest.
If you are one of the contestants and you wish to revive you build and have this content under you own name as the Thread Originator, simple follow the same instruction for moving posts from one forum to MSC outlined HERE and you can start a new thread and easily copy and past the information into the new thread. Any questions, please do not hesitate to PM me and I can help you through the process.
The B-17D "Swoose," a survivor of the debacle at the PI in 1941, was
cobbled together from several aircraft, and went on to serve in combat,
then as a high-speed VIP transport. It survived the war and is being
restored by the Air Force Museum. It is also the subject of an Academy
1/72nd scale kit that i intend to build for the contest. On this one,
my plans are to fully detail the aircraft on the inside, using resin
(plus metal landing gear, gun barrels and some pre-colored PE). I don't
usually build stuff that nobody can see, but this time, I'm moved to do
so, just for the pure cane hell of it. I enjoy modeling, and that's
modeling. Win, lose or draw, I intend to have fun with this one. Got
the kit, the decals and most of the after-market - waiting for the
Legend inner-goodies resin set and I'll be ready to go. I'm also going
to play with techniques like pre-shading the interior by spraying it
black before spraying it chromate green and weathering it with washes
and such. More to come.
I'm writing a novel about the air war in
the Pacific in the first year after Pearl Harbor, and I'm trying to
build kits that reflect that topic - this will be one of them.
Ned in Vegas
Thank you, gentlemen, for your support and interest. This is going to
be a fun build. It does indeed have a history - B-17D sn: 40-3097 was
the 38th of 42 B-17Ds built by Boeing - a transitional aircraft between
the very similar C and the first "modern" B-17, the E-model. Accepted
into service on April 25, '41, it was ferried to Hawaii less than a
month later, and in September, it was sent to Clark Field in the PI,
14th BS/11th BG, tail number 21. When the Japs struck on 12/8/41, "Ole
Betsy," as it was known then, was one of 17 surviving B-17s (18 were
destroyed). It flew bombing missions for a month, until its last one on
11-January '42, targeting Borneo (pilot for that mission was Major
Cecil Combs, CO of the 19th BG).
It was evacuated to Australia to
repair battle damage (and because the PI was falling) and there, the
tail of B-17D sn: 40-3091 was grafted onto the fuselage of "Ole Betsy,"
and pilot Captain Weldon Smith re-named the rebuilt plane "The Swoose"
after the popular song "Alexander the Swoose" made famous by big band
leader and movie musician Kay Kyser, about a creature that was
"half-swan, half goose." On the starboard fuselage just aft of the
door, the name was painted, along with an image of this rare
half-swan/half-goose bird, along with the hopeful slogan, "It Flys". It
flew anti-sub missions and provided navigation for long-range fighter
missions, but in March it was retired in poor condition.
It was
repaired and became the personal mount of Captain Frank Kurtz, a
well-known pre-war US Air Corps aviator and record-setter (and author,
and Olympic athlete), and became the VIP transport of General George
Brett, Deputy Commander (under MacArthur) of Allied Forces in Australia.
It flew many VIPs, including Congressman (later President) Lyndon
Johnson (a gutless wonder and glory hound - but not related to this
story). When that jealous God MacArthur dumped General Brett, he and
the Swoose headed for DC, setting a number of speed records along the
way, and the plane continued to be General Brett's VIP transport,
through December '45, being rebuilt to almost E-standards at one point
(but without the turrets) and later designated RB-17D.
The plane figured prominently in WL White's best-seller, "Queens Die Proudly," his follow on to "They Were Expendable."
Post-war,
Kurtz persuaded the city of Los Angeles to buy the surplus bomber as a
war memorial, and it was later donated to the Natioanl Air Museum, and
Kurtz flew the refurbished bomber a museum storage site in Illinois in
1949. It finally flew to DC on only three engines in 1953. It suffered
at the hands of neglect for decades, but it is now being restored by
the Air Force museum for ultimate display - but disputes remain. it may
be restored as Ole Betsy, or as Swoose - historians with the Air Force
favor the former, while warbird lovers favor the latter. While I'm
building the Swoose, if I was the museum, I'd restore it as the bomber
that helped defend the Philippines. But that's just me.
Finally,
Col. Kurtz's daughter, Swoosie Kurtz, was named after the plane, and
later went on to become an actress, and wrote a book about, in part,
growing up the daughter of a war hero and being named for his plane.
His wife, Margo, wrote a wonderful book about aviation, "My Rival, The
Sky" about her love-affair with a pilot (she was a pilot, too). I
strongly recommend that book.
Anyway, I'm modeling Swoose, and I can't wait to get started.
Ned in Vegas
