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Variant 1: B-17F 42-3413 LN
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V ”Hard Luck“, crews of Lt. Loren C. Van Steenis and Lt. John S. Giles, Jr,
350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, April 1944
Loren C. Van Steenis sitting on the nose of “Hard Luck.” Under the
pilot’s side window is written one of his nicknames, “Freckle Puss.”
The ‘D’ on the tail was originally dark blue on a white background.
It wasn’t until a thorough overhaul in the spring of 1944 that it was
repainted black.
“Hard Luck’s” proud ground crew.
The combat crew of Capt. Loren C. Van Steenis and the ground crew of M/Sgt. Glenn C. “Zip” Myers. The aircraft is in a newer form; the three swastikas are on a yellow
background, and the nose bears the symbols of 41 missions.
Sometime around the 41-mission peri-
od of this aircraft, an effort was made
to change the colors of the lettering
on the nose. The number 413 is dark,
and some of the letters of the “Hard
Luck” lettering are also dark. Several
photographs show this unfinished
change, but later versions reverted
to the original color arrangement.
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard
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June 2024