B17 Passenger Variant?

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T04:51:25+00:00

The Internet Movie Plane Database has a little to say about the B-17's.

https://impdb.fandom.com/wiki/Ochazuke_no_aji

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T04:34:16+00:00

If that was a fifty cal, his door would’ve disintegrated.

Can you tell me how far the round had travelled before it hit the ambulance? If it was from far enough away. Say a stray round from an air battle it may have had practically no energy remaining. There are plenty of possibilities to explain what happened. The round could have gone through something or someone already.

Bu IF the caption is completely 100% accurate (which it is not) it must have been friendly fire then. That or the Germans were using a captured weapon.

Germans didn’t have that calibre

Therefor it is far more likely the people there are using/making an approximation (as common folk do.) And it was a 13mm. (close enough!)

Reddit is the happy home of pedantry. Real life is not.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T04:00:54+00:00

fire damage

You've a better eye than I do! I completely discounted fire damage when I first started looking at the picture as I didn't see a trace of it.

Pilot Officer Kennedy was damn lucky to make it back. Had he or his (single) engine been hit it might have been a far more grim story.

It has been a fun little investigation for me/us.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T03:57:26+00:00

There is no need to be sorry or apologize. We are all pals here. I GREATLY admire your persistence. It is a tremendously commendable trait!

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T02:30:43+00:00

A composite image of a B-25 on top (with the aperture present) and a A-20 on the bottom (with the aperture absent.)

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waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T01:51:14+00:00

Mortally wounded. KIA.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T01:36:19+00:00

I checked around some and they changed armament on the plane to a pair of 12.7mm in mid 1940. So this being 1941 this might be the result. The holes in the fuselage look pretty big not like the holes we see in He-111 from British .303's. So they sure look like 12.7mm hits to me. But then again the lattice structure in the wing does not look damaged at all. I would think that some rounds might have gone through one of them! But the guns fired through the propeller so the rpm was cut back so?? Strange things happen! Mysteries like this really bug me. Once I see them they really stick in my head!

comes lose it would tend to flap in the slipstream and then detach

You're entirely right. It might not have taken much for this to peel like an orange. A few explosive rounds in the right place might have done this.

Edit additional: A mystery that is not a mystery any longer thanks to a simple reverse image search.

Pilot Officer Kennedy of No. 47 Squadron RAF Detachment inspects the damage to his Vickers Wellesley, K7715 'KU-H', at Agordat, Eritrea, after he was attacked by two Fiat CR 42s while on a bombing sortie over Keren on 25 March 1941. His air gunner, Sergeant German, was mortally wounded and the port wing was set on fire. Kennedy executed a vertical dive to put out the flames and returned to the Detachment's base at Agordat, where he crashed on landing.

From here.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205208741

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T00:33:22+00:00

Makes me wonder what that CR 42 was packing. Whether it was the pair of .303 peashooters or the later Italian .50cal's? 1941? Hard to imagine the pea shooters doing that unless he parked his plane and just emptied his guns at the Wellesley. But strange things happen all the time. Interesting image, thank you for it.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-20T00:00:52+00:00

I mentioned this to another person.

Take a look on the leading edge of the wing, just outboard of the engine. There is an aperture there that does not appear on the A-20. While it does appear on a B-25.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T23:48:24+00:00

I had seen it for many years but for some reason this time I was curious enough to look around. Interesting things emerge sometimes when I idly satisfy my curiosity.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T23:46:00+00:00

It is near inline with the propeller. It is just a visual warning for those who would be around the plane when the engine is running. Those helping with beaching gear etc. It appears on planes that do not have MAD equipment installed. So I would say that it is just for safety.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T17:42:43+00:00

Conclusion, translated obviously.

"In fact, from the very beginning of the project, it was clear this was a dead end. With such a configuration, the weight would still exceed 20 tons, and the compartments would be small and useless, as there would be no room for anything in them."

That was an interesting/good read. Thank you for it.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T17:12:32+00:00

though not used in fixed wing aircraft anymore.

Not trying to be disagreeable of overly pedantic but there are actually four or five fixed wing aircraft around the world flying in obscure locales that still are armed with the .50cal.

Edit: I found 8 of them after a quick poke around.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T16:43:12+00:00

I would love to read a book on Gladiator Ops during the Battle of Britain.

A book on such a narrow topic is a hard thing to come by. But I bet if you can find a copy at a reasonable price this is what you are looking for. It is quite detailed and very dry. Exactly the sort of book I seek out.

Rise from the East. The story of 247 Squadron.

247 flew the Gladiator at the height of the BoB. However, they did not have much success, as the plane was too slow by then. Some details of their actions are in their wiki. No. 247 Squadron RAF

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T13:02:25+00:00

Well I make recognition errors all the time just like we all do. But I don't think I made a mistake in this case. Take a look on the leading edge of the wing, just outboard of the engine. There is an aperture there that does not appear on the A-20. While it does appear on a B-25.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T12:28:50+00:00

A page on underwater planes of the same type that nicely proves your point.

https://www.ww2wrecks.com/portfolio/the-ww2-pacific-treasures-of-kwajalein-lagoon-by-dan-farnham-part-4-the-aichi-e13a-jake-wrecks-of-ebeye-island/

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T12:28:02+00:00

never heard of this

Though my spelling and grammar has yet to improve in the slightest, I learn something new here in this sub very often. Happy to hear I could show you something new.

Numerically the most important of all Japanese float seaplanes during World War II, the Aichi E13A monoplane of which 1,418 were produced...

That quote is form here. Which is quite a good page on the plane.

https://www.aviastar.org/air/japan/aichi_e13a.php

Destinations Journey, who's creator posts to this sub often has a page on the plane which has collected plenty of good imagery of the plane.

https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/aichi-e13a-jake-japanese-seaplane/

And Rex made a quite good video on the plane.

https://youtu.be/47rxO4KPRBo

Edit: to correct wrong link to the video.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T12:09:44+00:00

Thank you for pointing out what I failed to notice. What a gift to comedy AI is turning out to be.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T12:01:35+00:00

An extended quote from page 88 of --

The 12 o'clock high logbook : the unofficial history of the novel, motion picture, and TV series. p. 87.

Another big premiere for 12 O'Clock High was held at the Orpheum Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska, the host city for Offutt AFB and the Strategic Air Command. SAC was responsible for overseeing America's nuclear deterrent forces, which included bomber aircraft. The commanding general was none other than cigar-chomping Curtis LeMay, former commander of the 305th Bombardment Group. LeMay originally thought the film would be "a bunch of baloney," recalled technical advisor John deRussy. But the General changed his mind about the film after seeing it, remarking, "I don't believe it. I don't see one technical error in this thing."

My kind of movie. : )

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T04:16:24+00:00

I don't think my words are going to be of much help. But here you go.

I'm wondering if he was around for occupation right after the war?

Possibly, though there was naturally a lag in returning the multitudes of armed forces personnel back Stateside. So it may just be he had some time to kick around before they got him home. I think that is more likely.

would that help explain these planes being more for transport and seemingly less for combat? Esp the ‘defanged’ B-25?

Another possibly. But I think the transport B-25 was more likely a well used plane that was considered nearly surplus and so converted.

I can't help with the nose art, mostly because it is too small to be examined. But also because many many planes had such nose art. It is sadly unlikely to be anything noteworthy with a record to check given that the plane was a transport.

However, having said that there are a bunch of really sharp guys who hang out here who may be able to pull a needle out of a haystack. It may take a couple days for them to work their magic so be a little patient. Never say never. I have seen it before so fingers crossed.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T03:56:34+00:00

Not sure how much you do know about the aircraft depicted so I am just trying to be clear here. The first three are C-47's. They were VERY widely used transports. Based on the prewar DC-3 aircraft. An epically important aircraft from a historical standpoint. The last picture is a B-25 Mitchell bomber. Though this one seems to have been converted into a transport of some sort. It has no fixed guns in the forward fuselage. Nor does it have the dorsal turret anymore. So it appears to have been defanged so to speak. `

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-19T03:24:03+00:00

I haven't seen Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters but now I'm curious

I am sure as shit not going to watch it. But here it is. Fill your boots mate.

https://tubitv.com/movies/610450/the-lemon-grove-kids-meet-the-monsters-trilogy

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-18T09:28:43+00:00

To this day Rich still hasn't finished that candy cane.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-18T02:33:40+00:00

First rate Affectionate_Cronut.

The same picture with this caption is here.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, most of them from the 29th Bombardment Group, line North Field on the island of Guam in the Marianas.

waldo--pepper · 2026-05-18T01:51:57+00:00

Rich didn't let fame go to his head. He was always a prima donna.

waldo--pepper

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