"Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby", a B-17G-35-BO Ser. No. 42-32076, rolled off Boeing's Seattle assembly line in March, 1944.
Flown to England shortly afterwards, it was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group. The 91st' talented Tony Starcer painted the nose artwork. Squadron codes LL+E and Bomb group markings were also applied.
Originally, it was named "Shoo Shoo Baby" but because a B-17 already existed with this name, the crew chief added the third "Shoo".
On its 23rd mission, it suffered crippling damage to three engines and so the crew diverted to neutral Sweden where it was impounded.
After the war, the U.S. government agreed to sell "Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby" for a dollar to the Swedish government.
42-32076 was converted into an airliner and later sold to Denmark which operated it until 1953.
The aircraft was then sold to France where it was used until 1963 and consigned to the scrapheap.
In 1968, the cannibalized wreck was identified by a B-17 researcher as being a true combat veteran. This researcher passed this information to the U.S. Air Force.
France agreed to sell the B-17 to the U.S. government for 1 Franc.
Ten years of restoration work brought the wreck back to its wartime state. Tony Starcer was still living at this time (1988) and he again painted the artwork on the nose of the aircraft. The aircraft is now prominently displayed in the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio.
Note that although the aircraft actually served in an unpainted state in wartime, it was decided to paint the aircraft in olive drab/neutral gray, due to the severely weathered aluminum skin.
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