Mid week bonus.
B-24D-155-CO Liberator sn 42-72772 from the 513th BS 376th BG 15th AF.Low over the Adriatic. Operation Tidalwave 1 August 1943

B-24 Liberator on bomb run - Vienna Railyards On 15 January 1945

Great shots, Duggy.

One this week of a very rare Spitfire history below
Mark: F.Ia
Serial No. X4555
Contract No. 1971339. 3rd order. dated June 9. 1940
Engine: Rolls Royce Merlin III
First flight. September 25 1940.
No. 6 Maintenance Unit. Acceptance at RAF Brize Norton. September 28 1940
No. 92 East India Squadron (QJ-*) at RAF station Biggin Hill. September 28 1940.
Category C2 (flying battle). November 1 1940
General Aircraft Limited, aircraft service section for repairs. November 7 1940.
No. 37 Maintenance Unit. February 16 1941.
No. 132 City of Bombay Squadron (FF~*) at RAF station Skebrae. July 11 1941.
Combat accident November 29 1941
S.S. Scott Avia. [unknown entry] December 11 1941.
No 12 Maintenance Unit February 24 1942.
Henston Aircraft Limited. converted to a P.R. IV type c
with a RR. Merlin 45. April 29 1942.
No. 6 Maintenance Unit at RAF Station Brize Norton, June 15 1942.
No. 1 Photo Reconnaisance Unit RAF station Benson.
Converted to Mk. PR. November 15 1942.
No. 47 Maintenance Unit at RAF.station Sealand. January 3 1943.
On board the SS Tom Couston bound for Canada. March 10 1943.
Arrived in Montreal, Quebec. [Moved to Ottawa on April 7th.] April 4 1943
No. 3 Training Command. Taken on charge. April 7 1943.
No. 7 Photo Wing/No. 13 Squadron based at Rockcliffe, Ontario.
No. 1 Air Command. January 15 1945.
Category D at Rockcliffe. February 25 1945.
No. 9 Transport Group. July 15 1946.
Awaiting disposal. October 11 1946.
Air Search & Rescue duties. January 1947.
Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy. February 2 1947.
Royal Canadian Navy - Director of Naval Air Services. August 11 1947.
Eventual allocation to RCN/VR unit unknown.

Mid week bonusTaken August 43 New Guinea
Lae airfield gets a visit from an unidentified A-20A of the 3rd Bomb Group.

And B-25s from the 345th BG over Boram Wewak airfield.

One this week of P-51 Mustang (5Q-H, serial number 44-14070) of the 339th Fighter Group in snow at Bassingbourn, January 1945.

Weekend bonus.
Many surplus B-17s ended their lives as remotely-controlled drones. During the war, a few war-weary B-17s (mainly Fs) were used as remotely-controlled bombs for attacks against heavily-defended German targets. The designation BQ-7 was applied to these conversions.

The first peacetime use of drone Fortresses was as unmanned aircraft that would fly near or even through mushroom clouds during atomic tests. In May of 1946, sixteen B-17s were withdrawn from stores for conversion into drones with the addition of radio, radar, television, and other equipment. Six other Fortresses were converted as drone controllers. Most of the work was performed by the San Antonio Air Depot at Kelly Field in Texas. The first of these nuclear tests took place in the South Pacific under the code name *Operation Crossroads*. When the USAF was established in 1947, the director aircraft became DB-17Gs, while the drones became QB-17Gs. Further nuclear tests occurred through 1952. The drones were operated primarily by the 3205th Drone Group out of Eglin AFB, Florida.

The designation QB-17L was assigned to surplus B-17Gs that were modified during the postwar years for use as radio-controlled drones for various tests, usually as targets for missiles. They were sometimes equipped with television cameras to provide a target's view of the approaching missile. They were usually painted in red-orange Day-Glo paint with black diagonal stripes for increased visibility. Their serial numbers were prefixed by an O, indicative of their obsolete status. Sources for QB-17 conversions were new B-17s that had went directly to storage upon delivery from the factory, B-17s that had been retired from other duties, and DB-17 drone directors that were now surplus to requirements.

Most of the QB-17Ls met their end as flying targets for the early Nike Ajax surface-to-air missile or for the Hughes Falcon air-to-air missile. Often, the QB-17L would be the subject of intentional near misses to preserve the drone for as many missions as possible. Other QB-17Ls were used for various unmanned but destructive tests such as the ditching tests carried out by NACA in San Francisco Bay. The last DB-17/QB-17 mission was flown on August 6, 1959, with 44-83727 being blown out of the sky by a Falcon missile fired by a F-101 Voodoo. The last QB-17L was destroyed by an IM-99 Bomarc missile in 1960.

The QB-17N was a drone conversion similar to the QB-17L but with a different guidance system and not fitted with television cameras. The optical tracking equipment was installed in detachable wingtip pods equipped with explosive bolts and parachutes for recovery of test data in the event of the loss of the drone.

The designation DB-17P was given to obsolete B-17Gs converted as drone director aircraft. They would often be used to guide the QB-17L and N target drones during the missile tests. When they were worn out or the need was diminished, the DB-17Ps would more often than not be converted to QB drone configuration and would then be expended themselves.

The last active USAF Fortress, a drone director with the serial of 44-83684, arrived at Davis-Monthan AFB for storage in August of 1959. The few DB-17P drone controllers remaining on Air Force rolls in 1960 were transferred to various museums such as the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio and the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California.

Mid week bonus, staying with B-17's.
Two glorious colour shots of a B-17F April 1943 over Mount Rainier Washington.

Two this week taken in China,of shark mouthed P-51 Mustangs of the 51st Fighter Group, 14th Air Force.

Love your pictures

Thanks.
Staying with the 14th Air force,ground crew install a new toy on a P-40 for training purposes.