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NINE
O NINE
42-31909
B-17G
91/323
OR-R
 Assigned
to the
323rd
Squadron
on 24th
February
1944,
Nine
0 Nine
was
destined
to become
the
group’s
most
successful
Fortress.
The
ship
was
named
by radioman,
Jack
Grosh,
on Art
Klinger’s
crew,
after
the
three
digits
ending
the
serial
number.
Jack
also
designed
the
cartoon
motif
of Columbus
riding
a bomb
and
thumbing
his
nose
at the
Nazis
but
it was
Tony
Starcer
who
translated
this
sketch
into
one
of the
most
famous
nose
arts
of all.
 Nine
0 Nine
went
on to
survive
the
war
in Europe
having
completed
140
missions,
126
without
an abort
due
to mechanical
problems;
a superb
tribute
to the
dedicated
work
of the
ground
crew
of Master
Sergeant
Rollin
Davis.
During
its
long
combat
career
the
ship
received
21 new
engines
and
18 replacement
Tokyo
tanks,
15 main
fuel
tanks
and
countless
man-hours
of careful
maintenance
and
patching
up of
battle
damage
sustained
through
the
1129
hours
of flying
time.
Nine
0 Nine
had
included
ten
trips
to Berlin
during
its
service,
and
dropped
a total
of 562,000lbs
of bombs.
Uncle
Sam
surely
recouped
his
investment
in this
Fortress!
Master
Sergeant
Davis
was
awarded
a Bronze
Star
for
his
work-the
honor
was
justly
won
accepted
on behalf
of all
the
ground
crew.
November
1944
he had
cared
for
four
B-17s
that
had
flown
a total
of 194
missions
with
only
three
turnbacks
due
to mechanical
problems.
Over
150
straight
missions
were
flown
before
a Davis-serviced
B-17
aborted.
Fifty
crewmen
had
safely
completed
their
tours
of duty
in Nine
0 Nine
during
this
period.
It might
so easily
have
ended
differently.
After
successfully
completing
130
mission,
Nine
0 Nine
sustained,
damage
to the
No.2
engine
resulting
in a
runaway
propeller
which
eventually
sheared
off
and
sliced
into
the
nose
just
below
the
navigator’s
window.
Davis
and
his
ground
crew
patched
up the
damage
with
three
narrow
rips
of shiny
aluminum
that
defaced
the
mouse
nose
art
emblem.
Tony
Starcer
lost
no time
in getting
to work
to paint
over
the
patches
and
complete
his
artwork
to everyone’s
satisfaction.
Although
many,
many
crews
made
successful
missions
in Nine
0 Nine,
five
in particular
completed
substantial
numbers
in the
plane.
The
first
combat
sortie
was
on 25th
February
to Augsburg
with
Charles
Samuelson
and
it proved
to be
his
only
mission
in the
plane.
Basil
Hackleman’s
crew
took
Nine
0 Nine
to Berlin
on 8th
March,
the
first
of ten
trips
for
the
Plane
to that
target.
It was
also
the
first
of 15
missions
his
crew
would
complete
in the
plane.
By the
time
Art
Klinger
took
over
the
ship
on 7th
May
for
another
trip
to Berlin,
and
had
the
nose
art
painted
on,
the
plane
had
already
completed
at least
25 missions
with
different
crews.
Captain
David
Bramble
completed
his
tour
in Nine
O Nine
on 9th
March,
having
flown
to Oranienburg.
He celebrated
the
event
with
what
was
described
as “a
medium
buzz
job”
of the
field
on his
return.
Art
Klinger
would
add
a further
18 mission
symbols
to the
growing
tally
before
William
Dietrich’s
crew
took
over
on 6th
July.
They
would
add
another
16,
flying
their
last
sortie
in the
plane
on 22nd
October
to Brunswick.
By 4th
December,
it was
Earl
Scofield’s
turn
and
his
crew
flew
the
plane
almost
to the
end,
adding
another
18 missions
up to
8th
April.
Russell
Blanchet’s
mission
list
overlapped
with
Scofield.
His
first
being
on 1st
March
to Heilbronn
marshaling
yards
and
the
last
recorded
in the
squadron
records
being
17th
April
to Dresden.
Nine
O Nine
took
off
for
the
last
time
from
English
soil
on 8th
June
1945
to head
back
to the
USA
and
ultimately
the
smelter’s
torch
at Kingman
Arizona.
On board
was
Captain
Robert
Hoffman
with
nine
crew
and
ten
passengers.
Decades
later,
in the
1970s,
crews
of the
USAF’s
strategic
bomber
force
began
to reintroduce
nose
art
onto
their
long-serving
B-52
Strato
Fortresses.
It was
natural
that
they
should
look
towards
the
famous
planes
of the
past
generation
and
several
crews
selected
names
and
emblems
from
renowned
91st
Fortresses.
Amongst
them
was
B52G57-6509,
2nd
Bomb
Wing,
which
carried
a close
rendition
of the
earlier
Starcer
nose
art
for
Nine
O Nine.
Almost
twenty
years
later,
in 1987,
one
of the
few
remaining
flyable
Fortresses
would
take
to the
air
again
emblazoned
with
the
famous
Nine
O Nine
emblem-4483575;
but,
a few
weeks
later,
this
renovated
look-alike
came
to grief
when
a cross
wind
caught
it during
landing
at Beaver
County
Airport
causing
it to
overshoot
the
runway
into
trees.
However,
dedicated
restoration
work,
of which
Rollins
Davis
and
his
team
would
be proud,
restored
the
ship
to flying
condition
once
again.
One
way
or another,
Nine
O Nine
lives
on.
"Story
taken
from
Plane
Names
&
Fancy
Noses,
by Ray
Bowden"
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