Shoo Shoo Baby (aircraft)

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Boeing B-17G Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
Other name(s)	Shoo Shoo Baby
Type	Boeing B-17G-35-BO Flying Fortress
Manufacturer	Boeing Airplane Company
Serial	42-32076
Owners and operators	USAF

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby , originally Shoo Shoo Baby, is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II, preserved and on public display. A B-17G-35-BO, serial number 42-32076, and manufactured by Boeing, it was named by her crew for a song of the same name made popular by The Andrews Sisters, the favorite song of its crew chief T/Sgt. Hank Cordes. Photographs of the bomber indicate that a third "Shoo" was added to the name at some point in May 1944 when the original aircraft commander completed his tour of duty and was replaced by another pilot.

The nose art on the airframe was one of some 130 pieces painted by line mechanic Tony Starcer for "The Ragged Irregulars", this one based on Alberto Vargas' "Hawaii" Esquire pin up art.

The aircraft that would become "Shoo Shoo Baby" was accepted into the U.S. Army Air Forces inventory on 19 January 1944, and arrived in Great Britain on 2 March. After depot modifications, it was flown to the 91st Bomb Group at RAF Bassingbourn on 23 March and began flying missions the next day. 2nd Lt. Paul C. McDuffee was the first pilot assigned to the aircraft and flew 14 of his 25 missions in it, but nine different crews flew Shoo Shoo Baby on missions.

The B-17 flew 24 combat missions from England with the 91st BG, with three other missions aborted for mechanical problems, before being listed as missing in action on 29 May 1944. On its final mission, to the Focke Wulf aircraft component factory at Poznań, Poland, it crash-landed at Malmö Airport, Sweden.

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