Aircraft History
Built by Consolidated. At the factory completed with an aluminum finish. Constructors Number 2615. Delivered to the U. S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24J-5-CO Liberator serial number 42-73045 and converted to F-7A photographic reconnaissance version. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to the South West Pacific Area.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group (6th PRG), 20th Combat Mapping Squadron (20th CMS). Nicknamed "American Beauty" with the nose art of a woman on the head and shoulders of an Uncle Sam character wearing a stars and stripes top hat and ringed by stars.

During 1944, this F-7A flew nineteen photographic reconnaissance missions in New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Afterwards, scrapped at Nadzab Airfield.

References
USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24J-5-CO Liberator 42-73045
"73038/73045 converted to F-7A"

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Last Updated
February 24, 2020