The title Missions of the Star Duster can lead to some misconceptions about the plane named Star Duster and its crew. With hundreds of B-29s involved in World War II the crews came up with a variety of names for their planes, but there was some duplication. And while crews were assigned a particular "ship" they weren't restricted to flying just that Superfortress. If their plane was damaged when a mission came up they were put in a different plane. Other crews might use their plane as well. Some crews got a new plane if theirs became too damaged or war weary to continue flying into combat, and many planes kept flying after their crews finished their tours of duty.
The Star Duster of This Story
The Star Duster this story is about was an early model B-29A. It was built before a lot of data was collected from combat crews and had received some modifications at the factory while missing out on others. For example, pictures of the plane show it was built after the 20 mm cannon had been deleted from the tail turret, but conversations with Mr. Lind have revealed the Star Duster didn't have a 350 fuel tank located between the two bomb bays that later models had.
When the Star Duster rolled off the assembly line it was given serial number 42-93858, the only marking it would keep its entire life. It caught up with its crew on Saipan a few weeks after they themselves got there. They had already flown several missions when they got their plane. Imagine the disappointment of the crew who flew it to Saipan only to have their plane assigned to another crew.
When the Star Duster arrived on Saipan its victor number (30) and the markings for the 497th Bomb Group were painted on it. This started out as a large A-square-30 painted vertically on the tail fin (the A was for the 497th Bomb Group and the square was for the 73rd Bomb Wing). This was later repainted with a large A to help planes find each other more easily as they rendezvoused before beginning their bomb runs (the square for the 73rd Bomb Wing was dropped). The victor numbers were moved to the sides of the fuselage.
The crews were originally allowed to name their planes and have nose art applied to them. Some aircraft commanders chose a name for their planes themselves while others, like Mr. Lind, allowed naming to be a crew decision. No one remembers how they arrived at the name Star Duster.
Early on the crews were allowed to paint any sort of nose art of the planes they wanted. A lot of this artwork was risque, and a complaint about this was behind to order to have all artwork removed. The planes of the 73rd Bomb Wing were repainted with the 73rd's insignia which incorporated the name of that plane.
The Star Duster survived the war and was flown back to the States. It was kept on inventory for a while, but due to the excessive inventory it was eventually reclaimed. The fate of many reclaimed B-29s was that a portable smelter was brought to the base where the Superfortresses were stored. They were melted down and the aluminum recast to make products like cookware.
Star Duster's Artwork
This is the best picture available of the port side artwork. Stars were painted after successful missions with the name of the target painted on the star. The shooting star (extreme left) is a Tokyo mission and probably denotes a fire raid on that target. There appears to be a purple heart painted below this star. Here are the missions commemorated with stars as best as can be told with a magnifying glass (listed left to right).
Cluster with shooting star: Tokyo (with flames), Nagoya, Ham (?)
Cluster under feather duster: Tokyo, Nagoya
Cluster under window: Tokyo, Nagoya
Cluster above cat's head: Tokyo, Nagoya
The bandage painted on the cat's rear (edge of right cheek) represents a mission when the plane received damage. Notice the names painted at the crew positions in this and following pictures.
Other Planes Flown by the Star Duster's Crew
Capt. Lind's crew only flew 21 on their missions in the Star Duster. The rest of their missions were flown in as many as seven other planes. These included:
- A-square-21 — Thumper — 42-24623 — See special mention below.
- A-square-22 — Haley's Comet — 42-24616 — This plane was lost on the January 27, 1945, mission to Tokyo.
- A-square-23 — Shady Lady — 42-24619 — This plane was lost on the January 27, 1945, mission to Tokyo. There was a Shady Lady II.
- A-square-27 — Texas Doll — 42-24627
- A-square-31 — (name unknown) — 42-24733 — This plane was ditched on the December 22, 1944 mission to Nagoya.
- A-square-36 — (name unknown) — 42-65339
- A-square-37 — Miss Hap — 42-24774
Of course, other crews flew Star Duster as well.
Thumper
Thumper, A-square-21, deserves special mention here. It was not the only B-29 to be named Thumper, but it was the most famous. This plane was assigned to Lt. Col. "Pappy" Haines, the commander of the 870th Squadron. The plane flew 40 combat missions before returning home to make a war bond tour around the US. This tour made the plane a celebrity of the day like its B-17 counterpart, the Memphis Belle.
The nose art depicted Thumper, the rabbit from the Disney movie Bambi, standing on a bomb tapping a hind paw. Smaller versions of the artwork were painted on the plane's side for each mission with the name of the target painted on the bomb. On some of these Thumper holds one or more Japanese "Rising Sun" flags to records enemy fighters claimed by the ship's gunners. A total of 25 of these stencils were applied to the plane as follows (the exponent gives the number of flags held by Thumper):
| Truk | Iwo Jima | Tokyo | Tokyo | Tokyo1 | Tokyo | Tokyo |
| Nagoya1 | Nagoya2 | Tokyo1 | Nagoya | Osaka | Nagoya2 | Nagoya |
| Tokya6 | Tokyo | Ota | Nagoya1 | Tokyo | (no name) | (no name) |
| (no name) | (no name) | (no name) | (no name) |
For many years the Thumper artwork and markings were included with the decals for Monogram's 1/48 scale B-29 model. This is indicative of Thumper's historical significance as the other choices for decorating the model were atomic bombers Enola Gay and Bockscar.
Other Planes Named Star Duster
There were a total of eight planes known to carry the name Star Duster or some variant of it. Here is a listing of the other planes:
- 42-94052 (Star Dust) — This plane flew with the 330th Bomb Group of the 314th Bomb Wing based on Guam. It was sold to the Royal Air Force in 1950.
- 42-24782 — Marked as V-square-31, this plane was part of the 499th Bomb Group, 73rd Bomb Wing.
- 42-63492 — Another plane of the 499th Bomb Group. This plane was rammed by a Japanese fighter on the April 24, 1945, mission to Tachikawa.
- 44-86254 — Originally a part of the 19th Bomb Group, 314th Bomb Wing, this plane later burned on Okinawa in November 1950.
- 44-69818 — Also assigned to the 19th Bomb Group, this plane crash landed on approach to Pohang.
- 42-6305 (Starduster) — This plane crashed just after takeoff on August 20, 1944.
- 42-94067 (The Starduster) — Another member of the 19th Bomb Group, this plane survived the war and was reclaimed on June 23, 1945. Look for Saga of the Starduster on B-29 Superfortress Then and Now... for more on this plane and its crew.
