Return to 42-41182
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The C/N of the B-24D-145-CO is 2259, tail number 42-41182. It belonged to the 5th Air Force, 380th Bomb Group, 529th Squadron. It was, at the time of its accident, based at Long Airfield near Hayes Creek, south of Darwin in the Northern Territories, Australia.
The aircraft's service with the 529th squadron was not particularly successful. 42-41182 was considered a 'jinxed' aircraft because several crews had to abort a number of missions due to mechanical problems. On the 7th of May 1944 it made a test flight after an engine change. The crew --under the command of Captain Lt. William T. Robinson Jr-- was rebuilding their confidence in flying after they had crashed in the Huon Golf on 5 March 1944.
The landing after this test flight was a very hard one, and the starboard main gear was torn off. After this accident the Liberator was not repaired and set aside. After the war the remains were sold to a civilian (I forgot the name) and he converted the cockpit section into a very sturdy caravan. It changed hands a few times and was used as a caravan until it's last owner died, somewhere in the early seventies. It then languished on a camping in or around Perth, Western Australia. In the early eighties somebody recognized something special in this strange caravan and after negotiations, the widow of the last owner donated it to the Australian government for display in a museum. It was put in decent storage and after a few months it was flown from Perth to Darwin aboard a RAAF Hercules.