Tubarão

[der nicht singende Barde]

assembly ship of the 491st BG. North Pickenham, January 1945. After Rage In Heaven crashed, a twenty-mission veteran of the 491st BG, Tubarão was given the job. The aircraft was painted in now-familiar zebra treatment, this time in green and yellow. Tubarão (‘shark’ in Portuguese), formerly a 855th BS machine, had originally been adorned with a huge shark’s mouth, which was retained, so that the finished product was a rather curious hybrid of fish in front and zebra behind. Outer parts of the vertical tail were painted green with a white horizontal band. Like
Rage In Heaven, Tubarão kept its defensive armament. Note that the front port side bomb bay doors were probably taken from another Liberator. This aircraft served as the formation aircraft until the end of combat operations.