Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Boeing B-17G Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
General information
Other name(s)Shoo Shoo Baby
TypeBoeing B-17G-35-BO Flying Fortress
ManufacturerBoeing Airplane Company
OwnersUSAF
Serial42-32076

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby, originally Shoo Shoo Baby, is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II, preserved and currently awaiting reassembly at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. 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.

At the end of the war it was stranded in Sweden, and after some negotiations ended up in civilian service in Europe, but was out of service by the 1960s. A plan was worked out to return it to the United States. It was restored to flying condition by the 1980s and was put on display at the National Museum of the Air force for many years. In the late 2010s, that museum swapped it for another B-17 (Memphis Belle) with the Smithsonian where it is planned to go on permanent display in the nation's capitol.