Sir Baboon McGoon Sir Baboon McGoon was an American Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress , a Douglas - Long Beach bult B - 17F - 75 - DL , ASN 42 - 3506 , last assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron , 91st Bomb Group , 8th Air Force , operating out of RAF Bassingbourn ( AAF Station 121 ) , Cambridgeshire , England . Its nose art and name were based on the male character Baboon McGoon from Al Capp ' s comic strip , " Li ' l Abner " . On Sunday afternoon , October 10 , 1943 , the aircraft ran out of fuel while returning to Bassingbourn , and landed on its belly in a wet and muddy sugar beet field near the village of Tannington , Sussex , England . Its recovery was described in an article in the June 1944 issue of " Popular Science " magazine , as well as a 1945 article in " Flying " magazine . The article describes how the aircraft was jacked up in the sugar beet field . Once on its own gear , it was determined that it could be flown out of the field and several weeks of mobile repairs resulted in the engines and propellers being replaced and temporary patches being applied . An 1 , 800 ft long steel mesh temporary runway allowed the aircraft to depart the sugar beet field in November 1943 and fly to a maintenance depot for more extensive repairs . Squadron records of the 324th BS indicate that " Sir Baboon McGoon " returned to Bassingbourn on 19 February 1944 . It flew seven additional missions between 24 February 1944 and its final mission on 29 March 1944 . The 10 man crew for that final mission on March 29 , 1944 was headed by 2Lt Edgar C Downing . Most of his crew had flown other missions , and they had flown this particular aircraft on one previous mission since its return to service . The crew members described it as " a real crate " of an airplane - with many patches and quirks . The assigned mission for that day was a bombing run to Brunswick , Germany . As their portion of the formation arrived over the primary target , ( also known as Braunschweig ) , they reported that the target area was obscured by clouds or smoke , so they proceeded to their secondary target . Bombs released from a bomber above them struck one of their engines . ( Believed by the crew to be the # 4 , or right outboard engine . ) This shut down one engine , but the propeller couldn ' t be properly feathered and there was damage to the electrical and / or hydraulic systems . Their troubles mounted when they attempted to drop their bombs and the bomb bay doors had to be manually opened and the bomb ' s released manually . Once the bombs were gone , they were unable to close the bomb bay doors . The increased drag of a non - feathered propeller and the open bomb bay doors , combined with the lost power from one inoperative engine , caused them to slow down and forced them to fall out of formation . The crew recalls that they were then attacked by German fighter aircraft and they lost one or two more engines and had to drop down to the cloud deck ( tops around 5 , 000 ' ) to attempt to continue flying . The aircraft was headed basically west towards England , but was lower than their formations and unable to keep up . Witness crew members from a 323rd Bomb Squadron aircraft reported losing sight of the missing aircraft about 30 minutes ( east of ) the Zuider Zee , but that the aircraft was continuing on course , just lower & slower . The witnesses reported that the engines were feathered , but crew statements suggest that the engines were not turning , however the propellers were not feathered either . As the accident aircraft continued westward , the crew was ordered to lighten the load by jettisoning all the extra weight that they could . The ball turret gunner was able to get back into the plane and so they jettisoned the ball turret . One crew member stated that they probably jettisoned any emergency radio they may have had , because they didn ' t have one in the life rafts . Approximately 4pm and 20 nm west of the coast , they were firmly over the North Sea as darkness approached . They were flying on one sputtering engine , and they had approximately 80 to 90 nm to go to make the English coast . ( Consult a chart to determine official sunset on March 29 , 1944 , but it ' s likely that it would have been dark before they arrived over the English coast . ) The pilot polled his crew and a unanimous decision was made to attempt a controlled ditching with the limited remaining power , rather than pressing on and facing a forced ditching with no power , quite likely in the dark . Based on previous boating experience , the pilot ditched , but 90 degrees different than the recommended procedure . ( Following his return to service , the ditching procedures were changed to match his success method . ) A successful ditching was made , and the entire 10 man crew evacuated through the top hatch . They deployed their two 5 - man life rafts and pushed away in just in time to watch their aircraft sink in approximately 80 ft of water in the North Sea . The crew recalls that they were cold , sore , injured , and mad . They watched formations of bombers returning to England , and a lone German aircraft came and circled their position once and could have strafed them , but didn ' t . It appeared to return perhaps an hour later . Struggling to keep their two rafts together in heavy 5 ' waves , they feared they would freeze or drown in the icy water at approximately 60 degrees N latitude . After darkness fell , they began launching flares every half hour or so until a boat arrived and rescued them . German records include documents for each of the 10 man crew . These documents are titled " Report On Capture of Members of Enemy Air Forces " and are shown with a " PLACE : 8th E - boat Flotilla , Haarlem " . Each crew member was reported as being taken POW " At sea 28 nautical miles 300 degrees Ijmuiden " on March 29 , 1944 at 2125 ( 9 : 25pm ) . Ijmuiden is a coastal city where the Germans had hardened concrete E - boat pens for their " Schnellboote " ( Fast Boats ) . Larger than an American PT boat , these boats probably were based from Ijmuiden and the specific reference of time , distance and direction 28 nm 300 degrees ( WNW ) from Ijmuiden at 2125 hours provides a very specific location . There is a table that estimates the drift rate for a 5 man raft under those wind & wave conditions , which provides a reasonably accurate estimate for the location of the ditching around 4pm , followed by 5 hours and 25 minutes drifting in the rafts . The North Sea is approximately 80 ' deep at the estimated ditching site . The crew were initially taken to a jail near the streetcar line . Subsequently , they were ordered onto a train and transported to the DuLag ( DurchsLager ? ) or transfer station camp , and about April 1944 the crew had arrived in Luft Stalag 17 - B in Krems Austria where they were held POW for just over a year until the end of the war . The June 1944 issue of " Popular Science " featured the article of the successful restoration of " Sir Baboon McGoon " from its October 1943 belly landing . By the time the article appeared in print , the aircraft had been on the bottom of the North Sea for at least two months .