RB-29A serial number 42-9400, nicknamed ‘Tiger Lil’, was one of several aircraft of this type shot down by the PVO while flying ELINT SIGINTintelligence- gathering mission along the periphery of the USSR. Assigned to the 6007th Composite Group of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, the modified bomber was intercepted by MiG-15s of the PVO and received hits into one of its wing tanks. The crew bailed out safely: the navigator, 2nd Lieutenant Sigredo Angulo, became entangled in his parachute lines and drowned in the sea, while others were recovered by a US military vessel. Tiger Lil – which wore the crest of the 15th Air Force, USAF, on its fin – remained airborne after being abandoned by her crew: the modified bomber crashed into the town of Nemuro in Japan, though fortunately causing no civilian casualties. The prominent nose art had been removed at the time of the shooting-down. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)