March 1944 Flying Aces illustration by Kremer

"Fortress to Africa" by Lieut. Raymond P. Erpelding, US Army Air Corps.

Illustration caption reads:
"The hailstones smashing against the plexiglass created so much static electricity that it jumped through Lt. Chrisnell's headset. For a moment he had an idea of what it was like to be supercharged with high-pressure lightning." Chrisnell was the plane's bombardier.

Story subtitle:
"Tanks almost empty, and engines crippled, the crew of a Flying Fortress elected to stick with their plane that wouldn't stop flying"

B-17 bombers were called Flying Fortresses. The crew calls their plane "Miss Fit" because of its mechanical problems in flight during training and on the trip over the Atlantic to join their squadron in Africa. They barely make it across the ocean and survive ditching the plane in the waters off an African island. They aren't involved in any combat in the story.

The article is in the additional images except the last two pages that exceeded the limit on the number of images.

Wikipedia entry about the magazine:
"Flying Aces was a monthly American periodical of short stories about aviation, one of a number of so-called "flying pulp" magazines popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Like other pulp magazines, it was a collection of adventure stories, originally printed on coarse, pulpy paper but later moved to a slick format."

"The magazine was launched in October 1928 by Periodical House, Inc. It featured stories written and illustrated by known authors of the day, often set against the background of World War I. Later issues added non-fiction aviation articles, as well as articles and plans for model airplanes. The latter became more prominent, and eventually the magazine was renamed Flying Models, and catered exclusively to aeromodeling hobbyists."

"Many American pilots who took part in World War II grew up during the 1930s enthusiastically reading flying pulps such as Flying Aces, and were captivated by the adventure stories, an experience that no doubt played a part in their decision to become military aviators themselves...Many have noted the uncannily accurate way that stories in Flying Aces predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as well as the locations of other air battles of the Pacific Theater."

The final issue of Flying Aces was April 1945.