"unknown to the crew, our B-24 had a serious defect. We discovered on a practice mission with the group that our B-24 was slow and could not at any practical power setting, keep up with the other B-24's in the formation. This observation met with disbelief and derision. There was no comparable problem with any other B-24. After that our crew was assigned to another B-24 for a practice mission; one of the engines ran away on takeoff and eventually had to be replaced. The general feeling was that there wasn't a problem with the planes, but that it lay with the crew, or more specifically, me. The crew had been undecided on a name for the aircraft, but will all the embarrassment and frustration the name "The Lemon" seemed appropriate. The "Lemon" and our crew were not scheduled for the first mission for the group. On the groups 2nd mission we were assigned to fly another aircraft while a different crew (Malcolm Dike Crew) was assigned to fly "The Lemon." Our crew had no issues on the mission, but the Dike Crew flying "The Lemon" had to abort because they could not keep up with the group. This finally confirmed what I had been saying and the competency of our crew. Since no one could figure out what was wrong with our plane, it was decided to just scrap her for spare parts. As this was about to take place, the squadron commander, Major Laubrich decided he wanted to fly "The Lemon" first. We were informed by rumor mill only, of the following: After Major Laubrich flew her and consulted with a factory representative, it was found that there was a mis-alignment of the tail rudders. From that time forward she was an excellent aircraft, but the name "The Lemon" had stuck." - Michael Hoover, original pilot of this aircraft.