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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Fortress
Manufacturer Boeing
Introduction April 1938
Development
Origins
Model 299
NX13372
Crashed Model
299
On 8 August 1934, the
Boeing USAAC
Y1B-17 in tendered a
flight
proposal for a multiengine bomber to
replace the Martin B-10. The Air Corps was
looking for a bomber capable of
reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii,
Panama, and Alaska.[11] Requirements
were for it to carry a "useful bombload" at
an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m) for 10
hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph
(320 km/h).[12]
They also desired, but did not require, a
range of 2,000 mi (3,200 km) and a speed
of 250 mph (400 km/h). The competition
for the air corps contract was to be
decided by a "fly-off" between Boeing's
design, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin
Model 146 at Wilbur Wright Field in
Dayton, Ohio.
Initial orders
[54]
B-17F-DL 605
[54]
B-17F-VE 500
B-17G-BO 4,035
B-17G-DL 2,395
B-17G-VE 2,250
Total 12,731
Notes:
B-17s were built at Boeing Plant 2
Seattle, Washington (BO)
and starting with the B-17F also at
Lockheed Vega, Burbank California (VE) and
Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach California (DL)[56]
Postwar SB-17G-95DL
AF ser. no. 44-83722 assigned to the 2nd ERS as a
search-and-rescue aircraft, beside a Stinson L-5
Operational history
RAF use
RAF Fortress B.I serial AN529, with He 111H-style
"bathtub" ventral gondola
Combined offensive
Pacific Theater
Bomber defense
Part of a USAAF stream of over 1,000 B-17s
Luftwaffe-captured B-17s
Soviet-interned B-17s
The U.S. did not offer B-17s to the Soviet
Union as part of its war materiel
assistance program, but at least 73
aircraft were acquired by the Soviet Air
Force. These aircraft had landed with
mechanical trouble during the shuttle
bombing raids over Germany or had been
damaged by a Luftwaffe raid in Poltava.
The Soviets restored 23 to flying condition
and concentrated them in the 890th
bomber regiment of the 45th bomber
division, but they never saw combat. In
1946 the regiment was assigned to the
Kazan factory to aid in the Soviet effort to
reproduce the more advanced Boeing B-29
as the Tupolev Tu-4.[150]
Swiss-interned B-17s
Japanese-captured B-17s
Postwar history
U.S. Air Force
Under project
Cadillac II, an
AN/APS-20 radar
was fitted onto
the B-17G,
making the PB-
1W one of the
first AWACS.
Special operations
Operators
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Colombia
Denmark
Dominican Republic
France
Germany as Beuteflugzeug (captured
aircraft)
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Japan
Mexico
Nicaragua
Peru
Portugal
South Africa
Republic of China
Soviet Union
Switzerland
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Surviving aircraft
46 planes survive in complete form, 10 of
which are airworthy, and 39 of which
reside in the United States.
Fortresses as a symbol
Notable B-17s
Specifications (B-17G)
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Notable appearances in
media
See also
Related development
Boeing XB-15
Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress
Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress
Boeing C-108 Flying Fortress
Related lists
Notes
1. The Air Corps News Letter, however,
notes in its edition of 1 January 1938
(ACNL Vol. XXI, No. 1, p. 7 Archived 3
September 2015 at the Wayback
Machine) an attempt by the Langley
Field correspondent to apply the
appellation "Jeep" to the B-17, which it
objected to as "not befitting" the
aircraft and adding, "Why not let the
term 'Flying Fortress' suffice?"
2. On board the aircraft were pilots Major
Ployer P. Hill (his first time flying the
299) and Lieutenant Donald Putt (the
primary army pilot for the previous
evaluation flights), Leslie Tower,
Boeing mechanic C.W. Benton, and
Pratt and Whitney representative
Henry Igo. Putt, Benton, and Igo
escaped with burns, and Hill and
Tower were pulled from the wreckage
alive, but later died from their injuries.
3. The idea of a pilot's checklist spread
to other crew members, other air corps
aircraft types, and eventually
throughout the aviation world. Life
published the lengthy B-17 checklist in
its 24 August 1942 issue.[33]
4. Quote: "At the peak of production,
Boeing was rolling out as many as 363
B-17s a month, averaging between 14
and 16 Forts a day, the most incredible
production rate for large aircraft in
aviation history." This production rate
was, however, surpassed by that of the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
5. This is a common error. The Rex was
725 miles offshore on her last position
report as the B-17s were taxiing for
takeoff from Mitchel Field, four hours
before interception.
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Birdsall, Steve. The B-17 Flying Fortress.
Dallas, Texas: Morgan Aviation Books, 1965.
OCLC 752618401 .
Davis, Larry. B-17 in Action. Carrollton, Texas:
Squadron/Signal Publications, 1984. ISBN 0-
89747-152-0.
Jablonski, Edward. Flying Fortress. New York:
Doubleday, 1965. ISBN 0-385-03855-0.
Johnsen, Frederick A. Boeing B-17 Flying
Fortress. Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur
Press, 2001. ISBN 1-58007-052-3.
Lloyd, Alwyn T. B-17 Flying Fortress in Detail
and Scale, Vol. 11: Derivatives, Part 2.
Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, 1983.
ISBN 0-8168-5021-6.
Lloyd, Alwyn T. B-17 Flying Fortress in Detail
and Scale, Vol. 20: More derivatives, Part 3.
Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books,
1986. ISBN 0-8168-5029-1.
Lloyd, Alwyn T. and Terry D. Moore. B-17
Flying Fortress in Detail and Scale, Vol. 1:
Production Versions, Part 1. Fallbrook,
California: Aero Publishers, 1981. ISBN 0-
8168-5012-7.
O'Leary, Michael. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
(Osprey Production Line to Frontline 2). Botley,
Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-
85532-814-3.
Thompson, Scott A. Final Cut: The Post War
B-17 Flying Fortress, The Survivors: Revised
and Updated Edition. Highland County, Ohio:
Pictorial Histories Publishing Company,
2000. ISBN 1-57510-077-0.
Willmott, H.P. B-17 Flying Fortress. London:
Bison Books, 1980. ISBN 0-85368-444-8.
Wagner, Ray, "American Combat Planes of
the 20th Century", Reno, Nevada, 2004, Jack
Bacon & Company, ISBN 0-930083-17-2.
External links
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title=Boeing_B-
17_Flying_Fortress&oldid=919983258"