Vickers Aircraft since 1908.
United States Military aircraft since 1909.
United States Navy Aircraft since 1911.
Lockheed Aircraft since 1913.
Boeing Aircraft Since 1916.
The Army and its Air Corps: Army Policy toward Aviation 1919–1941.
McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920.
At first, these aircraft operated under their original USAAF designations, but on 31 July 1945 they were assigned the naval aircraft designation PB-1, a designation which had originally been used in 1925 for the Boeing Model 50 experimental flying boat. Thirty-two B-17Gs were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W, the suffix -W indicating an airborne early warning role.
{| |} The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined [bomber] developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of World War II. == Development == === Origins === On 8 August 1934, the USAAC tendered a proposal for a multiengine bomber to replace the Martin B-10.
The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, each producing at . The first flight of the Model 299 was on 1935 with Boeing chief test-pilot Leslie Tower at the controls.
His opinions were shared by the air corps procurement officers, and even before the competition had finished, they suggested buying 65 B-17s. Development continued on the Boeing Model 299, and on 1935, Army Air Corps test pilot Major Ployer Peter Hill and Boeing employee Les Tower took the Model 299 on a second evaluation flight.
== External links == B-17 Flying Fortress 1930s United States bomber aircraft Four-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft World War II bombers of the United States Aircraft first flown in 1935 World War II heavy bombers Four-engined piston aircraft
Army Chief of Staff Malin Craig cancelled the order for 65 YB-17s, and ordered 133 of the twin-engined Douglas B-18 Bolo, instead. === Initial orders === Regardless, the USAAC had been impressed by the prototype's performance, and on 1936, through a legal loophole, the Air Corps ordered 13 YB-17s (designated Y1B-17 after November 1936 to denote its special F-1 funding) for service testing.
Scheduled to fly in 1937, it encountered problems with the turbochargers, and its first flight was delayed until 1938.
These turbo-superchargers were incorporated into the B-17B. Opposition to the air corps' ambitions for the acquisition of more B-17s faded, and in late 1937, 10 more aircraft designated B-17B were ordered to equip two bombardment groups, one on each U.S.
In July 1940, an order for 512 B-17s was issued, but at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, fewer than 200 were in service with the army. A total of 155 B-17s of all variants were delivered between 1937 and 1941, but production quickly accelerated, with the B-17 once holding the record for the highest production rate for any large aircraft.
From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, becoming the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. The B-17 was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, military and civilian targets.
Scheduled to fly in 1937, it encountered problems with the turbochargers, and its first flight was delayed until 1938.
In January 1938, group commander Colonel Robert Olds flew a YB-17 from the United States's east coast to its west coast, setting a transcontinental record of 13 hours 27 minutes.
Six bombers of the 2nd Bombardment Group took off from Langley Field on 1938 as part of a goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
An early model YB-17 also appeared in the 1938 film Test Pilot with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, and later with Clark Gable in Command Decision in 1948, in Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr.
The aircraft was delivered to the army on 1939.
Improved with larger flaps and rudder and a well-framed, 10-panel plexiglas nose, the B-17Bs were delivered in five small batches between July 1939 and March 1940.
Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series 3 – Air, Volume 1.
Improved with larger flaps and rudder and a well-framed, 10-panel plexiglas nose, the B-17Bs were delivered in five small batches between July 1939 and March 1940.
In July 1940, an order for 512 B-17s was issued, but at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, fewer than 200 were in service with the army. A total of 155 B-17s of all variants were delivered between 1937 and 1941, but production quickly accelerated, with the B-17 once holding the record for the highest production rate for any large aircraft.
While the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax became its primary bombers by 1941, in early 1940, the RAF entered into an agreement with the U.S.
Articles discuss mobile recovery crews following October 1943 belly landing at Tannington, England. The Swoose – Initially nicknamed Ole Betsy while in service, The Swoose is the only remaining intact B-17D, built in 1940, the oldest surviving Flying Fortress, and the only surviving B-17 to have seen action in the Philippines campaign (1941–1942); it is in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum and is being restored for final display at the National Museum of the U.S.
Combat Aircraft of World War II, 1940–1941.
The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. From its prewar inception, the USAAC (by June 1941, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload.
In July 1940, an order for 512 B-17s was issued, but at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, fewer than 200 were in service with the army. A total of 155 B-17s of all variants were delivered between 1937 and 1941, but production quickly accelerated, with the B-17 once holding the record for the highest production rate for any large aircraft.
British authorities were anxious that no similar accidents should again occur, and the Aphrodite project was scrapped in early 1945. == Operational history == The B-17 began operations in World War II with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941, and in the Southwest Pacific with the U.S.
Half of the group's B-17s were wiped out on 8 December 1941 when they were caught on the ground during refueling and rearming for a planned attack on Japanese airfields on Formosa.
While the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax became its primary bombers by 1941, in early 1940, the RAF entered into an agreement with the U.S.
Their first operation, against Wilhelmshaven on 1941 was unsuccessful.
They could also pose as ground controllers themselves with the intention of steering nightfighters away from the bomber streams. === Initial USAAF operations over Europe === The air corps – renamed United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941 – used the B-17 and other bombers to bomb from high altitudes with the aid of the then-secret Norden bombsight, known as the "Blue Ox", which was an optical electromechanical gyrostabilized analog computer.
The Combined Bomber Offensive was effectively complete. === Pacific Theater === On 7 December 1941, a group of 12 B-17s of the 38th (four B-17C) and 88th (eight B-17E) Reconnaissance Squadrons, en route to reinforce the Philippines, was flown into Pearl Harbor from Hamilton Field, California, arriving while the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was going on.
Ten of the 12 Fortresses survived the attack. By 1941, the Far East Air Force (FEAF) based at Clark Field in the Philippines had 35 B-17s, with the War Department eventually planning to raise that to 165.
The FEAF lost half its aircraft during the first strike, and was all but destroyed over the next few days. Another early World War II Pacific engagement, on 1941, involved Colin Kelly, who reportedly crashed his B-17 into the Japanese battleship Haruna, which was later acknowledged as a near bomb miss on the heavy cruiser Ashigara.
1941: The Air Force Story.
In early 1942, the 7th Bombardment Group began arriving in Java with a mixed force of B-17s and LB-30/B-24s.
In July 1942, the first USAAF B-17s were sent to England to join the Eighth Air Force.
These were augmented starting in July 1942 by 45 Fortress Mk IIA (B-17E) followed by 19 Fortress Mk II (B-17F) and three Fortress Mk III (B-17G).
206 Squadron RAF sank U-627 on 1942, the first of 11 U-boat kills credited to RAF Fortress bombers during the war. As sufficient Consolidated Liberators finally became available, Coastal Command withdrew the Fortress from the Azores, transferring the type to the meteorological reconnaissance role.
The first Eighth Air Force units arrived in High Wycombe, England, on 1942, to form the 97th Bomb Group.
On 1942, 12 B-17Es of the 97th, with the lead aircraft piloted by Major Paul Tibbets and carrying Brigadier General Ira Eaker as an observer, were close escorted by four squadrons of RAF Spitfire IXs (and a further five squadrons of Spitfire Vs to cover the withdrawal) on the first USAAF heavy bomber raid over Europe, against the large railroad marshalling yards at Rouen-Sotteville in France, while a further six aircraft flew a diversionary raid along the French coast.
On the morning of 4 March 1943, a B-17 sank the destroyer Asashio with a bomb while she was picking up survivors from Arashio. At their peak, 168 B-17 bombers were in the Pacific theater in September 1942, but already in mid-1942 Gen.
Special airdrop B-17s supported Australian commandos operating near the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, which had been the primary B-17 target in 1942 and early 1943. B-17s were still used in the Pacific later in the war, however, mainly in the combat search and rescue role.
129–62; The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944 (The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume IV.
Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942 – April 1943.
The YB-40s with their numerous heavy modifications had trouble keeping up with the lighter bombers once they had dropped their bombs, so the project was abandoned and finally phased out in July 1943.
The raid helped allay British doubts about the capabilities of American heavy bombers in operations over Europe. Two additional groups arrived in Britain at the same time, bringing with them the first B-17Fs, which served as the primary AAF heavy bomber fighting the Germans until September 1943.
As the raids of the American bombing campaign grew in numbers and frequency, German interception efforts grew in strength (such as during the attempted bombing of Kiel on 13 June 1943), such that unescorted bombing missions came to be discouraged. === Combined offensive === The two different strategies of the American and British bomber commands were organized at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943.
Attacks began in April 1943 on heavily fortified key industrial plants in Bremen and Recklinghausen. Since the airfield bombings were not appreciably reducing German fighter strength, additional B-17 groups were formed, and Eaker ordered major missions deeper into Germany against important industrial targets.
The first raid on 1943 did not result in critical damage to the factories, with the 230 attacking B-17s being intercepted by an estimated 300 Luftwaffe fighters.
The Germans shot down 36 aircraft with the loss of 200 men, and coupled with a raid earlier in the day against Regensburg, a total of 60 B-17s was lost that day. A second attempt on Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943 later came to be known as "Black Thursday".
The 8th Air Force alone lost 176 bombers in October 1943, and was to suffer similar casualties on 1944 on missions to Oschersleben, Halberstadt, and Brunswick.
On 2 March 1943, six B-17s of the 64th Squadron flying at attacked a major Japanese troop convoy off New Guinea, using skip bombing to sink , which carried 1,200 army troops, and damage two other transports, Teiyo Maru and Nojima.
On 3 March 1943, 13 B-17s flying at bombed the convoy, forcing the convoy to disperse and reducing the concentration of their anti-aircraft defenses.
On the morning of 4 March 1943, a B-17 sank the destroyer Asashio with a bomb while she was picking up survivors from Arashio. At their peak, 168 B-17 bombers were in the Pacific theater in September 1942, but already in mid-1942 Gen.
Special airdrop B-17s supported Australian commandos operating near the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, which had been the primary B-17 target in 1942 and early 1943. B-17s were still used in the Pacific later in the war, however, mainly in the combat search and rescue role.
But because the bombers could not maneuver when attacked by fighters, and needed to be flown straight and level during their final bomb run, individual aircraft struggled to fend off a direct attack. A 1943 survey by the USAAF found that over half the bombers shot down by the Germans had left the protection of the main formation.
21) rocket mortar by the Luftwaffe in mid-August 1943 promised the introduction of a major "stand-off" style of offensive weapon – one strut-mounted tubular launcher was fixed under each wing panel on the Luftwaffe's single-engine fighters, and two under each wing panel of a few twin-engine Bf 110 daylight Zerstörer aircraft.
In October 1943 the Swiss interned Boeing B-17F-25-VE, tail number 25841, and its U.S.
Work on using B-17s to carry airborne lifeboats had begun in 1943, but they entered service in the European theater only in February 1945.
In a 1943 Consolidated Aircraft poll of 2,500 men in cities where Consolidated adverts had been run in newspapers, 73% had heard of the B-24 and 90% knew of the B-17. After the first B-17s were delivered to the Air Corps 2nd Bombardment Group, they were used on flights to promote their long range and navigational capabilities.
It became famous when its exploits were featured in Air Force, one of the first of the patriotic war films released in 1943. Memphis Belle – one of the first B-17s to complete a tour of duty of 25 missions in the 8th Air Force and the subject of a feature film, now completely restored and on display since 17 May 2018 at the National Museum of the U.S.
On 14 June 1943, crashed shortly after takeoff from Mackay while ferrying U.S.
Articles discuss mobile recovery crews following October 1943 belly landing at Tannington, England. The Swoose – Initially nicknamed Ole Betsy while in service, The Swoose is the only remaining intact B-17D, built in 1940, the oldest surviving Flying Fortress, and the only surviving B-17 to have seen action in the Philippines campaign (1941–1942); it is in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum and is being restored for final display at the National Museum of the U.S.
Morgan (1918–2004): Pilot of Memphis Belle. Lt Col Robert Rosenthal (1917–2007): Commanded the only surviving B-17, Royal Flush, of a US 8th Air Force raid by the 100th Bomb Group on Münster on 10 October 1943.
Later pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay, dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The final crew of the bomber Ye Olde Pub (20 December 1943): Flew home from Bremen, Germany in a bomber that was a miracle in the fact that it was flying.
Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942 – April 1943.
The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in central, eastern and southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944.
The operation, which involved remotely flying Aphrodite drones onto their targets by accompanying CQ-17 "mothership" control aircraft, was approved on 1944, and assigned to the 388th Bombardment Group stationed at RAF Fersfield, a satellite of RAF Knettishall. The first four drones were sent to Mimoyecques, the Siracourt V-1 bunker, Watten, and Wizernes on 4 August, causing little damage.
In the campaign against German aircraft forces in preparation for the invasion of France, B-17 and B-24 raids were directed against German aircraft production while their presence drew the Luftwaffe fighters into battle with Allied fighters. During World War II, the B-17 equipped 32 overseas combat groups, inventory peaking in August 1944 at 4,574 USAAF aircraft worldwide.
The 8th Air Force alone lost 176 bombers in October 1943, and was to suffer similar casualties on 1944 on missions to Oschersleben, Halberstadt, and Brunswick.
Most of the escorts turned back or missed the rendezvous, and as a result, 60 B-17s were destroyed. A third raid on Schweinfurt on 1944 highlighted what came to be known as "Big Week", during which the bombing missions were directed against German aircraft production.
The escort fighters reduced the loss rate to below 7%, with a total of 247 B-17s lost in 3,500 sorties while taking part in the Big Week raids. By September 1944, 27 of the 42 bomb groups of the 8th Air Force and six of the 21 groups of the 15th Air Force used B-17s.
Losses to flak continued to take a high toll of heavy bombers through 1944, but the war in Europe was being won by the Allies.
It was not until the advent of long-range fighter escorts (particularly the North American P-51 Mustang) and the resulting degradation of the Luftwaffe as an effective interceptor force between February and June 1944, that the B-17 became strategically potent. The B-17 was noted for its ability to absorb battle damage, still reach its target and bring its crew home safely.
This type replaced the vulnerable twin-engine Zerstörer heavy fighters which could not survive interception by P-51 Mustangs flying well ahead of the combat boxes in an air supremacy role starting very early in 1944 to clear any Luftwaffe defensive fighters from the skies.
By 1944, a further upgrade to Rheinmetall-Borsig's MK 108 cannons mounted either in the wing, or in underwing, conformal mount gun pods, was made for the Sturmbock Focke-Wulfs as either the /R2 or /R8 field modification kits, enabling aircraft to bring a bomber down with just a few hits. The adoption of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer-derived Werfer-Granate 21 (Wfr.
One B-17 of KG200, bearing the Luftwaffe's KG 200 Geschwaderkennung (combat wing code) markings A3+FB, was interned by Spain when it landed at Valencia airfield, 1944, remaining there for the rest of the war.
bomber crew in September 1944.
These aircraft were painted dark blue, the standard Navy paint scheme which had been adopted in late 1944.
Peak USAAF inventory (in August 1944) was 4,574 worldwide. as Beuteflugzeug (captured aircraft) == Surviving aircraft == 46 planes survive in complete form, nine of which are airworthy, and 39 of which reside in the United States. == Fortresses as a symbol == The B-17 Flying Fortress became symbolic in the United States of that country's air power.
Olympic bronze medalist in diving (1932), 1944–1945.
129–62; The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944 (The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume IV.
B-17 Production - Boeing Aircraft: 4 January 1944 - 26 February 1944 B-17G-35 to G-45 42-31932 - 42-32116 and 42-97058 - 42-97407.
B-17 Production - Boeing Aircraft: 26 February 1944 - 25 April 1944 B-17G-50 to G-60 42-102379 - 42-102978.
B-17 Production - Boeing Aircraft: 25 April 1944 - 22 June 1944 B-17G-65 to G-75 43-37509 - 43-38073.
The aircraft went on to serve in every World War II combat zone, and by the time production ended in May 1945, 12,731 aircraft had been built by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed). == Design and variants == The aircraft went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants.
The B-17G was the final version of the Flying Fortress, incorporating all changes made to its predecessor, the B-17F, and in total, 8,680 were built, the last (by Lockheed) on 1945.
British authorities were anxious that no similar accidents should again occur, and the Aphrodite project was scrapped in early 1945. == Operational history == The B-17 began operations in World War II with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941, and in the Southwest Pacific with the U.S.
And by 1945, 2 days after the last heavy bombing mission in Europe, the rate of aircraft loss was so low that replacement aircraft were no longer arriving and the number of bombers per bomb group was reduced.
Work on using B-17s to carry airborne lifeboats had begun in 1943, but they entered service in the European theater only in February 1945.
At first, these aircraft operated under their original USAAF designations, but on 31 July 1945 they were assigned the naval aircraft designation PB-1, a designation which had originally been used in 1925 for the Boeing Model 50 experimental flying boat. Thirty-two B-17Gs were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W, the suffix -W indicating an airborne early warning role.
PB-1Ws continued in USN service until 1955, gradually being phased out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2 (known in the USAF as the EC-121, a designation adopted by the USN in 1962), a military version of the Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner. In July 1945, 16 B-17s were transferred to the Coast Guard via the Navy; these aircraft were initially assigned U.S.
Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1945.
Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson, 1945.
Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems: Volume II: Post-World War II Bombers, 1945–1973.
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. === Swiss-interned B-17s === During the Allied bomber offensive, U.S.
Strategic Air Command (SAC), established in 1946, used reconnaissance B-17s (at first called F-9 [F for Fotorecon], later RB-17) until 1949. The USAF Air Rescue Service of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) operated B-17s as so-called "Dumbo" air-sea rescue aircraft.
The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. In 1946, surplus B-17s were chosen as drone aircraft for atmospheric sampling during the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests, being able to fly close to or even through the mushroom clouds without endangering a crew.
Navy Bureau Numbers (BuNo), but were delivered to the Coast Guard designated as PB-1Gs beginning in July 1946.
An early model YB-17 also appeared in the 1938 film Test Pilot with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, and later with Clark Gable in Command Decision in 1948, in Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr.
Strategic Air Command (SAC), established in 1946, used reconnaissance B-17s (at first called F-9 [F for Fotorecon], later RB-17) until 1949. The USAF Air Rescue Service of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) operated B-17s as so-called "Dumbo" air-sea rescue aircraft.
The Coast Guard PB-1Gs served throughout the 1950s, the last example not being withdrawn from service until 14 October 1959. === Special operations === B-17s were used by the CIA front companies Civil Air Transport, Air America and Intermountain Aviation for special missions.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950. Donald, David, ed.
PB-1Ws continued in USN service until 1955, gradually being phased out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2 (known in the USAF as the EC-121, a designation adopted by the USN in 1962), a military version of the Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner. In July 1945, 16 B-17s were transferred to the Coast Guard via the Navy; these aircraft were initially assigned U.S.
Four B-17s were shot down in these operations. In 1957 the surviving B-17s had been stripped of all weapons and painted black.
The last operational mission flown by a USAF Fortress was conducted on 1959, when a DB-17P, serial 44-83684 , directed a QB-17G, out of Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, as a target for an AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missile fired from a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo.
The Coast Guard PB-1Gs served throughout the 1950s, the last example not being withdrawn from service until 14 October 1959. === Special operations === B-17s were used by the CIA front companies Civil Air Transport, Air America and Intermountain Aviation for special missions.
It was subsequently used in various films and in the 1960s television show 12 O'Clock High before being retired to the Planes of Fame aviation museum in Chino, California.
Dutton & Company, 1960.
PB-1Ws continued in USN service until 1955, gradually being phased out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2 (known in the USAF as the EC-121, a designation adopted by the USN in 1962), a military version of the Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner. In July 1945, 16 B-17s were transferred to the Coast Guard via the Navy; these aircraft were initially assigned U.S.
One of these Taiwan-based B-17s was flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines in mid-September, assigned for covert missions into Tibet. On 28 May 1962, N809Z, piloted by Connie Seigrist and Douglas Price, flew Major James Smith, USAF and Lieutenant Leonard A.
Footage from Twelve O' Clock High was also used, along with three restored B-17s, in the 1962 film The War Lover.
Canberra, Australia: Australian War Memorial, 1962.
London: Putnam, 1963.
In 1964, the latter film was made into a television show of the same name and ran for three years on ABC TV.
N809Z was used to perform a Skyhook pick up in the James Bond movie Thunderball in 1965.
Dallas, Texas: Morgan Aviation Books, 1965.
New York: Doubleday, 1965.
New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc., 1968.
An early model YB-17 also appeared in the 1938 film Test Pilot with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, and later with Clark Gable in Command Decision in 1948, in Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr.
Brooks (1917–2006), a B-17 pilot who was awarded numerous military decorations, and was ultimately promoted to the rank of major general and served in active duty until 1971. 1st Lt Eugene Emond (1921–1998): Lead pilot for Man O War II Horsepower Limited.
London, United Kingdom: After The Battle, Number 6, 1974. Roberts, Michael D.
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He died in Wichita Falls, Texas, on 4 February 2004. Murder Inc.
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archived version 19 October 2014. Chant, Christopher.
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It became famous when its exploits were featured in Air Force, one of the first of the patriotic war films released in 1943. Memphis Belle – one of the first B-17s to complete a tour of duty of 25 missions in the 8th Air Force and the subject of a feature film, now completely restored and on display since 17 May 2018 at the National Museum of the U.S.
In addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. As of October 2019, nine aircraft remain airworthy, though none of them were ever flown in combat.
Sandomierz, Poland: STRATUS sp.j., 2010 (second edition 2019).
New Jersey: First Mountain Belgians, 2020.
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