Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress' | Planes of Fame Air Museum

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Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress'

HISTORY

The B-17 was designed in response to a need for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The prototype, designated 'Model 299', first flew on July 28, 1935. The first service-test aircraft was delivered in January 1937. The first production B-17Bs entered service in mid 1939. Twenty B-17Cs were delivered to the Royal Air Force for use over Europe. The B-17Ds bore the brunt of the early fighting in the Pacific. The aircraft was continually improved and ultimately evolved into the B-17G with its distinctive chin turret.
Although it served in all theaters of WW II, it is best known for its role in daylight bombing over Europe. A total of 12,731 B-17s were built, of which 8,680 were G models.

DISTINCTION

The Museum’s B-17, built by Douglas Aircraft and delivered May 7, 1945, arrived too late for World War II, and went into storage in Texas. In March 1950, it was converted into a Drone Director Aircraft (DB-17G) to serve as airborne control of radio-operated B-17 target aircraft (QB-17s). It performed these duties during Operation Greenhouse, the 1951 nuclear bomb tests on Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands), and later at stateside missile ranges. On August 6, 1959, it controlled a QB-17 in the last operational mission of a B-17 for the U.S. Air Force. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, it was acquired by the Museum and has appeared in the movies The Thousand Plane Raid, Fort Apache, and Black Sheep Squadron and the ABC television series, Twelve O’Clock High as 'Piccadilly Lilly'. It is under restoration to fly.

SPECIFICATIONS

Status: Restoring to Flight

Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft Company

Year: 1945

Model: B-17G-90-DL Flying Fortress

Registration Number: N3713G

Serial Number: 44-83684

Crew: 10

Max T/O Weight: 65,500 lb.

Span: 103 ft. 9 in.

Length: 74 ft. 4 in.

Height: 19 ft. 1 in.