For many, the B-17 is the iconic bomber of the war, and the Flying Fortress"remains a symbol of American might. [38] The aircraft was delivered to the army on 31 January 1939. 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. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances[4][5] but from its inception, the USAAC (later, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon. The B-17's armament consisted of five .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns, with a payload up to 4,800 lb (2,200 kg) of bombs on two racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit. And of those 276,000 planes, 68,000 were lost. In 1957 the surviving B-17s had been stripped of all weapons and painted black. [165] The last operational mission flown by a USAF Fortress was conducted on 6 August 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. One of the most significant weapons of World War II would be ready, but only by a hair. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. Four B-17s were shot down in these operations.[171]. [221] Both films were made with the full cooperation of the United States Army Air Forces and used USAAF aircraft and (for Twelve O'Clock High) combat footage. 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. World War 2 . Borth 1945, pp. [16] On 20 August 1935, the prototype flew from Seattle to Wright Field in nine hours and three minutes with an average cruising speed of 252 miles per hour (406km/h), much faster than the competition. Tora! The B-17G was the final version of the Flying Fortress, incorporating all changes made to its predecessor, the B-17F,[57] and in total, 8,680 were built,[68] the last (by Lockheed) on 28 July 1945. The Name [73] A squadron of B-17s from this force detached to the Middle East to join the First Provisional Bombardment Group, thus becoming the first American B-17 squadron to go to war against the Germans. Almost all of the other bombers suffered some level of damage. [104], Such high losses of aircrews could not be sustained, and the USAAF, recognizing the vulnerability of heavy bombers to interceptors when operating alone, suspended daylight bomber raids deep into Germany until the development of an escort fighter that could protect the bombers all the way from the United Kingdom to Germany and back. The first Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid occurred during >World War II (1939-1945). Of the 291 attacking Fortresses, 60 were shot down over Germany, five crashed on approach to Britain, . [75], Three damaged B-17s, one "D" and two "E" series, were rebuilt during 1942 to flying status by Japanese technicians and mechanics, using parts salvaged from abandoned B-17 wrecks in the Philippines and the Java East Indies. The B-17F also carried light gray flash letters "RD" and "I" on either side of the fuselage's Swiss national insignia. Swiss aircraft attempted to intercept and force individual aircraft to land, interning their crews; one Swiss pilot was killed, shot down by a U.S. bomber crew in September 1944. Post accident interviews with Tower and Putt determined the control surface gust lock had not been released. His views were supported by Eighth Air Force statisticians, whose mission studies showed that the Flying Fortress's utility and survivability was much greater than those of the B-24 Liberator.
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