It was a commercially owned B-17 they hired to do the aerial filming from which they intended to overlay the model of the B-17.
While shooting aerial footage over Greenland, the second unit camera crew accidentally filmed a secret US military base. Their plane was forced down, and the crew was suspected of being Soviet spies!
Heh, back in 1963, they still had some B-17s flying around doing actual work of various kinds, and that was one of them!
It’s the same B17 used in a bond flick.Dr no?
The Bird ended up being owned by evergreen and later sold to Collins foundation IIRC