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Posted on 08/20/2005 10:09:25 PM PDT by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 The Boeing Model 299 first took flight July 28, 1935 from Boeing Field in Seattle with Boeing test pilot Les Towers at the controls. The 299 was designed in response to an Army Air Corps request for a new multi-engine bomber.  The name “Flying Fortress” was coined by a Seattle Times reporter Richard Williams. who was impressed with the machine gun layout at the rollout of the Model 299. Boeing recognized the PR value of the term and had it copyrighted in respect to the B-17.  The prototype crashed during the Army Air Corp evaluation testing when Army pilot Ployer Hill attempted to take off with the tail control surfaces locked. The crash killed all on board including Les Tower.  The Army was impressed enough with the Flying Fortress that they took advantage of a loophole that allowed them to buy a small number of the second place aircraft for further testing. 13 YB-17s were ordered.  The B-17 went through eight major revisions in it’s carrer ending in the B-17G which is considered the definitive version. Over 12,700 B-17s were produced by a consortium of manufacturers including Boeing, Douglas and Vega. Besides it’s use as a bomber the B-17 also filled the role as maritime patrol aircraft, electronic countermeasures aircraft and search and rescue patrol craft.  What follows will be a short walk around and in tour of a B-17. Most of these pictures are of the Collings Foundation B-17 “Nine o’ Nine” A big lift of the alfa6 lid to the fine folks who posted these pictures in the alt.binaries,aviation newsgroup over the last few years.
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A final word for the night. Out of almost 13,000 B-17s produced there are only about 14 left flying in the United States. There are several still flying over seas as well.
The B-17 might not have had the range or bomb load of the B-24 Liberator or the Avro Lancaster but it was an easy aircraft to fly and built like the provebial Mack Truck. The Fortress crews knew that the B-17 would bring them back and many planes that should not have been flying did just that.
Sounds like an idea for another thread some day :-)
This looks great alfa6, I promise to take a closer look at SAM's favorite plane in the morning. Off to bed now, thanks again for the day off. :-)
Note to all, didn't see a particular pic let me know and If I have it I will post it later on Sunday.
example here's one that I forgot about...long story
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
It was on one hand an outstandingly ugly plane for the day, and on the other hand a strangely pretty aircraft for what it was designed to do.
The Cockpit windscreens rising at an angle off the nose as they do is distinctive, and strangely beautiful.
The original vertical stab was a horror of design in that it looked like a vertical duck bill rather than part of an aircraft.
Do you want to know how to fly a B-17
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/B17.html
Even though I know the B-24 carried more of a load, had a longer range, and outperformed the B-17 in many aspects, I've always just found the Flying Fortress to be a beautiful airplane. The Liberator just looked so utilitarian, but the B-17 looks so graceful. I can't even define why.
Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.
Good morning Snippy, Sam and ALL.
His life story was pretty interesting--immigrated to America, returned to Italy on a visit and put into the Italian Army under Mussolini as he had been drafted in his absence, and then finally getting back to America where he was drafted again and ended up in the Army Air Corps.
That assurance, however, is often accompanied by another emotion— curiosity. What will the next world really be like? Even the inspired descriptions of the celestial dwelling that we have in the Bible's last book are inadequate to convey what awaits us. Yet they do intensify our desire to leave this dark earthly existence and to enter that heavenly reality. We read about "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God," "the tree of life," and "no more curse" (Revelation 22:1-3). What are your own reactions as you think about the life beyond this life? Perhaps you are not especially curious. But are you blessed with the certainty of heaven, which you can have by faith in Jesus? Think of the words He spoke at the grave of Lazarus: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25). Is that promise the foundation of your certainty? You can make it so by believing in Jesus. —Vernon Grounds
Recognize our sinfulness (Romans 6:23). Believe Jesus died for us (Acts 16:31). Receive Him as Savior (John 1:12). Trust His promise (John 20:31). What you do with Jesus now determines what He will do with you later.
Safe & Secure Where Do We Go From Here? |
The B17 is one of my favorite aircraft, and I have a lot of respect for the men who flew these fortresses into battle. Praise God we had men of this caliber and fortitude to accomplish the mission.
Incredibly, the B17 was able to withstand enormous damage and still carry its crew back home. Yet, there were tremendous losses in both men and machines.
Thank you God!
The Colonial Warrior
1st Lt. Lawrence DeLancey managed to get his B-17 back to England after a direct hit by flak killed two of his crew over Cologne, Germany.
A ground launched rocket missile caused this damage to 388BG's "Panhandle" during an attack on a V-weapon site, June 15, 1944. The missile struck number 3 engine, ricocheted into the fuselage and exploded, leaving Sgt Biggs, the top turret gunner, with nasty burns. Despite extensive damage to various control lines Lt McFarlane brought the bomber down safely at Manston.
The B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) flown by Lieutenant Kenneth R. Bragg, its tail section almost severed by a collision with an enemy fighter, flew 90 minutes back to its home base, landed safely and broke in two after landing.
"Hang the Expense Again III" was seen heavily damaged, going down over France. The pilot, however, was able to bring it out of a dive and struggled back to his home field. The blast damage blew the tail gunner out of the aircraft but he survived the incident.
April 13th 1944. Crossing the Channel coast, lone survivor of the 545th BS, B-17G Squawkin' Chicken, flown by Lt. Dewayne Bennett galantly fights back a last attempt by Luftwaffe fighters to down her after the raid on Schweinfurt.
Thanks for the tour, alfa6. :-) IMHO, the greatest plane ever built.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 21:
1165 Philip II Augustus 1st great Capetian king of France (1179-1223)
1660 Hubert Gautier engineer, wrote 1st book on bridge building
1765 William IV king of England (1830-37)
1789 Augustin-Louis Baron Cauchy, French mathematician
1890 Bill Henry SF Calif, newscaster (Who Said That?)
1896 Roark Bradford writer/humorist (Ol' Man Adan an' His Chillun)
1906 William "Count" Basie jazz pianist
1906 Friz Freleng animator (Bugs Bunny-Emmy 1982)
1907 Dr Roy K Marshall Glen Carbon Ill, TV scientist (Nature of Things)
1909 C Dillon Douglas Geneva Switz, US Secretary of Treasury (1961-65)
1915 Jack Weston [Morris Weinstein], Cleveland, actor (4 Seasons, Rad)
1921 Nancy Kulp Harrisburg Pa, actress (Jane-Beverly Hillbillies)
1923 Chris Schenkel Biuppus Ind, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights)
1928 Gillian Sheen England, foils (Olympic-gold-1956)
1930 Princess Margaret England (Sister of Queen Elizabeth)
1933 Dame Janet Baker York England, mezzo-soprano (Owen Wingrave)
1936 Mart Crowley playwright (Boys in the Band)
1936 Wilt Chamberlain NBA great center (LA Laker, 5 time MVP)
1938 Kenny Rogers singer (Lady) actor (The Gambler)
1939 Clarence Williams III NYC, actor (Mod Squad, 52 Pick Up, Purple Rain)
1944 Jackie DeShannon Hazel Kentucky, singer (What the World Needs Now)
1946 Lev Alburt USSR, International Chess Master (1976)
1951 Bernhard Germeshausen German DR, bobsled (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
1951 Harry Smith Indiana, TV host (CBS Morning Show)
1953 Joe Strummer [John Mellor], rocker (Clash-Rock the Casbah)
1956 Kim Cattrall Liverpool England, actress (Mannequin, Star Trek VI)
1957 Janice Thomas WBL guard (NY Stars)
1957 Kim Sledge Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1959 Jim McMahon NFL QB (Chicago Bears, SD Chargers, Phila Eagles)
1962 Matthew Broderick actor (Ferris Buehler, Biloxi Blues)
1967 Michael Bendetti actor (Officer Tony McCann-21 Jump Street)
A B-17D in the Philipines. Looks like P-35s in the right background. 
This was suppose to be the lead pic on the inside pics but as I said a long story.
regards
alfa6 ;>}
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As I approached my 90th birthday, two emotions surged through my heart. One was certainty, the positive assurance of life to come. And why not? Jesus said, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19).