Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Shady Lady"
In 1934, the US Army Air Corps issued a requirement for a four-engined bomber capable of bombing from altitudes of 10,000 feet, with a range of 2000 miles (capable of reaching bases in Alaska and Hawaii), and a top speed of 250 mph. Douglas, Martin and Boeing all submitted prototypes; Boeing’s Model 299 combined features of the failed XB-15 bomber with the successful Model 247 airliner. Because it carried five machine guns, including two in a nose turret, Boeing dubbed it the Flying Fortress. The prototype crashed during the competition and Douglas’s B-18 Bolo twin-engined bomber won, based on its cheaper price and operating costs.
However, as the Model 299 had outperformed the competition and the USAAC saw a need for heavy bombers, even if the US Congress did not, a loophole in procurement laws allowed the USAAC to order 13 Y1B-17s (later B-17A). The Y1B-17s range and bombload proved the heavy bomber concept, and as funding was loosened for the USAAC, more B-17s were to be procured, though not in significant numbers until the B-17D.
Even that was only seen as an interim type: after researching the experience of British and German bombers over Europe, the B-17E featured a near complete redesign of the aircraft, with a ten-foot extension of the fuselage, much larger tail, and a tail turret; defensive armament had risen from five .30 caliber machine guns to ten .50 caliber machine guns (sometimes more), and one nose turret was now replaced by tail, dorsal, and belly turrets. The B-17E was the first large-scale production type, and was already in service by the time the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
While the B-17 would see notable service over the Pacific, it was over Europe that the “Fort” would achieve immortality. B-17Es and B-17Fs were deployed to North Africa and England and began striking targets in occupied Europe in August 1942, gradually working up to significant numbers with the 8th Air Force and attacking Germany itself by April 1943. As part of the Combined Bomber Offensive, RAF heavy bombers would strike Germany by night while US B-17s and B-24s would attack by day, though the RAF warned the 8th Air Force that daylight attacks were suicidal; the 8th’s commander, Ira Eaker, replied—correctly—that the RAF had misused their B-17s in small formations.
Losses were enough that Eaker had adopted the “combat box” formation to maximize the B-17’s firepower, and “maximum effort” strikes of over 300 B-17s began to penetrate deeper into Germany by October 1943. However, the RAF had been proven partially correct: the Allies lacked long-range fighters capable of escorting the bombers to their targets, with the result that the B-17s were on their own after they reached the German border. Raids on Schweinfurt and Regensburg resulted in the loss of 176 B-17s, a rate that was unsustainable. Losses might have been still higher had it not been for the B-17’s legendary toughness: aircraft came home on one engine, missing half the tail, and with wrecked noses; one B-17 even survived a midair collision with a German fighter and landed in North Africa with a gigantic rent through the entire fuselage. 17 Medals of Honor were awarded to B-17 crewmen, the most of any single type in World War II.
Luftwaffe fighter pilots had discovered that the best way to attack the B-17 was from the front, leading to the definitive B-17G variant, which added a chin turret, uprated engines, and staggered waist gun positions. Even with these improvements, it would not be until early 1944 that the B-17s returned to long-range bombing missions, and then with improved P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustang escorts. Loss rates continued to be high until summer 1944, when the Luftwaffe finally had taken too many casualties to adequately oppose the bombers, at which time loss rates declined. Despite its losses, the easy flying characteristics of the B-17, its resiliency, and its numbers made the B-17 the backbone of the USAAF’s bombers over Europe, with over half the bomber groups in theater using the Flying Fortress. Over 12,000 were produced before production ended in 1945.
After the end of World War II, the B-17 force was rapidly drawn down, with only relatively few remaining in the new USAF—mainly as SB-17G rescue aircraft and DB-17G drones. The latter flew the last B-17 mission in USAF service, in 1959. Other nations used them into the 1960s, mainly as patrol and rescue aircraft, and as those were retired, they were converted to transports or fire bombers. By the 1980s, even those had reached the end of their service lives. Luckily, about 50 B-17s have survived to the present, a dozen still in flying condition.
This B-17G was delivered to the USAAF in 1944, and was one of the last B-17s used operationally; seconded to the CIA, it was used to recover agents from Southeast Asia using the "Skyhook" technique until 1969. It appeared at the end of the James Bond movie "Thunderball" demonstrating this technique.
Sold off, it was then converted to a firefighting aircraft until 1985, when it was bought by Evergreen International. Completely restored to wartime configuration, it is displayed as 44-83785 "Shady Lady," a B-17G of the 447th Bomb Group based at RAF Rattlesden. The 447th had the dubious distinction of posting some of the highest loss rates of the war. The square K carried on the tail indicates a 447th aircraft, though the red bands on the tail and wings were used by a different group, the 96th Bomb Group. When I saw "Shady Lady" in 2014, it was on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum, but it has since been sold to the Collings Foundation in Stowe, Connecticut.
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Shady Lady"
In 1934, the US Army Air Corps issued a requirement for a four-engined bomber capable of bombing from altitudes of 10,000 feet, with a range of 2000 miles (capable of reaching bases in Alaska and Hawaii), and a top speed of 250 mph. Douglas, Martin and Boeing all submitted prototypes; Boeing’s Model 299 combined features of the failed XB-15 bomber with the successful Model 247 airliner. Because it carried five machine guns, including two in a nose turret, Boeing dubbed it the Flying Fortress. The prototype crashed during the competition and Douglas’s B-18 Bolo twin-engined bomber won, based on its cheaper price and operating costs.
However, as the Model 299 had outperformed the competition and the USAAC saw a need for heavy bombers, even if the US Congress did not, a loophole in procurement laws allowed the USAAC to order 13 Y1B-17s (later B-17A). The Y1B-17s range and bombload proved the heavy bomber concept, and as funding was loosened for the USAAC, more B-17s were to be procured, though not in significant numbers until the B-17D.
Even that was only seen as an interim type: after researching the experience of British and German bombers over Europe, the B-17E featured a near complete redesign of the aircraft, with a ten-foot extension of the fuselage, much larger tail, and a tail turret; defensive armament had risen from five .30 caliber machine guns to ten .50 caliber machine guns (sometimes more), and one nose turret was now replaced by tail, dorsal, and belly turrets. The B-17E was the first large-scale production type, and was already in service by the time the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
While the B-17 would see notable service over the Pacific, it was over Europe that the “Fort” would achieve immortality. B-17Es and B-17Fs were deployed to North Africa and England and began striking targets in occupied Europe in August 1942, gradually working up to significant numbers with the 8th Air Force and attacking Germany itself by April 1943. As part of the Combined Bomber Offensive, RAF heavy bombers would strike Germany by night while US B-17s and B-24s would attack by day, though the RAF warned the 8th Air Force that daylight attacks were suicidal; the 8th’s commander, Ira Eaker, replied—correctly—that the RAF had misused their B-17s in small formations.
Losses were enough that Eaker had adopted the “combat box” formation to maximize the B-17’s firepower, and “maximum effort” strikes of over 300 B-17s began to penetrate deeper into Germany by October 1943. However, the RAF had been proven partially correct: the Allies lacked long-range fighters capable of escorting the bombers to their targets, with the result that the B-17s were on their own after they reached the German border. Raids on Schweinfurt and Regensburg resulted in the loss of 176 B-17s, a rate that was unsustainable. Losses might have been still higher had it not been for the B-17’s legendary toughness: aircraft came home on one engine, missing half the tail, and with wrecked noses; one B-17 even survived a midair collision with a German fighter and landed in North Africa with a gigantic rent through the entire fuselage. 17 Medals of Honor were awarded to B-17 crewmen, the most of any single type in World War II.
Luftwaffe fighter pilots had discovered that the best way to attack the B-17 was from the front, leading to the definitive B-17G variant, which added a chin turret, uprated engines, and staggered waist gun positions. Even with these improvements, it would not be until early 1944 that the B-17s returned to long-range bombing missions, and then with improved P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustang escorts. Loss rates continued to be high until summer 1944, when the Luftwaffe finally had taken too many casualties to adequately oppose the bombers, at which time loss rates declined. Despite its losses, the easy flying characteristics of the B-17, its resiliency, and its numbers made the B-17 the backbone of the USAAF’s bombers over Europe, with over half the bomber groups in theater using the Flying Fortress. Over 12,000 were produced before production ended in 1945.
After the end of World War II, the B-17 force was rapidly drawn down, with only relatively few remaining in the new USAF—mainly as SB-17G rescue aircraft and DB-17G drones. The latter flew the last B-17 mission in USAF service, in 1959. Other nations used them into the 1960s, mainly as patrol and rescue aircraft, and as those were retired, they were converted to transports or fire bombers. By the 1980s, even those had reached the end of their service lives. Luckily, about 50 B-17s have survived to the present, a dozen still in flying condition.
This B-17G was delivered to the USAAF in 1944, and was one of the last B-17s used operationally; seconded to the CIA, it was used to recover agents from Southeast Asia using the "Skyhook" technique until 1969. It appeared at the end of the James Bond movie "Thunderball" demonstrating this technique.
Sold off, it was then converted to a firefighting aircraft until 1985, when it was bought by Evergreen International. Completely restored to wartime configuration, it is displayed as 44-83785 "Shady Lady," a B-17G of the 447th Bomb Group based at RAF Rattlesden. The 447th had the dubious distinction of posting some of the highest loss rates of the war. The square K carried on the tail indicates a 447th aircraft, though the red bands on the tail and wings were used by a different group, the 96th Bomb Group. When I saw "Shady Lady" in 2014, it was on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum, but it has since been sold to the Collings Foundation in Stowe, Connecticut.