Boeing
B-17
Flying Fortress
Previous U.S. MILITARY Next

Photo: Robert Deering 1970
Greater Southwest Airport (GSW)
Fort Worth, Texas

Photo: Robert Deering 1981
Majors Field (GVT)
Greenville, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering 1971
 Greater Southwest Airport (GSW)
 Fort Worth, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering 1972
 Greater Southwest Airport (GSW)
 Fort Worth, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering 10/18/2012
National Museum of the USAF
Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO)
Dayton, Ohio
The Flying Fortress is one of the most famous airplanes ever built. The B-17 prototype first flew on July 28, 1935. Although few B-17s were in service on Dec. 7, 1941, production quickly accelerated after the U.S. entry into World War II. The aircraft served in every combat zone, but it is best known for the daylight strategic bombing of German industrial targets. Production ended in May 1945 and totaled 12,726.

In March 1944 this B-17G (of the Air Force Museum) was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group -- "The Ragged Irregulars" -- and based at Bassingbourn, England. There its crew named it Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby, after a popular song. It flew 24 combat missions in WWII, receiving flak damage seven times. Its first mission (Frankfurt, Germany) was on March 24, 1944, and last mission (Posen, Poland) on May 29, 1944, when engine problems forced a landing in neutral Sweden where the airplane and crew were interned.

In 1968 Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby was found abandoned in France, and the French government presented the airplane to the U.S. Air Force. In July 1978 the 512th Military Airlift Wing moved it to Dover Air Force Base, Del., for restoration by the volunteers of the 512th Antique Restoration Group. After a massive 10-year job of restoration to flying condition, the aircraft was flown to the museum in October 1988.
SPECIFICATIONS: PERFORMANCE:
Span:  103 ft. 10 in. Maximum speed:  300 mph
Length:  74 ft. 4 in. Cruising speed:  170 mph
Height:  19 ft. 1 in. Range:  1,850 miles
Empty Weight:  Service ceiling:  35,000 ft.
Gross Weight:  55,000 lbs. loaded  
Crew: 
Engines:  Four Wright Cyclone R-1820s of 1,200 hp each
Armament:  13 .50-cal. machine guns; normal bomb load of 6,000 lbs.
   
SOURCE:   National Museum of the United States Air Force  

Photo: Robert Deering 1972
Greater Southwest Airport (GSW)
Fort Worth, Texas
 
Photo: Robert Deering 10/28/2016
Dallas Executive Airport (RBD
Dallas, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering 10/26/2018
Dallas Executive Airport (RBD)
Dallas, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering 10/28/2016
Dallas Executive Airport (RBD)
Dallas, Texas		  

Photo: Robert Deering 1972
Greater Southwest Airport (GSW)
Fort Worth, Texas