B-17 "Flying Fortress" - Lackland AFB - San Antonio, Texas
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 29° 23.383 W 098° 37.145
14R E 536961 N 3251224
World War II era bomber on display adjacent to the main parade field at Lackland Air Force.
Waymark Code: WM3CC2
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2008
Views: 136
B-17
"Flying Fortress"
The B-17 was designed by the Boeing Aircraft Company, as the
result of winning an official design competition for a multi-engine bomber.
Model 299, built as a high-altitude precision bomber, according to Wright Field
specifications, was assembled at Boeing Field, July 1935. Boeing's Les R.
Tower test-piloted the aircraft on it preliminary trials 28 July 1935.
This prototype of the B-17 was inadvertently destroyed on 30 October 1935,
during a take off mishap. The Army, impressed with its flight tests,
ordered 14 Y1B-17's with a few minor modifications, the Y1B-17, SN36-149 (Model
299B) made its first flight 2 December 1936. Between January and August
1937, 12 aircraft were delivered to the 2d Bombardment Group, Langley Field,
Va., for service testing under the command of Lt. Col. Robert D. Olds at the
time of Pearl Harbor (1941, 60 B-17E's were being built per month. General
H.H. "Hap" Arnold described the B-17 as the "Backbone of our world-wide aerial
offensive." During World War II, the B17 dropped a total of 340,036 tons
of bombs on European targets. Their combined flying power, when flying in
formation, averaged 23 kills on European aircraft per thousand-plane raid as
compared with 11 per thousand-plane raid by B-24's and U.S. fighters. The
Flying Fortress "Alexander the Swoose" (B-17D) averaged 150 combat hours a
month; a wartime record. A total of 4,750 Flying Fortresses were lost on
combat missions. Production totaled 12,731; 6,981 by Boeing, 3,000
by Douglas and 2,750 by Lockheed.
This B-17G represents "Heavens Above" of the 561st Squadron,
388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, European Theater. The Group's
first combat mission was 17 July 1943, Amsterdam, Netherlands; last combat
mission 21 April 1945. "Heavens Above" flew 128 combat missions. It
returned to the United States (Bradley Field, Connecticut) 30 June 1945.
| Manufacturer: Douglas (Licensed by Boeing) |
Quantity Produced (All Models): 12,731 |
| Wing Span: 103' 9" |
Speed: 302 mph |
| Length: 74' 9" |
Range: 2,250 miles |
| Height: 19' 1" |
Altitude: 38,000 feet |
| Empty Weight: 36,138 lbs |
Power Plant: R-1820-97 Wright-Cyclone Engine, 1,200 hp |
| Gross Weight: 55,000 lbs |
|
Information from sign in front of aircraft.