There was a time in the post-war period when the Navy was desperateto get its hands on B-17s…any B-17s anywhere…making it desperate enough to come to Altus, Oklahoma, to look at some scrapyard B-17s owned by a war surplus dealer intent on scrapping junked warplanes. This little known story is but-another asterisk in the long and varied history of the fabled Flying Fortress.

A Bit of Background on the Navy’s B-17

The background of the story is the Navy adopting the B-17 to become its Early Warning proof-of-concept platform. The Navy PB-1W, as it developed, was equipped with a long-range APS-20 radar and four Combat Information Center (CIC) consoles, all intended to provide land-based, long-range airborne command and control for Navy fleet operations. The impetus for this development was partly the increasing Japanese kamikaze attacks on the Pacific fleet as it closed in on the home islands in 1945. With the Pacific war expected to continue well into 1946 and possibly into 1947, there was priority given to get the PB-1W into service. Toward that end, a total of twenty B-17s were earmarked for the Navy in July1945, this batch drawn from the end of the Douglas production underway at Long Beach. A prototype PB-1W was actually, though, a Lockheed-built bird, s/n 44-85683 transferred to the Navy in June 1945 to work out the external modifications. So, to make a long story short (the long story is available in the book B-17 in Blue), the PB-1W program moved forward with initial deliveries to VPB-101 at Floyd Bennet Field (New York) in February 1946.

The PB-1W soon enough equipped squadrons on both the east and west coast to support the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. Though the war ended six months earlier, the Navy saw the potential of radar-equipped early warning aircraft but was not quite sure what to do with them. The first few months of service for the PB-1W were tentative, but skeptical admirals, commanders and captains quickly became convinced of the value of the PB-1W to fleet operations by active exercises that worked out tactics and coordination. So utilized was the small fleet of PB-1Ws on both coasts that overhaul and aircraft availability requirements quickly loomed. Twenty PB-1Ws, it was realized, were not enough for expanding requirements. The Navy put out feelers to the Army about getting into the B-17 spare parts pipeline and procuring additional B-17s from the Army inventory. On October 31, 1947, the Chief of Naval Operations made an official request to the (new) U.S. Air Force for thirty more B-17s to be transferred as soon as possible. The Air Force came back to say that it might be able to help, but none would be available for transfer until April 1948 at the earliest. These B-17s were to be drawn from USAF storage, most likely Pyote AFB in Texas. The Navy prodded some more because it needed parts and airframes quicker than that. But, evidently, to no avail.

The PB-1W in its final operational configuration. This is BuNo 77237, believed to be photographed at NAS Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, in 1952. Note the armament has been removed…but in theory the turrets and guns could go back in if needed. At this time, the aircraft was attached to VX-4. (H.G. Martin photo)

Can’t Get No B-17s? Then Put ‘Em Back Into Production

In an undated memo draft from the same period, two options were proposed to get more B-17 airframes. The draft memo was prepared for the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Admiral Alfred M. Pride. In summary, here were the options:

• Approach the Air Force again for spares in view of the changed situation
• “Put the airplane manufacturer back into production-a most costly process.”

In a bit of an understatement, the draft memo’s author recommended the former course before being forced to take the latter. It seems incredible that the Navy evidently was so desperate for B-17 airframes and parts that there was consideration given to putting Douglas, Boeing, or Lockheed back to work building B-17s. Obviously, that was not going to be a viable solution. It is not known if the memo was ever approved and forwarded.

War Surplus B-17s Available at Altus, Oklahoma

And that’s when the Navy started looking at the B-17s parked at Altus, Oklahoma. It had already enjoyed a bit of success in that direction, as in June 1947, the Navy obtained six B-17s from the War Assets Administration that were stored at Altus. They were put in ferriable condition, flown from Altus to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and subsequently scrapped for parts for the Navy PB-1Ws.

But by November 1947, there were still B-17s at Altus that gleamed in the sun, luring the Navy’s attention again. These B-17s were a part of a larger group of almost all new airframes transferred from the production line directly to the storage yard, and then to to Altus as surplus in October 1945. The War Assets Administration then sold these aircraft and many other types in lots to scrap dealers. By October 1947, all that was left at Altus of the available B-17s were 55 owned by the Esperado Mining Co. , a subsidiary of the larger Texas Railway Equipment Corp.

Navy Inventories the Altus B-17s in November 1947

A light bulb went off in some admiral’s head and a team was sent to inspect the Esperado B-17s in late November 1947. They did a plane-by-plane inventory by serial number of each of the B-17s, logging condition and equipment. A look at that inventory list shows all of the aircraft were late Douglas and Vega production, none had seen AAF service, and most had about 30 hours of airframe time, the lowest being 23 hours and the highest 49 hours. The typical stored B-17s had its instrument panel missing, broken glass, fabric control surfaces damaged, some skin damage, and sometimes and engine or two missing. The inspection report expected that about 25% of the engines probably would need to be replaced due to hydraulic and vapor locks.

The Navy concluded that 40 of the B-17s were in “very good condition” (?) and could be made flyable. The report also notes, interestingly, that the same company also owned a number of B-17s in similar condition were available at Kingman, Arizona, except these had more flight time. The stated owner at this point was the Texas Railway Equipment Co., a behind-the-scenes owner of Esperado. The Martin Wunderlich Co. owned the Kingman airplanes, but these scrapping companies all worked closely together….closely enough that U.S. Congress eventually held an investigation of the whole airplane scrapping business.

“Have We Got A Deal For You”

On December 4, 1947, Mr. George Darneille of the Esperado Mining Co. submitted a proposal to the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics to supply 50 B-17s delivered to any east coast Navy facility. In case the Navy preferred aircraft at Kingman, up to 15 B-17s could be provided by the Wunderlich company. The established price for each B-17G, delivered in good flyable condition, was to be $9,350 for aircraft at Altus and $9,850 for aircraft at Kingman (evidently it was $500 further away). (See also the end of this posting.)

The Bureau of Aeronautics, moving fast on this one, submitted a request to the Navy Department through the CNO to procure 50 B-17Gs for an approximate cost of $472,500. Justification: “This procurement if required for the expansion and support of the Airborne Early Warning Program” as directed.

But, alas, on January 9, 1948, the Navy Department said, “No, but thanks anyway.” Well, it didn’t really say that, but the effect was the same. The reason for the negative reply was “in lieu of this procurement the Chief of Naval Operations is negotiating with the Air Force for the transfer of approximately 20 B-17s to augment the Navy’s AEW program.” The Navy Department added that the fleet requirements for the PB-1W were now planned to be 24 aircraft through fiscal year 1952.

So the prospect of the Navy buying war surplus Army B-17s from airplane scrappers never materialized. The guys at Esperado just shrugged and moved on. And, those 50 B-17s at Altus just sat in the sun of Oklahoma for a few more months before they met the scrapping blade.

Postscript

It got worse for the Navy before it got better. Later in 1948, expanded requirements identified the need for a PB-1W inventory of 36 aircraft. The Navy cast about but came up lacking both for new airframes and, more urgently at that time, a good stock of spare parts for what it already had. The Air Force was not releasing any B-17s and were holding close its stock of spare parts. The Navy had existed on spare parts supplied by the aircraft scrappers, buying back parts that the government had declared surplus. But by early 1949, that supply was drying up. In mid-1948, the Coast Guard retired four of its PB-1G air-sea rescue aircraft and the Navy swooped in and grabbed them, had them delivered to NAS Weeksville, NC, disassembled them, and then barged them to NAAF Mustin Field (PA) where they were scrapped for parts.

Two USAF B-17Gs that had been configured similar to PB-1Ws to develop Early Warning Capability for itself were snapped up by the Navy when the USAF was done with them. And, then, finally, in October 1949 the USAF agreed to supply 30 B-17Gs to the Navy. These turned out to be well-used B-17s, mostly withdrawn-from-USAF service RB-17Gs, In the end, only 29 of these aircraft were received. They were flown from USAF depots to NAS Norfolk not for conversion to new PB-1Ws, but for scrapping to support that still meager but viable PB-1W fleet. Evidently due to the shortage of airplanes, the PB-1W never went into the wider service that the Navy desired. In 1956, the PB-1W was finally withdrawn from service and mostly sent to NAF Litchfield Park, Arizona, for storage and, in most cases, eventual sale to the civil market.

The PB-1W proved to be the stopgap airplane for a combat enhancement by the employment of long-range airborne radar…that of Airborne Early Warning and to provide airborne command and control of naval, ground, and air forces. It also pioneered Hurricane Hunting with its radar capability. The next generation of long-range AEW was provided to the Navy by the capable Lockheed Constellation, in the form of the WV-2 (later EC-121). The Air Force mastered the field with RC-121 Constellations of its own, that led down to the modern capability enjoyed these days in combat zones with airborne control.

Postscript Postscript

It is noted that there were numerous squadrons, primarily VX-4, VW-1 and VW-2, that operated the PB-1W. Its crews were, by all accounts dedicated to the airplane and the mission through to the end. Despite its foundational role in AEW and the squadrons and the fleet support, the official Navy has little recognition of using the old Army B-17 in its inventory. The sorta authoritative United States Naval Aviation, 1910-1980 does not mention the type at all. Perhaps corrected in a later edition, but probably not.

And Now, a 15-Second Commercial

I would be remiss in not mentioning that all of the above, and a whole bunch more, is contained in B-17 in Blue, an eBook offered at Aero Vintage books. For just $10, or 1.6 gallons of California gas, you can have 120 pages of words and photos covering the Navy and Coast Guard B-17s, with individual aircraft histories and more. Twelve appendices cover such things as paint and markings, serial numbers, and other stuff that make modelers and those wanting to get into the nitty gritty of such things happy. Be happy.

For the Nitty-Grittys Out There

I have to include a copy of the proposal by George Darneille of the Esperado Mining Company because there is so much good information for those sadly obsessed individuals really into this subject (like me).