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1997-2001 B-17 NEWS

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1997-2001 B-17 News

October 2001

• An October 9, 2001, report carried on the FlyPast discussion forum tells of a B-17 located on the Mediterranean seabed and a British team of divers that may recover American airmen entombed in the airplane. This B-17 was reportedly shot down in February 1944 by a group of German fighters. Three crewmen were killed during the attack. After the airplane was ditched, the surviving crew was able to escape from the bomber but their three comrades had to be left behind. The B-17 wreckage had been earlier designated as a war grave but already parts have been stripped from the airplane. Now the U.S. Army is intent on recovering the remains of the crewmen before the site is disturbed further. The wreckage is located near Corsica.

• On September 17, 2001, the National Warplane Museum at the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport in New York announced that it was suspending operations indefinitely. The group operates B-17G Fuddy Duddy 44-83563 (N9563Z). Citing that the museum as posted a $200,000 operating loss for the past three years, an outstanding debt of about $3.5 million, and a significant decrease in revenue this year, partially caused by the events of September 11, the museum announced that all but two employees were laid off and the museum was closing its doors. Prospects for the museum collection, the B-17, and the fate of the museum are unknown. (Thanks to John Gates for the report.)

• The B-17 Co-op, the cooperative group of B-17 owners and operators, is holding its annual meeting on November 2, 3, and 4 at the Palm Springs Air Museum in Southern California. The museum is home to B-17G Miss Angela 44-85778 (N3509G). One of the items to be discussed is another wing spar Airworthiness Directive possibly forthcoming from the FAA, a major issue for the operators of airworthy B-17s.

June 2001

• It has been announced that arrangements are finalized to restore to airworthy status B-17G 44-83684 Piccadilly Lilly II. The May/June 2001 issue of the B-17 Combat Crewmen and Wingmen newsletter has a notice about the restoration project, stating that Air Museum (Planes of Fame) president Steve Hinton has signed a contract on behalf of the museum to raise funds. The Piccadilly Lilly is best known for its starring role in the TV series Twelve O'Clock High filmed at Chino, California, between 1964 and 1966. The B-17G, then operated as N3713G, has been grounded since the mid-1970s. The airplane was actually owned by the USAF until last year, being on loan to the Air Museum. However, the museum officially gained title to the airplane and now is able to restore and operate the B-17. Efforts to raise funds will be coordinated through many groups, with the hope the airplane can be flying again before 2003. The restoration process will be filmed and later aired on TV or in the theaters. For more information contact Jonathan Terry, ETHIC Productions, 550 N. Orlando Ave, #101, Los Angeles, CA 90048 or e-mail at Jvterry@aol.com. More to follow.

• Two items of interest from contributor Bud Lohl: There may be a B-17 underwater in the Albermarle Sound in North Carolina. He heard rumors of its existence from some who reportedly saw it while flying over the area. Also, he recalls an individual who claimed to have a disassembled B-17 somewhere in California. This individual said "his friend's dad bought it from war surplus, flew it to his crop duster strip and disassembled it and stacked it in the hangar." This individual said that he and his friend played in it as kids and obtained the airplane when his friend's family was going to scrap it. No other information is known but, who knows? Airplanes have turned up in stranger ways.

April 2001

• As noted above, the EAA's B-17G, 44-85740 (N5017N) is on tour through the west between March and July.

• One items of interest came to light recently. As detailed in Final Cut, one of the first B-17s to be sent to an educational institution by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation after World War II was B-17F 41-24487, which carried the name Eager Beaver in service with the Eighth Air Force during the war. This surplus B-17 was sent to a Williamsport, Pennsylvania, college in 1946 for use in an aeronautical program. The airplane was transferred for $350, though title remained with the government. The fate of this airplane, one of hundreds sent to educational institutions, has always been a bit of a mystery.

  Well, Jerry Boyd passed along a newspaper clipping from the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Patriot-News from December 1999 that details how the nose section of this B-17F survives and now displayed at the Eighth Air Force Museum at Savannah, Georgia. The article explains how the airplane flew twenty missions, was the first B-17 to bomb Germany, and that the airplane flew more combat missions than any other B-17 in the European theater. (The last two items are dubious claims at best, but journalism is journalism.) The article attributes the wartime pilot of the airplane as Colonel Marlen E. Reber, originally of Lykens, Pennsylvania. The article also authoritatively states that this airplane was used in the filming of Twelve O'Clock High in 1948, a completely fabricated "fact" with no basis in reality.

  However, errors aside, the nose section of this airplane, complete with presumably original nose art and bomb markings, had been displayed at the college aviation facility between 1952 and 1999. The rest of the airplane was reportedly scrapped in 1952. The pilot's son, Steven Reber, was instrumental in connecting his father with the remnant of his airplane, and making the arrangements to get the nose section into the museum collection.

  There is a photo of this airplane in storage at Altus Field, Oklahoma, on page 35 of the revised edition of Final Cut. Does anyone know if this nose section is now displayed at the museum in Savannah?

• A report from Bill Schirmer that a crash site containing the remains of B-17F 42-5367 lies in the Blue Mountains southeast of Walla Walla, Washington. He notes that he has a copy of the crash report that states this B-17 crashed on February 11, 1943 while operating out of the big bomber training base at Walla Walla. Though he has not visited the site personally, he says that those that have say there is little left of the aircraft.

  Roger Freeman's The B-17 Flying Fortress Story, which contains individual histories of each B-17 built, largely based on aircraft record cards, shows this B-17F as being assigned to the 88th Bomb Group at Walla Walla and written off on February 3, 1943.

February 2001

• Colorado B-17 Crash Site #1: The Daily Sentinel, a Grand Junction, Colorado, newspaper edition dated October 26, 2000, has an article about Mark Anderson and his 'wreckchasing' activities. Of particular interest is the article's mention of a B-17 that crashed twenty-eight miles west-southwest of Rifle, Colorado, on the night of October 26, 1948. Anderson documented the crash site and determined that the airplane, which ran out of fuel, had a crew of four, all of whom parachuted to safety before the B-17 crashed. Some of the airplane structure remains at the crash site. This airframe is probably B-17G 44-83710. (Information courtesy of Wayne McPherson Gomes)

• Colorado B-17 Crash Site #2 and #3: The Aero Vintage B-17 Locator page mentions two other B-17 crash sites with no serial number data. Duke Somonia provided the following serials: the Pinegree Park B-17F was s/n 42-6042 and crashed on October 13, 1943. The Crown Point B-17F was s/n 42-30891 and it crashed on June 13, 1944. Thanks for the information and it's been added to the locator page.

• In the October 2000 News mention was made of B-17G 44-85821. This ex-USCG PB-1G was sold onto the civil market in early 1960 and appeared briefly on the U.S. civil register as N2873G. It was exported to Peru were it operated for several years. Its fate was never firmly established but it was believed lost in a mid-1960s crash. Hugh MacDonald passed along the information noted in the October 2000 News and he has provided a brief update. He now notes that this airframe has been disassembled in South America and is to be shipped to British Columbia. He states that "we have a customer most interested in this aircraft." However, he later advised that he was not directly involved in any transaction but hopes that a new owner, if there is one, will provide details in the near future. No photos or other details are available so again, we stand by for something more concrete to confirm this report. Any details forthcoming?

• Paul McMillan advises on a couple of websites for some information on two B-17 crash sites in Papua New Guinea: B-17E 41-2505 and B-17E 41-9234.

December 2000

• An interesting website was recently updated with some information that may prove interesting to B-17 folks. Joao M. Vidal has a specialized site on the Portuguese Air Force and there are some pages here that contain information about the B-17s operated as search and rescue aircraft by the PAF in the late 1940s and 1950s. Included are serial number information and photos, and some nice color illustrations.

  There has long been a bit of a mystery about one B-17G whose fate lay with the Portuguese government. B-17G 44-83842 was being covertly exported from the U.S. to Israel in 1948 as one of four B-17Gs to form the infant Israel Air Defense Force. Carrying the bogus U.S. civil registration of N7712M, this aircraft landed to refuel at Lajes Air Base on the Azores Island in July 1948. After the Portuguese authorities figured out what was going on, the B-17G was seized. The pilots were questioned and eventually released for return to the U.S. The fate of this aircraft, however, has remained a mystery. Possibly, it was broken up to serve as for spares support of the Portuguese SB-17Gs. Some reports indicate it was added to the PAF inventory, but Mr. Vidal's website does not show this aircraft in the PAF inventory listing. Further information would be welcome. By the way, the most complete story of the Israeli B-17s I've seen is told in the February 1981 issue of Sentry Publication's Wings magazine in an article by Mike Minnich. Numerous photos including some color.

  Also sketchy: the fate of the five B-17s operated by the Portuguese Air Force. Are there any surviving airframes?

• Coming to light recently via a 2001 airplane calendar is a nice color photo of one of the early YB-17s, probably s/n 36-153, taken at Langley Field, Virginia, in May 1942. What makes the photo unusual is that the airplane is in standard AAF camouflage, somewhat surprising in that there was no way an obsolete YB-17 was ever going to see combat. The airplane is also apparently armed. Only thirteen YB-17s were built and they were very similar to the original Boeing Model 299 (sometimes erroneously referred to as the XB-17). Interesting photo: take a look at a low resolution copy here. The calendar uses public-domain color photos from the Library of Congress collection but this particular photo has rarely, if ever, seen the light of day. I've never seen it published before.

October 2000

• One item of interest recently surfaced. Information was passed along by a gentleman named Hugh MacDonald (e-mail) regarding B-17G 44-85821. This particular B-17G was accepted by the AAF in 1945 but transferred directly to the U.S. Coast Guard to become PB-1G 77247. It served in a air-sea rescue role until 1959 when it was sold as surplus equipment. It became N2783G briefly on the U.S. registry but was exported to Peru in November 1960 and operated as OB-SAA-532 and, later, OB-R-532. Reports suggest that this airplane was dropped off the Peruvian register before 1965 and was scrapped at either Pucalapa or Tarapota, Peru, at around that time.

  Now Mr. MacDonald reports that this airplane still exists but is "in need of much repair to ever be airworthy again" and "it is alive and mostly intact...will take much work to get it off the ground but can easily be done." He won't disclose the location of the airplane but says it "is not a crash site" and it is "not in the USA." He reports this B-17G is "very much recovered and for sale." Asking price: he is open to offers over $700,000 USD, as is, where is.

  We're looking for more information. If you have really deep pockets, this might be an opportunity to bring back another B-17. Mr. MacDonald is, presumably, open to e-mail inquiries.

• Information has also surfaced that clears up some questions about two B-17s that have been carried on the civil register for several years but for which there was little information. The two B-17s are B-17E 41-9090, carried on the civil register as N3142U and B-17G 42-97854 carried as N9094V. Both airframes, it turns out, are underwater in Greenland fjords and were the subject of unsuccessful recovery efforts in the summer of 1999. The Ultimate Sacrifice website has an account of the recovery effort and more information about the airplanes.

  Both airplanes were evidently identified and tagged for possible recovery by renowned aviation recovery expert Gary Larkins. The airplanes were first registered to his company, the Institute of Aeronautical Archeological Research. Recently the registered ownership of the B-17E was transferred to the Ultimate Sacrifice Group at Cincinnati, Ohio, which is working to restore B-17E 41-9032 My Gal Sal for static display. As far as is known, however, neither B-17 has actually been recovered.

• The December 2000 issue of Flight Journal contains an article about diving on wrecked warplanes by Franklin and Kathy Viola. The article includes several recent underwater color photos of the B-17E known as Bessie, Jap Basher (41-2420).

September 2000

• The September 2000 issue of FlyPast Magazine reports the identity of a recently discovered B-17G in the mudflats of the River Stour near Essex in England. As noted in the April 2000 update (below), this B-17 crashed in March 1945. The magazine identifies the B-17G as s/n 43-37516 which may have been shot down by friendly fire on March 4, 1945, after returning from a mission to the Netherlands. The B-17 crew, except the pilots, were able to bail out of the stricken bomber before it crashed. Both pilots were killed. The B-17G carried the name Tondelayo and was assigned to the 858th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group. (Information courtesy of Paul McMillan)

• The May 2000 issue of Pacific Flyer has an article by Chuck Stewart about a woman named Janice Olson of Victorville, California. She has an interesting story. Her father flew B-17s in the South Pacific during World War II. After her father's death in 1988 she began researching those B-17s that operated in that theater during the early part of the war. In the course of her work she determined that approximately fifty B-17s were lost in the Pacific theatre, twenty of which had never been located. She has since documented those aircraft and, in four trips to Papua New Guinea, has located ten of those aircraft in the remote jungles. She thinks she may be able to find five more missing B-17s in the future. She has become the expert on the lost Pacific B-17s. An interesting story about filling in the gaps of history. (Clipping courtesy of Todd Hackbarth)

• A question was recently raised by bjdp51@aol.com about the B-17 that was uncovered by the fierce fires of Yellowstone that burned in 1988. It was reported at the time in Air Classics magazine. An internet search reveals the following:

  "This plane went down after the icing of its carburetors in mid-air and crashed 5 miles southeast of West Yellowstone, MT (1943). In the aftermath the bodies and live ammunition was removed but not the debris. Then after the fires of '88 it was determined that due to the "uncovering" of the wreckage by the fire, its contents would be removed. In the summer of '96 a gentleman came to me for information on the wreck. He had just spent two days in the area looking for any signs of the crash. Having found none, he was looking for a more detailed description of the crash site. It seems that what little evidence of the crash is left is small at best." (http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/hidden.htm)

  Has anyone any further information to shed on this B-17, such as serial number or crash details?

• The June 2000 issue of Professional Pilot has a small story about the first Canadair CRJ2000 to be operated by Express Airlines. The airplane was named the Spirit of Memphis Belle after the famous B-17F now displayed in Memphis. The original Belle pilot, Robert Morgan, was on hand at the delivery ceremony and accepted a $10,000 donation from the Airline on behalf of the Memphis Belle Memorial Association. The Association is seeking funding for a new display building for the B-17, currently displayed under an open-air covering on Mud Island in Memphis.

July 2000

• Some new photos have been posted to the Ultimate Sacrifice website showing the rapid progress of restoration of B-17E 41-9032, both at the Blue Ash Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio, and at a undisclosed location in California. The fuselage work is being done in California and it appears that much of the aft fuselage has been reassembled and is being reskinned. The web site also reports that two engines are nearly completed and the other two will be started shortly. This is to be a non-flying restoration; thus, the engines are not be restored to operable condition. Does anyone know who is doing the work in California?

• An interesting tidbit comes from Mark Sublette via e-mail. In the fall of 1973, while he was a high school student, he recalls seeing and photographing a whole inverted B-17 wing and center section, including the bomb-bay, at a scrap dump at Hurlburt Field (Eglin AFB Aux Field No. 9). The dump was located along the east side of the runways. The scrap airframe and a few other special operation wrecks were eventually used as landfill, covered with dirt, and then graded flat. What stands on the site now is unknown. This report is yet another indication that there are still pieces of B-17s and other vintage aircraft around waiting to be uncovered.

• Not much else to report this month. Keep those cards and letters coming. If you see anything around, be it in magazines, newspapers, or out at your local airport, please let us know.

• Finally, the revised edition of Final Cut: The Post-War B-17 Flying Fortress became available during the last week of June. This revised edition updates the original book published in August 1990. Much of the original format was maintained but a new layout was completed, the text was updated, and new photos were added. The book is 216 pages long and contains 310-plus photos. It is a great source of information about those B-17s still surviving, and also details the post-war use in movies, as air tankers, and the numerous other roles the airplane enjoyed, both civil and military, through the years. Check it out here.

June 2000

• Gary Manning passes along some new information about 41-9032, the B-17E remains that were stored at the Tilamook Naval Air Station Museum in Oregon:

  "B-17E 41-9032 "My Gal Sal" formerly at the Tillamook Naval Air Station Museum, Tillamook Oregon has a new owner and a new home. She was purchased by Bob Ready of Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 14, 2000, and removed from Tillamook on March 17. The fuselage is presently in California undergoing restoration and the rest of the aircraft is in Cincinnati also under going restoration. Mr. Ready has kindly informed me that the while the aircraft will be completely restored it will be the center piece of a memorial commemorating the service and sacrifice of the many thousands of crew men that gave their lives in World War II. The aircraft will be displayed as it was belly landed on the Greenland ice cap on June 27, 1942, with her crew and 3 passengers. This is but a portion of the memorial that Mr. Ready is creating. Bob Ready has the resources, knowledge and drive to get this restoration done correctly. He is having the entire aircraft completely rebuilt restoring the portions that can saved and fabricating, extruding and creating the parts that are missing or damaged beyond repair to the original specifications.

  "Mr. Ready is going all out to research and document the history of this airplane, it's crew and to see to the accurate restoration. He has been able to accomplish a great amount of this work in a very short time. A new Internet WEB site has just been made active about this project with pictures of the restoration in progress. The site is under construction but contains some fine information already. Please visit it at http://www.ultimatesacrifice.com/ and pass the word along."

• Also an update on 44-85784 (G-BEDF), "Sally-B" at Duxford, England, from Paul Littleton of the B-17 Preservation Engineering Division: "Sally-B" completed the winter maintenance program satisfactorily and flew again on May 21, 2000, for a complete test flight. It was scheduled for its first air display at the USAF base at Mildenhall, England, on May 28-29. There are continued efforts to raise funding with the new "B-17 Charitable Trust" formed in January 2000.

• From Patrick Carry comes news of an air show that should be of interest to B-17 types. The show will be at Smyrna, Tennessee, on September 5-9, 2000, and will reportedly feature 44-83546 (N3703G), the David Tallichet B-17G painted as B-17F 41-24485 "Memphis Belle." Four of the real "Belle" crewmembers are scheduled to appear at the show with the airplane. The governor of the State of Tennessee will designate each of the "Memphis Belle" crewmembers as honorary Colonels of the State during a ceremony establishing the Tennessee State Air and Space Museum being constructed on a site at the Smyrna airport. Also of interest: eight operational B-17s are scheduled to participate in the airshow, being billed as the "the largest gathering of B-17s since the end of World War II." That's not really correct, but it probably will be the largest gathering since the mid-1950s. Mark it on your calendars.

• The revised edition of Final Cut: The Post-War B-17 Flying Fortress is on schedule and due for release at the end of June. It is available for ordering now. It has been expanded, updated, and now has sixteen pages of color illustrations. Check it out here.
  

May 2000

• The hottest B-17 news is, of course, the availability of the revised edition of Final Cut: The Post-War B-17 Flying Fortress right here at this site. "Final Cut" was originally published in August 1990 and now, ten years later, it has been completely revised and updated with new photos, more color, and more content. Much has occurred on the B-17 front in the last ten years and this book brings it all up to date. The first edition was $12.95 for 212 pages and was way underpriced by any estimate; the new revised edition is available for $18.95, still more than reasonable for 216 pages of packed content printed on high quality paper with nearly 300 photos and now, sixteen pages of full color. Complete or update your B-17 library now. This book is going to the printer now and will be shipped not later than July 1st. Reserve your copy now and be the first on the block to have the new edition. Check it out here.

• The May 2000 issue of Air Pictorial contains a short piece about B-17F 42-5894 that crashed in Stranavan Bay near Prestwick, Scotland, in early June 1943 after being ferried across the North Atlantic. The crew encountered weather and a bad radio on their let down to Prestwick and ended up trying to get down off the radio range course. After trying to land in a field they ended up in the bay. The bombardier was killed in the water landing but the rest of the crew escaped unharmed. There are still some remains of the airplane in the bay. (Information courtesy of Paul McMillan)

  
  

April 2000

• The April 2000 issue of FlyPast reports the potential salvage and retrieval of B-17 remains from the mud flats on the River Stour in Essex, England. The B-17 crashed in the mud flats in March 1945. It is planned to use special vacuum hoses to remove 55 years of mud before attempting to bring the aircraft, or what's left of it, back to the surface. Anyone have serial number information? (Courtesy of Paul McMillan)

• The May 2000 issue of FlyPast will feature an article about B-17C 40-2047 and the circumstances that led to its November 1941 crash in the mountains above Placerville, California.

• The Palm Springs Air Museum's B-17G 44-85778 (N3509G), operated as "Miss Angela" is back on the ramp at Palm Springs, California after extensive maintenance at Mesa, Arizona. The work, which involved demating both wings from the fuselage, inspecting and repairing corrosion and other problems found, was done by GossHawk Aviation and took nearly a year. Check this out for some photos of the maintenance process.

• Update on the Yankee Air Force's B-17G 44-85829 (N3193G) "Yankee Lady": winter maintenance is drawing to a close and the airplane should be back in the air by the end of April to make its first airshow of 2000 at MCAS New River in North Carolina. Additions for this year: an antenna installation (HF?) between the radio room and the vertical stabilizer; installed tubing for the oxygen system; and a pre-oiler system for the engines. The YAF had a polishing party of 100+ on March 18 to put a gleam on "Yankee Lady." (Information courtesy of Todd Hackbarth)

• Corrected Information: Also news on the EAA's B-17G 44-85740 (N5017N) "Aluminum Overcast": Todd Hackbarth reports that "Aluminum Overcast" made a stop at the YAF facility at Ypsilanti, Michigan on February 20. The airplane had been in Lakeland, Florida, for avionics work and was being flown to Huron, Ontario, for some paint work. It blew a cylinder on the number 3 engine later while enroute to Huron and landed at London, Ontario for maintenance. The airplane remained London for a week being worked on and was flown to Huron on February 26 by a Yankee Air Force flight crew. It reportedly is to be repainted in the same scheme it currently wears. (My apologies for not getting this straight the first time through.)
  

February 2000

• The April 2000 issue of Flight Journal magazine has an extensive article including numerous color photos about 44-83790, the B-17G discovered last year in Dyke Lake in Labrador, Canada (mentioned numerous times here in B-17 News). This B-17 landed gear up on the frozen lake on Christmas Eve 1947 after the crew became lost and fuel ran low. The crew survived safely and was rescued by USAF personnel two days later. The B-17 remained on the frozen lake into the spring of 1948 when the lake thawed. It turned out that the airframe drifted several miles on ice before finally breaking through and settling to the bottom of the lake. The location of 44-83790 has been the objective of Tom Wilson since the early 1990s when he interested Don Brooks, of Greenland P-38 expedition fame, in the search. An expedition was put together in July 1998 which finally located the downed airplane in Dyke Lake. Efforts at securing salvage rights have been underway since in negotiations with the Canadian province of Labrador. Whether the B-17 will be ever recovered is unknown. From the underwater photos it isn't in that great of shape, with the nose section missing and/or crushed, and with the tail section also damaged. Even in the cold water of the lake there seems to be some corrosion to the airframe but it's hard to tell from the photos. The article, by Barrett Tillman, does a great job of telling the story of this B-17.

• The Museum of Flight's B-17F, 42-29782 (N17W) was ferried from Boeing Field back to Renton Airport in late December 1999. The recently restored B-17F has been on outdoor display on the Museum's ramp since May 1998. It was desirable to put the B-17F into a protected environment and apparently efforts to locate a hangar at Boeing Field were unsuccessful. Instead, a hangar was leased at the Renton Airport which will also provide some shop space for continued work on the B-17F and components of the Museum's B-29. For the time being, at least, there is no public access to the hangar at Renton. (Information courtesy of Ed Davies)

• We now have some photos available here of the B-17C crash site discussed in the December 1999 B-17 News. This B-17C, 40-2047, crashed on November 2, 1941 in the Sierra Nevadas thirty miles northeast of Placerville, California. The airplane spun out of control from 18,000 feet so the aircraft is not intact. However, the wing section is fairly complete. Check out the photos here.

December 1999

• A letter in the Fourth Quarter AAHS Newsletter tells of a memorial erected in 1992 at Bakers Creek, Australia, dedicated to forty Americans killed in a June 1943 crash of B-17C 40-2072 during a wartime transport flight. The B-17C had six crewmembers and thirty-five soldiers being transported from McKay Airport to New Guinea. The B-17C had been converted from a bomber to a transport. The accident is logged as the worst aviation accident in Australian history. The memorial was originally dedicated in May 1992 with only the six crewmembers and the sole survivor listed. It has now been updated to include all those killed in the accident. There are current queries out by those who maintain the memorial about where the victims of the accident were buried and other details of the crash.

• The B-17G operated by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation, 44-83546 (N3703G), is back at Chino and is reportedly for sale. It still wears the colors of the "Memphis Belle" first gained in 1989 during the filming of the same-titled movie. David Tallichet, the founder of MARC, has also reportedly secured permission to recover the "Swamp Ghost," the long abandoned B-17E in Papua New Guinea. If true, this would be a coup as numerous repeated efforts at recovering this airplane, 41-2446, have been underway by several groups over the past fifteen years. The current state of the airframe, half submerged in a very remote swamp since 1942, is unknown. (Report courtesy Mike Yamada)

• Also going on at Chino in November was the annual B-17 Co-op Meeting which viewed the MARC B-17G. Also toured was the Aero Trader facility run by Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman at Chino. Still awaiting are reports of business conducted.

• More Chino news: an update on the possible transfer of 44-83684 from the USAF to the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino. Known as the "Piccadilly Lily" of TV's "Twelve O'Clock High" fame, this B-17 has been rumored to have been transferred to the museum. The current "B-17 Combat Crewmen and Wingman" newsletter (Nov/Dec 1999) indicates a working group has been established to raise the expected $1.5 million to put the airplane back into airworthy and restored condition. This group will organize fundraisers and arrange to have the restoration filmed for a video production. No official announcements have been made to verify that the airplane's ownership has indeed changed.

• Several individuals located and visited the crash site of B-17C 40-2047 in the mountains above Placerville, California, during the summer and fall of this past year. This B-17C crashed in early November 1941 while being ferried from Salt Lake City to McClellan Field near Sacramento. It was attached to the 7th Bomb Group at the time. The remains are scattered over a several mile area with the largest piece being the wing section. More to follow, including photos and a detailed history of the airplane. Check back.

• Tom Reilly is advertising for sale a "B-17 Project" in the second November 1999 Trade-A-Plane issue. Priced at $325,000, it is presumed to include material Reilly has gathered over the years from a number of airframes and may include some of Kermit Weeks airframe parts stored near Borrego Springs, California. Rumors have indicated that Reilly has purchased the remaining B-17 spares and parts from Weeks this past fall.

• Also in the Reilly rumor mill is that the "Outhouse Mouse" project, B-17G 44-85734, currently in Reilly's Kissimmee facility, has come and gone through involvement with Boeing. Rumor speculates that Boeing was seeking to solidify a deal with the Israelis for Boeing products and offered the B-17G for the Israeli Air Force Museum. The deal reportedly has fallen apart but who knows? The Israelis have made several reported attempts to obtain a B-17 for their museum to commemorate the three B-17Gs operated by the Israeli Air Defense Force between 1948 and 1958.

October 1999

• A bit of news on the B-17 civil registration front. The Flying Heritage Collection B-17E, 41-9210 was re-registered as N12355 on August 27, 1999. The old registration was N8WJ. This airplane is currently undergoing a long-term restoration in a hangar at the Arlington, Washington, airport.

• Other news on the B-17 registration front: 44-85734, the B-17G under restoration at Tom Reilly's facility at Kissimmee, Florida, was assigned the civil registration of N817BR on July 13, 1999. The registered owner is the Randsburg Corporation of Portland, Oregon. This airplane, the old Pratt & Whitney five-engine testbed, was once registered as N5111N when it was operated in the 1940s and 1950s.

• There is an article and two nice photos of the restored nose section of 44-85790 in the October 1999 FlyPast magazine. This B-17 is the one that has been displayed atop a gas station in Milwaukie, Oregon, since 1947. The nose and cockpit section were removed in 1996 and trucked to the Aurora airport in Oregon, There, Vintage Aircraft Restoration has rebuilt and reskinned the nose section. Reportedly, the nose section will be sent back to Milwaukie for display (indoor, hopefully) while Vintage Aircraft continues work on the cockpit section.

• B-17G 44-85778 (N3509G), operated by the Palm Spring Air Museum as "Miss Angela" was flown to Mesa Arizona, in August to have wing corrosion problems corrected. The work will be performed by GossHawk Aviation at Falcon Field. Evidently spar cracks and other internal corrosion problems were discovered during an inspection. Many of the old air tankers, now apparently including N3509G, have had problems with their wing attach points where the inboard wing sections attach to the wing spars that run through the fuselage bomb-bay. This has been attributed to the concentrated loads carried by air tankers and the corrosive effect of the fire retardant. No date has been announced for the completion of the work. (Courtesy Matthew Markham and Air Classics Magazine)

• B-17 Preservation, operators of 44-85784 (G-BEDF), "Sally-B," has decided to regroup after this past disasterous year and try for the year 2000 airshow season. The airplane suffered numerous expensive engine failures while the B-17 was stranded at Gurnsey on the Channel Islands in the U.K. The airplane is now at its home at Duxford and is expected to be hangared by mid-October for the rest of the year. (Courtesy Paul Littleton)

August 1999

• One bit of possibly developing news: the B-17 Combat Crewmen and Wingman are reporting in their July/August 1999 newsletter that the B-17G displayed at Planes of Fame at Chino, California, 44-83684, has been deeded from the U.S. Air Force to the museum. The article notes that plans are to restore the bomber to airworthy condition. This is the old "Piccadilly Lily" featured in the ABC-TV television show, "Twelve O'Clock High" shot on location at Chino between 1964 and 1966. (The article erroneously reports that this B-17G was used in the 1948 film of the same name.) On loan to the-then-named Air Museum and carrying the civil registration of N3713G, the airplane was used for taxiing and set shots, but was not flown for the television show. All operational footage was drawn from Air Force historical archives. Later, however, after the television show was canceled, the "Piccadilly Lily" was flown on several occasions and was one of three B-17s used in the filming of "The Thousand Plane Raid" at Santa Maria, California, in early 1968. It was also flown to at least one mid-west airshow at the time. Soon, however, the airplane was parked at Chino, reportedly due to run-out engines and USAF reluctance to allow the airplane to fly further. It has greeted visitors to the museum for nearly three decades and wearing ever-thickening coats of paint to protect it from the elements and smoggy skies. Local combat veterans have supported the airplane by keeping it up and offering tours of the airplane on weekends. It's been rumored for awhile that Planes of Fame was close to securing a transfer of the airplane but it hasn't been formally announced by anyone that the transfer has been completed. More information will be posted when available.

• Yet more B-17 engine failures: the Colling's Foundation 44-83575 (N93012) "Nine-O-Nine" blew it's number four engine near Boise, Idaho, on July 3rd, 1999. Reports are the engine blew a rod out of the side of a cylinder. A replacement engine was installed, but shortly afterwards the replacement engine also failed. At this writing, the airplane is reportedly in Holland, Michigan, awaiting a new engine. Also, the Yankee Air Force's 44-85829 (N3193G) blew the second engine of the summer on July 25th. During a return flight to Willow Run, Michigan, "Yankee Lady" suffered a failure of its number four engine. It was changed within a week and the airplane is airworthy once again. When combined with reported engine problems last spring with Lone Star's 44-85718 (N900RW) and CAF's 44-83872 (N7227C), this year has been the year of B-17 engine failures. (Information courtesy Brian Nick, James Church, and Todd Hackbarth)

• There's an interesting little bit on the Internet about B-17E 41-9032, "My Gal Sal" and arctic rescue. This particular B-17 went down in June 1942 in Greenland during a ferry flight to England. The Air Force Museum page details the history of the airplane and a 1965 look at the airplane as part of a research program.

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July 1999

• The B-17F recovered from Alaska by Gary Larkins and featured in the February/March 1997 issue of Air and Space Magazine in 1997 has been identified. Ed Davies reports this B-17F as Boeing-built 42-30681. The fuselage of this aircraft is now at the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon while the wings and other parts remain in Alaska with Arctic Warbirds at Bradley Field near Fairbanks. The fuselage section may be used at a future date to restore "My Gal Sal", B-17E s/n 41-9032 recovered by Gary Larkins from Greenland. More information is forthcoming on these airplanes.

• Word from Rob Rohr out of Bangor, Maine, is that the Military Aircraft Restoration Corps B-17G, N3703G, "Memphis Belle" is going to be based at Lawrence, Massachusetts, this summer. The B-17G, s/n 44-83546 was once a Chino-based airplane but has been on the east coast for the past several years, most recently based at Floyd Bennett Field in New York.

• Yankee Air Force's 44-85829 (N3193G) "Yankee Lady" suffered a engine failure during a flight to Reading, Pennsylvania, on June 5th. The number one engine was subsequently replaced at Reading with a Yankee Air Force spare engine and the B-17G was operational again by June 18th. (Information courtesy Todd Hackbarth)

• Further details on 41-9210, the B-17E of the Flying Heritage Collection. In the May 1999 update we noted that the airplane had been flown from Moses Lake to Arlington, Washington. Indeed, the airplane is at Arlington in a closed hangar on the west side of the airport. Word is that the owner/museum is trying to keep the project low key. The outer wing sections had to be removed to fit the airplane in the hangar; these were trucked off the field to an unknown destination. It would appear that this B-17E is in for another major restoration effort to complete the work done by World Jet at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, over the past decade. If other examples of the museum's collection are any indication, no expense will be spared to return this rare airplane to an authentic and pristine condition. Don't expect to see this airplane again for at least three years.

• As promised in the May 1999 update, we are posting current photos of B-17s at Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft at Kissimmee, Florida. 44-85734 is under restoration as "Outhouse Mouse" with much progress being made. Tom Reilly has (had) a website which reports the progress of this restoration and provides an opportunity to help out. (At one time, you could check it out at his website, but no more. Also posted are some photos of various parts of 44-85813 in storage. These may someday form the basis of yet another B-17 restoration project. All photos are courtesy of Rick Reeves.

• Also posted this month are recent photos of 44-85778, "Miss Angela" at the Palm Springs Air Museum and 44-6393 at the March Field Museum. Plus, we've added some older photos of B-17s at the SAC Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, Offutt AFB at Omaha, Nebraska, and Evergreen's N207EV.

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May 1999

• Late news via DejaNews: B-17E 41-9210, last seen in storage in an old SAC hangar at Moses Lake, Washington, has emerged and been flown to Arlington, Washington. The airplane was seen parked on the ramp. The airplane is registered to the Flying Heritage Collection of Bellevue, Washington. It is registered as N8WJ. Details and a photo are, hopefully, forthcoming.

• Rick Reeves sent in a nice update on the restoration effort underway at Kissimmee, Florida, on B-17G s/n 44-85734 the old Pratt & Whitney five-engined test bed. Tom Reilly and a Flying Tiger Warbird Restoration Museum crew, of which Rick is a member, is making continued progress on the extensive restoration. This particular B-17, once operated as N5111N, was displayed what is now the New England Air Museum at Bradley, Connecticut, between 1967 and 1987 and was nearly destroyed in a 1979 tornado which swept through the museum compound. The B-17 remains were traded to Tom Reilly in 1987 in exchange for work done on a museum B-25H. Reilly also obtained the remains of another one-time five-engined test bed, s/n 44-85813 from an air tanker crash site in North Carolina. (Operated as N6694C, 44-85813 had been used by Curtiss-Wright as a test bed for their engines between 1946 and 1966.) The museum is using parts from both airframes to create an airworthy B-17G. The B-17, which is expected to fly next year, will be painted and marked as the "Outhouse Mouse", a 91st Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force veteran. To date, most of the wings and center section have been completed. The cockpit section will probably be the most difficult part of the effort since the unique nose-section engine mount modifications for N5111N done in 1946 required an extensive rework of the cockpit section. This modification will be removed and the cockpit section restored to that of a standard B-17G. While the restoration crew was working on the left wing, the names of two women were found inside the number two engine nacelle. According to the museum's newsletter, the nacelle assembly was originally built by the Murray Corporation of Detroit, Michigan, where two young ladies, "Sue and Mary" added their names to a part they were working on, to come to light again fifty-four years later. Look for pictures of the restoration effort here next month.

• From Paul Littleton comes the news that "Sally-B", 44-85784 (G-BEDF) has finally made it back to Duxford (England) from the Gurnsey Airport on the Channel Islands. As noted in the February 1999 update (below), "Sally-B" arrived at the Gurnsey Airport in October 1998 for an airshow and suffered a series of costly engine failures that ultimately required three engine changes. G-BEDF was finally, uneventfully, flown from Gurnsey to Duxford on April 22, 1999. The group operating "Sally-B," B-17 Preservation, Ltd., is now desperately short of funds due to the unexpected costs of mechanical repairs and are seeking additional sponsors or aid. Jump to here for the "Sally-B" website for details on how to help.

• Brent Perkins, President of the Memphis Belle Memorial Association, provided some information about the "Memphis Belle," s/n 41-24485. There is an effort underway to find or construct a fully enclosed display site in the Memphis area. The "Belle" has been displayed at a covered site on Mud Island for a number of years but some dissatisfaction with the site is prompting the search for a better way to protect and display the rare B-17F. The "Memphis Belle" is one of three B-17s with confirmed combat records, and is also noted as the first B-17 to fly a 25 mission combat tour and return to the U.S. It was also the subject of a wartime movie, reshot in 1989 as a theatrical (and fictionalized) production. Jump to here for the Memphis Belle website.

• Once again, a revision of the book "Final Cut" is underway and an effort is being made to get the most current and complete information possible on each of the surviving B-17s. Please forward any additions to this news page to here and we'll include it.

March 1999

• A bit more information has surfaced about the B-17G found submerged in Labrador's (Canada) Dyke Lake. Believed to be B-17G 44-83790, a Iron River (Wisconsin?) Reporter newspaper article interviews the pilot of the airplane in its January 27, 1999 edition. The pilot, Chester Karney, relates how he was flying cargo runs out of Greenland's BW-1 and, on December 23, 1947, he and his eight-man crew were attempting a 1500 mile flight between Resolute Bay to Goose Bay. Due to darkness, weather, and a navigational radio failure, the crew never found Labrador. Instead, short of fuel, they bellied the B-17 onto the frozen Dyke Lake. After a cold night (Christmas Eve) the crew was able to contact the base at Labrador via radio with their newly calculated position. Search planes dropped survival gear to them on Christmas Day and the next day, a ski-equipped C-47 was able to rescue them. The plane was left on the lake, and in the following spring, with the lake thawing, the plane broke through the ice and sank to the bottom.

  As to current efforts to recover the B-17, plans have yet to be announced. The article mentions that a Seattle company, Underwater Atmospheric Systems, Inc., is going to attempt a recovery of the airframe from the lake. Underwater Atmospheric Systems maintains a website with information about the Labrador B-17 and other projects it is involved in. There is even a color photo of the B-17 on the frozen lake in 1947. Jump to here to visit the UAS website. (Newspaper article courtesy Todd Hackbarth; website info via Jon Davis)

• B-17s are touring again. Both the Collings B-17, N93012 and EAA's, N5017N are in Florida offering rides and airplane tours through March. Check the web sites above for dates and locations.

February 1999

• Check out our review of the new information-packed B-17G CD at our new Review Page.

• We're getting some help from an English correspondent now. Paul Littleton is an engineer on B-17G 44-85784 (G-BEDF), the "Sally-B", and he provided an update on their operations. The "Sally-B" is operated by B-17 Preservation and is based at Duxford, England. It is one of two European B-17s currently flying (the other being F-AZDX). The "Sally-B" had a bad year in 1998 with three debilitating engine failures of the number two engine. G-BEDF currently is stranded on the while awaiting the gathering of resources to perform yet another engine change and dig deeper into that engine's oil lubricating system for some serious problems. Efforts to place the aircraft into storage for the winter weather involved spraying an anti-corrosive agent on the airframe. Jump to the Sally B website for more information on the airplane and an opportunity to help.

January 1999

• Finally, we've nailed down a few details about the B-17 wreckage located on the Olympic Peninsula near Port Angeles, Washington. Courtesy of several contributors, the following is now known: on January 19, 1952, SB-17G 44-85746 was returning from a search and rescue mission enroute to McChord AFB near Tacoma, Washington when the aircraft crashed near the 6,359 foot Tyler Peak during a storm. Of the eight-man crew, three were killed in the crash, with the five survivors being rescued the following day from the crash site. Recent photos show a fair amount of the aircraft still at the site. Check this out for more information and some photographs. Details courtesy Rob Kirkwood and Ed Davies.

• Further to earlier information noted here about B-17E N8WJ (41-9210) in storage at Moses Lake, Flypast magazine reports in its January 1999 issue that the B-17E is owned by the Flying Heritage Museum of Bellevue, Washington, with one of the principals being Paul Allen, one of the co-founders of Microsoft. The museum also reported to have FG-1D Corsair N7000G (BuNo 88303), P-47D N7159Z (45-49406). Also, the museum has reportedly obtained a Zero from Russia (N358HF). Details courtesy Paul McMillan.

• There is a new website available set up by Robert Morgan, the combat pilot of B-17F 41-24485, the famous "Memphis Belle", now displayed at Memphis, Tennessee. Visit it here.

• Interesting bit pulled of a discussion page regarding Soviet-operated B-17s during World War II. According to a list in "Mir Aviatsiya", issue 2/95, there were 23 B-17Gs and 28 B-24s interned by the Soviet Union, including B-17G 44-6316 from the 303rd BG. (Roger Freeman's book, "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story" (reviewed below) shows 44-6316 receiving battle damage in a February 1945 raid on Berlin, with subsequent history unknown.) Photos accompanying the "Mir Aviatsiya" listing reportedly show all aircraft having their U.S. insignia overpainted by the red star of the Soviet Air Force. Details as to whether or not the Soviets ever operated any of the bombers are unavailable at this point.

• The publisher of the book Final Cut, which details the post-war B-17 in both military and civil service, has decided to assemble a revised edition to update the current status of B-17 survivors. "Final Cut" was originally published in August 1991 and there have been many changes since. The book has been reprinted five times since its initial publication, and before another reprint was done the publisher, Pictorial Histories of Missoula, Montana, decided to update with new information. It should be available in mid-1999. Available copies of the book are going fast, and there are none now available from Aero Vintage Books.

November 1998

• Little bit thin on B-17 news this month. We had hoped to have more information about the B-17E at Moses Lake but as of right now have not confirmed anything. More information about this and other B-17s will be posted when available.

• The B-17 Co-op, an organization of B-17 owners and operators, is holding its annual meeting this month at the Yankee Air Force at Ypsilanti, Michigan. Information from that meeting and any updated status on aircraft will be added as soon as possible.

• Book Review: Anyone familiar with the history of the B-17 and, in particular, the Eighth Air Force, knows the name of Roger Freeman. Author of the renowned series beginning with "The Mighty Eighth", Freeman and co-author David Osborne assembled a new volume entitled The B-17 Flying Fortress Story: Design-Production-History. Published in mid-1998 by Arms and Armour Press of London, England (and distributed in the U.S. by Sterling Publishing, New York), this new book fills a gap in the literature about the Flying Fortress. The first quarter of the book covers the type in general, from initial design through production and modifications. Included here are excerpts from technical orders and operating manuals. Also included are a selection of somewhat rare photos and a special section on the Wright R-1820 engine. Of greater significance to the student of the B-17, however, are the last three quarters of the book. This section provides individual aircraft histories for each of the 12,700-odd B-17s produced by the consortium of Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed between 1935 and 1945. This massive undertaking was apparently performed by Osborne reviewing each of the individual military record cards available and tying that information to other available sources. Thus, having the military serial of a particular B-17 (say, for example, from a photograph) enables a reader to see where that aircraft came from and its eventual disposition. The information is, by necessity, brief but usually contains specifics on an aircraft if it was lost in action. There are a few noted errors, surprisingly, for those B-17s which survived to enjoy civil service as that information is available elsewhere in detailed form. Other editing errors (i.e. the book refers to the 'Reclamation Finance Centre' (RFC) vs. the actual 'Reconstruction Finance Corporation' but such minor things can be overlooked in such a gigantic effort. A substantial investment at $45.00 (list), but well worth the cost for a fine reference source. Check it out at Amazon.com where it's available for $31.50.

October 1998

• Further information has become available about the sale of the World Jet B-17E in late August 1998. The new registered owner is the Flying Heritage Collection with a mailing address in Bellevue, Washington. The registration was transferred on August 27, 1998. The rare B-17E, carrying the civil registration of N8WJ, is still in a hangar at Moses Lake, Washington. The basic story behind this rare B-17E is as follows: it was delivered to the USAAF in February 1942 as s/n 41-9210; during the war years it served as a test-bed for Honeywell at Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the war, the B-17E was declared surplus and transferred to the University of Minnesota. In 1952 it was purchased by Jack Lysdale in St. Paul, Minnesota, who rebuilt the B-17E and had it registered as N5842N. It was sold in 1955 to Kenting Aviation of Toronto, Canada, for use in aerial survey and received the Canadian registration of CF-ICB. It was sold in 1964 to Four Star Aviation of Miami, Florida and registered as N9720F. It was exported to Bolivia and operated as a meat and cargo hauler by Lloyd Aero Boliviano (LAB) as CP-753 until 1976 when it crashed at La Paz, Bolivia. It remained in derelict condition at La Paz until 1990 when recovered by Don Whittington (one of the principal owners of World Jet, Fort Lauderdale, Florida) in 1990 and brought back to the U.S. It was then registered as N8WJ. It suffered from widespread corrosion and required extensive rework of the fuselage skin. Rumors surrounded the fate of the B-17E and at one point it was thought to be on its way to an Israeli museum to commemorate the B-17's role in the Israeli 1948 war for independence. The B-17 may actually have been sold as it was registered for several years to Scott D. Smith of Colorado Springs, Colorado, though the B-17 remained in Fort Lauderdale under gradual restoration. In 1998 it was also expected that the Air Station Museum of Arlington, Washington, would buy the B-17E but apparently could not come up with the multi-million dollar price tag. Then, somewhat unexpectedly, the B-17 was flown in September 1998 to Moses Lake, Washington, where it was rolled into one of the old SAC hangars on the field and locked up and the registration was transferred to the Flying Heritage Collection. Information about the Flying Heritage Collection is hard to come by; one rumor is that a principal owner is a Microsoft executive. Details will be added here when they are forthcoming; if anyone has any additional information they would like to add, please let us know.

• Back in July 1979, a B-17G being operated as an air tanker crashed near Superior, Montana, located about 50 miles west of Missoula. At the time of the crash, the B-17, N66573 (s/n 42-102715), was owned and operated by Black Hills Aviation out of Spearfish, South Dakota. Earlier in its civil history, N66573 had been operated on international aerial surveys by Fairchild Aerial Surveys of Los Angeles, California. Between 1953 and 1961, N66573 mapped much of the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the U.S. Army and, some might suggest, the CIA. Fairchild flight crews became quite attached to this airplane and two other B-17s operated by Fairchild. In mid-September 1998, two ex-Fairchild crewmembers made a journey to the crash site to revisit the remains of their old friend. The crash site is nothing but small parts of wreckage now but the pair, accompanied by local newspaper and TV media, nonetheless made the trek on a remote forest service road to view the wreckage of the old B-17. The remains of the B-17 are claimed by a local Missoula museum, the Mountain Flying Museum, which is located at the Missoula airport but there is so little left of the airframe that its value is more sentimental than practical.

September 1998

• The internet is all abuzz about a B-17 recently discovered in Dyke Lake in Labrador (Canada). Details remain sketchy; however, part of the original crew which located the Greenland P-38s are involved. The B-17, which reportedly belly-landed in 1947 on the then-frozen Dyke Lake and subsequently sank to the bottom of the lake when it thawed, has been located and photographed. The aircraft is reportedly in 30 feet of water and is in good condition. Several photos are available for viewing on a website. The announced intent is to recover and restore this B-17. There are known to be at least two B-17s located in northeastern Canada, including B-17G 44-83790 which crashed in late 1947 or early 1948 while assigned to Goose Bay in Labrador. This may be the airframe recently located.

• Late news received in early September indicates that B-17E N8WJ (41-9210) has flown to Moses Lake, Washington, and is currently in storage in one of the field's old B-52 hangars. This same report also notes that the Air Station Museum at Arlington, Washington, had tried to purchase the airplane but was unable to raise the $2 million required. It is reportedly owned by a private individual in the Pacific Northwest who intends to complete the B-17E restoration, probably at Moses Lake. (Information courtesy of Michael Davis) The most recent FAA registration database indicates the B-17E is still registered to World Jet at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Also, July's Fly Past magazine has a short article and includes photos of the ongoing restoration at the World Jet facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and indicates the planned first flight in 1999. The rare B-17E was recovered from Bolivia by Don Whittington in 1990. The airframe suffered from extensive fuselage corrosion which has now been corrected in the restoration process. Rumors over the past few years suggested that the B-17E was slated for a new owner in Israel. The only other recovered B-17E airframes are B-17E 41-2595 (modified by Boeing to become the sole XC-108A), under a slow restoration at Galt, Illinois, and the partial remains of B-17E 41-9032, reportedly in storage at Tillamook, Oregon.

• The National Warplane Museum's August 15-16 airshow at Elmira, New York, saw the gathering of four flyable B-17s including the museum's own N9563Z "Fuddy Duddy" (44-83563); N3193G "Yankee Lady" (44-85829); N3703G "Memphis Belle" (44-83546); and N7227C "Texas Raiders" (44-83872).

• (Oops...corrected 9/25/98) To settle a question bantered about on the internet and other places: by the most current count, there are forty-two complete, recovered B-17 airframes in this wide-world. Of these, fourteen are operational and flown at least occasionally. Another twenty-one are on static display and available for public viewing. Four B-17s are under some form of restoration. Two B-17s are in storage with the National Air and Space Museum. One B-17G is in storage (or static display?) with the Musee de l'Air in Paris, France. The partial remains of another five (or six?) B-17s are also held. Of these, one (a crashed air tanker) is on static display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Florida. The other four are in storage and may form the basis for future restorations. Look to B-17 Locator for a complete listing.

July 1998

• With sadness, it's noted that Bob Sturges passed away in May 1998 at the age of 81. For anyone involved with the warbird industry, Sturges is remembered as one of the true pioneers. Sturges operated Columbia Airmotive from the Troutdale, Oregon, airport since the late 1940s. He owned five B-17s, one B-25, and numerous other warbird "types" in the years long before they were "warbirds." In 1946 he purchased 17 boxcars of B-17 spares from the Boeing Company and eventually amassed one of the largest inventories of B-17 parts in the world. He supplied air tanker and other B-17 operators through the 1960s. He is particularly noted for his instrumental role of bringing 44-85790 to Oregon for Art Lacey in 1947 and its eventual display on Lacey's gas station in Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland. In 1953 Sturges obtained a Coast Guard PB-1G (CG 77253) after it ran off the end of a runway at NAS Sand Point near Seattle, disassembled the airframe, and covertly(!) transported it overland to Troutdale where it served as a spares source for many years. Sturges eventually turned over the operation of his business to his sons but he kept his hand in the operation and served as a gracious source of information for the warbird industry during the last decade.

• The Museum of Flight's B-17F, N17W, is on display on the Museum's ramp at Boeing Field in Seattle. It has flown several times since its maiden flight in May 1998 after a six year-long restoration. The museum plans to display the rare B-17F outdoors, weather permitting, and hope to have a temporary building in place to allow continued public display of the B-17 through the coming bad weather of fall and winter.

• In an attempt to find out if anyone is actually reading any of this, please give some feedback here to let me know if this feature is worth continuing. Thank you.

May 1998

• The March Field Museum (Riverside, California) is in the process of refurbishing its B-17G (44-6393, ex CP-891) and have reportedly discovered repaired combat damage which tends to confirm that this B-17 saw combat. According to official records, B-17G 44-6393 was assigned to the 15th Air Force between August 1944 and May 1945. However, no documented evidence has yet surfaced to indicate which, if any, bomb group the bomber was assigned to or how many combat missions it might have completed. There were six B-17 bomb groups assigned to the 15th Air Force, one of which was the 97th Bomb Group. The 97th Bomb Group Association has claimed 44-6393 as one of its own and contributed $30,000 toward the refurbishment of the B-17G. 44-6393 saw extensive post-war service as a VB-17G with the USAF and later went to Bolivia where it was extensively modified as a cargo hauler. It was traded into the USAF Museum Program in 1981 and has been displayed at the March Field Museum since then.

  Of the forty-one surviving B-17 airframes (excluding the numerous partial airframes and unrecovered B-17 wrecks), there are currently four B-17s with confirmed combat service: 40-3097 (B-17D, "The Swoose", in storage with the NASM); 41-24485 (B-17F, the "Memphis Belle", on display in Memphis); 42-32076 (B-17G "Shoo Shoo Baby", on display at the USAF Museum at Dayton, Ohio); and 44-8846 (currently operating in France as F-AZDX). Two other B-17s probably saw combat duty: 44-6393 at the March Museum and 44-8543 (B-17G "Chuckie" operated by Vintage Flying Machines at Fort Worth, Texas.

March 1998

• From browsing DejaNews comes the 2/23/98 report that there is a B-17 bomber at the bottom of Badin Lake in North Carolina. No further information is available.

• The Museum of Flight's B-17F N17W (42-29782) has had its engines run on the Boeing ramp at Renton, Washington. A flight from Renton to nearby Boeing Field is anticipated in mid-March, with the aircraft going into short-term storage there for protection against the weather.

January 1998

• The Seattle area Museum of Flight's N17W (B-17F 42-29782) is quickly approaching flight status. The meticulously-restored Fortress has been pulled out of the Boeing-Renton plant and is now on the Boeing ramp protected by tarps as the final checks are completed. The six-year restoration effort, spearheaded by Boeing's Management Association, has brought the vintage bomber back to the off-the-production line state it enjoyed in February 1943 when it was built at nearby Boeing Field. Much of the restorative effort has concentrated on the fuselage, which had undergone dozens of modifications in the ensuing years as the N17W was used as a ag sprayer, air tanker, and movie star. Inside and out, however, this B-17F has been returned to pristine condition. (Flight Journal and Ed Davies)

• The Colling's Foundation N93012 (B-17G 44-83575) has begun it's 1998 tour with the Colling's B-24. The tour has begun in Florida, with first dates at Fort Lauderdale between January 16th and 20th.

December 1997

• Dave Tallichet's B-17G, N3703G, is undergoing an engine change at Lawrence, Massachusetts, and is expected to return to its home base at Chino, California, in the near future. This aircraft has spent several years on the east coast, either touring our undergoing repairs after several incidents. N3703G (s/n 44-83546) is best known for its major role in "The Memphis Belle" in 1989 and has been modified to closely resemble an earlier B-17F, down to having the characteristic "G" chin turret patch removed and replaced with unbroken aluminum panels under the nose section.

November 1997

• Art Lacey's B-17, 44-85790, which for the past 50 years has been displayed atop his gas station alongside old Highway 99 in Milwaukie, Oregon (just south of Portland) has had its nose section removed for rebuild at Vintage Aircraft Restoration Company at the Aurora airport (30 miles south of Portland). (Flypast Magazine, November 1997) Editor's comment: For the real story on how this airplane made it from Altus, Oklahoma, to Milwaukie, Oregon, in 1947 see the book Final Cut for pilot Bob Sturges' account of the journey.

• The B-17 Owners/Operators Co-Op met during the week of November 10th, hosted by the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field near Seattle, Washington. Ten B-17s were represented, including nine of the thirteen flying B-17s. Ideas and problems were exchanged, as was the news that the Museum of Flight's B-17F, N17W, should be flying again in early spring 1998 after a seven year restoration effort at the nearby Renton Plant of the Boeing Company. (Todd Hackbarth)

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2003 B-17 News
2002 B-17 News
1997-2001 B-17 News