Fortress IIa, B-17E or what?

[JohnDell]

Going through some of the photos I’ve found on the internet, I came across this odd picture. I can’t remember where I got it, it might even have been here. Apologies if it did.

At first glance it looks like an RAF Coastal Command Fortress IIa. But when one looks closer, the aircraft has late war AAF insignia and a U.S. serial number. And if you look even closer, it appears to have the Lockheed-Vega B-17F cheek gun window configuration!

It has the astro-dome that a Fortress IIa would have. It also has the correct props and cowls for the B-17E and Fortress IIa. But what is up with the B-17F Vega cheek gun window? Does anyone know the story of this aircraft? I’m also curious what the color scheme is.

Thanks in advance.

[varsity07840]

The first two digets of the serial no. appear to be 19 which would denote a B-17E. The cheek guns look like a field mod.
The aircraft was probably turned over to the U.S., for unknown reasons.

Duane

[Steve Birdsall]

That's a scan of Al Lloyd Collection photo that I made and posted about six years ago.

It's USAAF and in the United States, but I don't know if anyone's figured out the complete serial number.

[JohnDell]

Thank you Mr. Birdsall for clarifying where the photo originated. The fact that this was a state side B-17E kind of adds to the mystery as I was thinking this was perhaps a Fortress IIa that made its way back to the AAF. I’ll have to take some time and dig through the B-17E listings in Roger Freeman and David Osborne’s “The B-17 Flying Fortress Story”. I find these oddball B-17s particularly fascinating.

[Steve Birdsall]

I think you can be pretty certain that the first four digits of the radio call number are 1914, so the possibilities are fairly limited.