Honored Webmaster, Magnificent "Aviation Research Posse Comitatus" members, distinguished Forum members, esteemed readers:
THIS IS THE FINAL "MODERNIZED" LIST OF B-17B AIRCRAFT, ALONG WITH THE FINAL LIST OF AIRCRAFT THAT, BY VIRTUE OF THEIR VISIT TO BOEING BETWEEN JULY AND THE END OF AUGUST, 1941, ALONG WITH PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE IN A NUMBER OF CASES, SHOWS THAT ANY AIRCRAFT THAT ARE LISTED AS HAVING VISITED BOEING AND RETURNING TO THE ORIGINATING BASE, ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY UPGRADED TO FULL B-17C STANDARD WITH EXCEPTION OF ENGINE AIR INTAKES (OUTER NACELLE AND UNDER INNER NACELLE) AND MISSION COMMANDER'S BUBBLE (STILL OFFSET TO RIGHT OF AIRCRAFT CENTERLINE):
"Modernized" aircraft: (mostly flush waists and nose change to .30 caliber machine gun ports along with ADF "Football")[other modifications noted in listing]:
38-215 "1"
38-216 "2"
38-219 (photos of crash show also flush radio position)
38-221
38-262
38-263
38-265
38-266
38-610
39-001"15" (photo at Lowery Field "Boneyard" shows flush radio position)
39-007
39-008
39-009
Aircraft that MAY have been "Modernized" but have no such notation although they may have dates in July-August for visiting San Antonio Air Depot, include:
38-263
38-264
38-269
39-004
And, after going through all 39 B-17B IARCs, these are the 19 aircraft which Peter Bowers described as "Modernized," although the aircraft were actually upgraded to almost full B-17C Standard(almost all at Boeing):
38-211"18" (In first outdoor scene in Air Force)
38-212
38-213
38-214
38-218 Mildred
38-223
38-258
38-260
38-261"07" (in flightline taxi-out scenes early in Air Force )
38-268"79" Moonbeam McSwine (Photos submitted to this forum)
38-270"17" (Photos in Hendricks Yearbook, Sebring Airport website)
38-583
38-584"10"Mary Ann ("05564" seen in Air Force )
39-002
39-003 [Amarillo photo, showing tail, 1944]
39-006"04" (crash photos from Sebring/Hendricks crash report show flush radio position at least - aircraft appears to be resting on "bathtub")
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis L "Dan" Katz