Reviews
New Book on Q-Birds
Q-Birds: American Manned Aircraft as Drones Here is a brand new book that any serious student of post-war B-17 flying should find interesting. It is
Scott Thompson
December 14, 2024
News and Information
B-17 Articles
Owen Williams and His B-17s: Introduction
This is the first of a series of posts I will make on the B-17s owned or operated by Owen Williams. I will link back
Scott Thompson
December 12, 2024
B-17 News
November 22, 2024: Update From Madras
Work continues at the Erickson Aircraft Collection at Madras, Oregon, on the rebuilding of the wings for B-17G 44-85718 (N900RW), which is now known as
Scott Thompson
November 22, 2024
B-17 News
Update on the B-17 “Movie Memphis Belle” November 2024
Aviation author and photographer Nick Veronico visited the Palm Spring Air Museum very recently and provided this update on B-17G 44-83546 (N3703G), otherwise known as
Scott Thompson
November 4, 2024
B-17 News
A Pictorial History of Yankee Lady
The B-17G well known as “Yankee Lady” has been in the aviation news quite a bit in the summer of 2024. This is primarily due
aerovintage
October 22, 2024
B-17 Articles
The Story of Nobby’s Harriet “Z”
(Most of this post was originally published in the Aero Vintage November 2015 B-17 News page. It’s a good story and I thought it worth
Scott Thompson
August 28, 2024
B-17 Articles
Superchargers, Engines, and the B-17
Being designed in the mid-1930s, the B-17 enjoyed, at least initially, some of the rapid improvements in engine technology that occurred during the decade that
Scott Thompson
July 17, 2024
B-17 Articles
Something Fishy About This B-17
So this is the story of another obscure civil B-17, one was the only specifically modified to transport live tropical fish. Apart from that unusual
Scott Thompson
July 1, 2024
B-17 Articles
1956: USAF B-17s For Bolivia
From 1950 through the early 1980s, Bolivia came to operate 26 B-17s as cargo transports, mostly ‘meat-haulers’ that transported freshly slaughtered beef from sea-level airstrips
Scott Thompson
May 17, 2024
B-17 Articles
The Love Field Forts
The year is 1960 and the place is Dallas. The mournful wind that sweeps across the flat plains of north central Texas whistles through the
Scott Thompson
April 13, 2024
B-17 Articles
Studebaker B-17 Artwork: A Personal Story
During World War II, the automotive company Studebaker built nearly 68,000 R-1820 engines from one of its production plants in South Bend, Indiana. By the
Scott Thompson
March 29, 2024
B-17 News
2024 B-17 Spring and Summer Tours Announced
As the spring and summer flying and airshow season gets underway, it’s nice to see all three of the actively flying B-17s in the U.S.
Scott Thompson
March 25, 2024
B-17 Articles
Eight Myths About the B-17
Myth #1: There was a prototype XB-17 Boeing built a prototype four-engine bomber to meet Army specification 98-201 dated July 18, 1934, and Boeing designated
Scott Thompson
March 24, 2024
B-17 TV/Films
Filming the TV Series “12 O’Clock High” at Chino Airport, 1964-1966
(This post is edited and updated from a post that originally appeared in May 2022) The ABC Television series 12 O’Clock High was produced and
aerovintage
March 8, 2024
B-17 Articles
An Obscure, Clandestine(?) B-17G: 42-102642
This is a short story about another obscure B-17. It is short because little is known about why and how this airplane, B-17G s/n 42-102642,
Scott Thompson
March 1, 2024
B-17 Articles
Rattlesnakes and Idled Bombers: Post-War Pyote Army Air Field and its B-17s
Anyone who has spent time looking at the post-war trail left by the B-17 Flying Fortress knows about Pyote Army Air Field. The remote west
Scott Thompson
January 26, 2024
B-17 News
Flying B-17G “Sally B” with the RAF Lancaster
(The following was written by Training Captain Peter Kuypers with the B-17 Preservation Group that operates B-17G 44-85784, otherwise and better known as the “Sally
Scott Thompson
January 14, 2024
B-17 Articles
The Trials and Tribulations of VB-17G 44-83316
Unfortunately, it can’t really be called a surviving B-17 because there is so little left of it. Nonetheless, the trail of VB-17G 44-83316 through post-war
aerovintage
November 28, 2023
B-17 Articles
The Bozeman Bomber: A Long and Winding Road
Most of the surplus B-17s that survived the scrapping period after the war have diverse tales to tell, and it is often surprising to see
aerovintage
November 9, 2023
B-17 Articles
Another Early Obscure Civil B-17: N5723N
In the course of doing research on civil and post-war B-17s, I occasionally come across material that fills in some holes in the history of
Scott Thompson
September 23, 2023
B-17 News
B-17G 44-83690 at Museum of Aviation, Georgia
The first phase of a project to restore B-17G 44-83690 has been completed by the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia. The museum held
Scott Thompson
August 23, 2023
B-17 News
B-17G 44-85813 Update: August 17, 2023
The restoration of B-17G 44-85813, otherwise known as Champaign Lady, continues to make solid progress at Urbana, Ohio. The decades-long effort by the Champaign Air
Scott Thompson
August 16, 2023
B-17 News
B-17D 40-3097 Update: August 7, 2023
The sole remaining early “shark fin” B-17, B-17D 40-3097, is in the initial stages of a restoration or, probably better put, reassembly and preservation at
Scott Thompson
August 7, 2023
B-17 News
B-17E 41-2595 Restoration Update: July 29, 2023
The restoration crew at Marengo, Illinois, working to restore B-17E 41-2595 (otherwise known as Desert Rat) continues to make steady, if slow, progress on the
Scott Thompson
August 5, 2023
B-17 News
Update on B-17G 44-85740 (Aluminum Overcast): July 25, 2023
A short update on the status of B-17G 44-85740 (N5017N), better known as the EAA’s Aluminum Overcast. For the week of AirVenture at Oshkosh, the
Scott Thompson
August 2, 2023
B-17 Articles
An Early, Obscure Civil B-17: N1542M
In the course of doing some research on those B-17s transferred by the government to educational institutions in the early post-war years, I was made
aerovintage
July 11, 2023
B-17 News
B-17 AD Update: June 22, 2023
Good news announced today that the UK-based B-17G 44-85784 (G-BEDF), otherwise and better known as Sally B, has been cleared to fly by the UK
aerovintage
June 22, 2023
B-17 News
B-17G 44-85718 Update: June 11, 2023
I had occasion to visit the Erickson Aircraft Collection museum at Madras, Oregon, recently, and took a close look at B-17G 44-85718 (N900RW), that formerly
Scott Thompson
June 11, 2023
B-17 News
B-17 AD Update: June 10, 2023
Here is the current known situation with the FAA Airworthiness Directive that was effective on June 1, 2023, and the four formerly airworthy B-17s (Sentimental
Scott Thompson
June 10, 2023
B-17 News
B-17 AD Update: May 25, 2023
A couple of developments have occurred since the FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) was released on May 17. (The AD becomes effective on June 1.) First,
aerovintage
May 25, 2023