© M.D. Howley Sept 2005 / No. 214 Squadron Association
Boeing
Fortress Mk III (B-17G)
In service from November 1944 to July 1945
214
SQUADRON BU-U B17 FLYING FORTRESS
USAF
FLYING FORTRESS
Fortress
BU-A (ABLE) HB 767
Copyright P/O Bill Foskett
NOTE:
The original of the Fortress picture above is held by P/O Bill Foskett.
Researcher, Ian Hunt reports that this same photo has already appeared in
at least one book, stating it's SR384 (which was also coded BU-A) in which
F/O Hockley was lost on 24 May 1944.
In
response for the Army's request for a large, multi engine bomber, the B-17
(Model 299) prototype, financed entirely by Boeing, went from design board
to flight test in less than 12 months. The B-17 was a low-wing monoplane that
combined aerodynamic features of the XB-15 giant bomber, still in the design
stage, and the Model 247 transport. The B-17 was the first Boeing military
aircraft with a flight deck instead of an open cockpit and was armed with
bombs and five .30-caliber machine guns mounted in clear "blisters."
The first B-17s saw combat in 1941, when the British Royal Air Force took
delivery of several B-17s for high-altitude missions.
As
World War II intensified, the bombers needed additional armament and armor.
The B-17E, the first mass-produced model Flying Fortress, carried nine machine
guns and a 4,000-pound bomb load. It was several tons heavier than the prototypes
and bristled with armament. It was the first Boeing airplane with the distinctive
- and enormous - tail for improved control and stability during high-altitude
bombing. Each version was more heavily armed. In the Pacific, the planes earned
a deadly reputation with the Japanese, who dubbed them "four-engine fighters."
The Fortresses were also legendary for their ability to stay in the air after
taking brutal poundings. They sometimes limped back to their bases with large
chunks of the fuselage shot off.
Boeing
plants built a total of 6,981 B-17s in various models, and another 5,745 were
built under a nationwide collaborative effort by Douglas and Lockheed (Vega).
Only a few B-17s survive today; most were scrapped at the end of the war.
Some of the last Flying Fortresses met their end as target drones in the 1960s
- destroyed by Boeing Bomarc missiles.
First
flight: 28 July 1935
Model
number: 299
Classification:
Bomber
Span:
103 feet 9 inches (B-17G)
Length:
74 feet 9 inches (B-17G)
Gross
weight: 65,000 pounds (B-17G)
Top
speed: 287 mph (B-17G)
Cruising
speed: 150 mph (B-17G)
Range
(max.): 3,750 miles (B-17G)
Ceiling:
35,600 feet (B-17G)
Power:
Four 1,200-horsepower Wright R-1820-97 engines (B-17G)
Accommodation:
2 pilots, bombardier, radio-operator, 5 gunners (B-17G)
Armament:
11 to 13 machine guns, 9,600-pound bomb load (B-17G)
SOURCE:
pictures, BU-U from model source unknown, USAF unknown
B-17G
Fortress III BK117/BU-U RAF 214 Sqd
The
Boeing Flying Fortress helped turn the tide of WWII, bristling with gun
turrets and powered by four WrightCyclone piston engines. About 200 Fortress
II, IIA and III variants were delivered to the RAF from mid 1942 onwards.
These were the RAF designations for the B-17E, 'F & 'G.
214
Squadron of the RAF Bomber Command was equipped with the Fortress II from
January to November 1944. These were then supplemented by the Fortress III
from February 1944, including BK117 coded "BU-U".
USA
B17 (Note picture of FDR on the nose)
Note
also the metalled runway
B17F being
assembled in USA
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