The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was the first mass-produced, four-engine heavy bomber. It was most widely used for daylight strategic bombing of German industrial targets during World War II as part of the United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy.
The prototype B-17 first flew on July 28 1935 as the Boeing Model 299, with Boeing chief test pilot Les Tower at the controls. During a demonstration later that year at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, Model 299 competed with the Douglas DB-1 and Martin Model 146 for a U.S. Army Air Corps contract to build a "multi-engined" bomber. At that time "multi-engined" generally meant two engines. The four engine Boeing design displayed superior performance, but Army officials were daunted by the much greater expense per aircraft. The Army ordered the two engine Douglas B-18 Bolo as it was less expensive than the Boeing Model 299. Development continued on the Boeing Model 299. October 30th of 1935 the Army Air Corps test pilot Ployer Hill took the Model 299 on a second evaluation flight. The flyers forgot to disengage the plane\'s "gust lock"--a device that holds the bomber\'s movable control surfaces in place while the plane was parked on the ground--and the aircraft took off, entered a steep climb, stalled, nosed over, and crashed. [1]. In January of 1936, the Air Corps ordered thirteen YB-17s with a number of significant changes from the Model 299, most notably that of the engines to more powerful Wright R-1820-39 Cyclones, next to 99 B-18s (successor of the DB-1).
The first B-17 went into service in 1938. By December 7 1941, few B-17s were in use by the Army. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, production was quickly accelerated. The aircraft served in every World War II combat zone. By the time production ended in May 1945, 12,700 aircraft had been built by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-17_Flying_Fortress
Boeing B-17
Duxford, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Pink Lady’
Boeing B-17
Duxford, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Pink Lady’
Boeing B-17
Duxford, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Pink Lady’
Boeing B-17
Duxford, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Pink Lady’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’
Boeing B-17
Little Gransden, Cambs, UKB-17 ‘Sally B’