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Flying Fortress - Aircraft Profile - : Flying Fortress

Flying Fortress

Manufacturer :
Number Built : 12677
Production Began :
Retired :
Type : Bomber

In the mid-1930s engineers at Boeing suggested the possibility of designing a modern long-range monoplane bomber to the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1934 the USAAC issued Circular 35-26 that outlined specifications for a new bomber that was to have a minimum payload of 2000 pounds, a cruising speed in excess of 200-MPH, and a range of at least 2000 miles. Boeing produced a prototype at its own expense, the model 299, which first flew in July of 1935. The 299 was a long-range bomber based largely on the Model 247 airliner. The Model 299 had several advanced features including an all-metal wing, an enclosed cockpit, retractable landing gear, a fully enclosed bomb bay with electrically operated doors, and cowled engines. With gun blisters glistening everywhere, a newsman covering the unveiling coined the term Flying Fortress to describe the new aircraft. After a few initial test flights the 299 flew off to Wright Field setting a speed record with an average speed of 232-mph. At Wright Field the 299 bettered its competition in almost all respects. However, an unfortunate crash of the prototype in October of 1935 resulted in the Army awarding its primary production contract to Douglas Aircraft for its DB-1 (B-18.) The Army did order 13 test models of the 299 in January 1936, and designated the new plane the Y1B-17. Early work on the B-17 was plagued by many difficulties, including the crash of the first Y1B-17 on its third flight, and nearly bankrupted the Company. Minor quantities of the B-17B, B-17C, and B-17D variants were built, and about 100 of these aircraft were in service at the time Pearl Harbor was attacked. In fact a number of unarmed B-17s flew into the War at the time of the Japanese attack. The German Blitzkrieg in Europe resulted in accelerated aircraft production in America. The B-17E was the first truly heavily armed variant and made its initial flight in September of 1941. B-17Es cost $298,000 each and more than 500 were delivered. The B-17F and B-17G were the truly mass-produced wartime versions of the Flying Fortress. More than 3,400 B-17Fs and more than 8,600 B-17Gs would be produced. The American daylight strategic bombing campaign against Germany was a major factor in the Allies winning the War in Europe. This campaign was largely flown by B-17 Flying Fortresses (12,677 built) and B-24 Liberators (18,188 built.) The B-17 bases were closer to London than those of the B-24, so B-17s received a disproportionate share of wartime publicity. The first mission in Europe with the B-17 was an Eighth Air Force flight of 12 B-17Es on August 12, 1942. Thousands more missions, with as many as 1000 aircraft on a single mission would follow over the next 2 ½ years, virtually decimating all German war making facilities and plants. The B-17 could take a lot of damage and keep on flying, and it was loved by the crews for bringing them home despite extensive battle damage. Following WW II, B-17s would see some action in Korea, and in the 1948 Israel War. There are only 14 flyable B-17s in operation today and a total of 43 complete airframes

Flying Fortress


Latest Flying Fortress Artwork Releases !
 Me109s attack a raiding formation of American B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.  The additional portrait is of German Ace Gunther Rall.

In Defence of the Reich by Jason Askew. (P)
  It was in 1941 that the remarkable Focke-Wulfe FW190 first appeared in the skies of Europe, quickly establishing itself as a most formidable adversary. It proved to be the supreme weapon against all allied bomber forces. Here FW190A-8 of 1 Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 1 is shown attacking a B17G of 381st Bomb Group during a critical defence of the Reich in 1944.

Cat Among the Pigeons (FW190) by Ivan Berryman. (PC)
 A pair of P51D Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, escort a damaged B17G Flying Fortress of the 381st Bomb Group back to its home base of Ridgewell, England, during the Autumn of 1944.

Last One Home by Ivan Berryman. (PC)
 The winter of 1944 / 45 wasn't the coldest ever recorded in England but it came close. The weather was bitter and, in what would turn out to be the last Christmas of the war, temperatures plunged across the country, bringing ice, freezing fog and deep banks of drifting snow.  Airfields across East Anglia stood bleak and frost-bound, runways kept clear of snow when conditions allowed, whilst the heavy bombers of the US Eighth Air Force remained under wraps, engines oiled, warmed and ready for any break in the banks of murky fog that would allow them to fly. And when those breaks came, the bombers were back in action ready to play their part in the final destruction of Hitler's Third Reich. The end game was rapidly approaching and both sides knew it.  Clearing Skies portrays one such break in the weather when, with recent heavy snow beginning to thaw, the B-17 Fortresses of the famous 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk are being prepared for a new mission to Germany in early 1945.  Earning the nickname 'The Bloody Hundredth' due to the heavy losses they suffered, Robert has fittingly chosen the 100th BG to represent all those who flew so heroically with the Eighth Air Force in England during World War II. The Eighth flew its final bomber operations of the war on 25th April 1945, the last of 968 combat missions involving over 523,000 sorties; they had dropped some 700,000 tons of bombs, inflicting destruction on a scale from which the enemy could never recover. Yet the cost of the victory in which they had played such a major part made for sober reading; they had lost some 6,130 bombers and fighters along with some 47,000 casualties, including more than 26,000 dead - half of the entire US Army Air Force losses during the conflict.

Clearing Skies by Robert Taylor.

Flying Fortress Artwork Collection



Return from Schweinfurt by Robert Taylor.


Fortress under Attack by Robert Taylor.


Cat Among the Pigeons (FW190) by Ivan Berryman.


In Defence of the Reich by Jason Askew. (P)


Clipped Signature - Hank Cervantes.


Clipped Signature - Harry M Hempy.


Clipped Signature - Joe Keenan.


Clipped Signature - Robert W Sternfels.


Clipped Signature - Dale Moon.


Clipped Signature - Alvin Brown.


Clipped Signature - Carl Peterson.


Guardian Angel by Anthony Saunders.


Berlin Bound by Anthony Saunders.


US Bombadier by Chris Collingwood.


Defenders of the Reich by Graeme Lothian.


Coming Home by Tim Fisher.


Scheherazade by Tim Fisher.


The Veteran by Simon Smith.


Safe Pastures by Mark Postlethwaite.


Last One Home by Ivan Berryman.


Clash of Eagles by Anthony Saunders.


A Welcome Return by Anthony Saunders.

Her Majesty the Queen by Brian Bateman.


Bringing the Peacemaker Home by Robert Taylor.


First Strike on Berlin by Nicolas Trudgian.


Legend of Colin Kelly by Robert Taylor.


Out of Fuel and Safely Home by Robert Taylor.


Return to Rattlesden by Nicolas Trudgian.


Final Encounter by Philip West.


Those Golden Moments by Philip West.


Back to English Soil by Keith Woodcock.


A Green Hill Far Away by Robert Tomlin.


Skipper Comes Home by Robert Taylor


Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian.


Schweinfurt - The Second Mission by Robert Taylor.


They Fought With What They Had by John D Shaw.

The Memphis Belle by Philip West.


B-17 Flying Fortress by Nicolas Trudgian.


A Welcome at the Inn by Nicolas Trudgian.


Thundering Home by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)


Teamwork by Nicolas Trudgian.


Red Tail Escort by Richard Taylor.


Nine O Nine by Philip West.


Silent Fortress by Randall Scott.


Favorite Lady by John Young.


Winter's Welcome by Robert Taylor. (GS)

Wounded Warrior by Richard Taylor.


Texas Raiders by Nicolas Trudgian.


Hikin' for Home by Ivan Berryman.


Boeing B-17G 297976 D by G Henderson.


Fortress at Rest by Richard Taylor.


Clearing Skies by Robert Taylor.


Deadly Pass by David Pentland.


B-17 Memphis Belle by Keith Woodcock.


Eagle Attack by Nicolas Trudgian


Rocket Attack by Nicolas Trudgian.

B17G Flying Fortress Little Miss Mischief by Barry Price.


Coming Home by Robert Taylor.


Gathering of Eagles by Robert Taylor.


Helping Hand by Robert Taylor.


Memphis Belle by Robert Taylor.


Mission Completed by Robert Taylor.


Return of the Belle by Robert Taylor.


Winters Welcome by Robert Taylor.


Combat over the Reich by Robert Taylor.


Thunderheads Over Ridgewell by Robert Taylor.


Top Cover by Stan Stokes.


Flying Into a War by Stan Stokes.


An Interesting Dog Fight by Stan Stokes.


Birth of a Legend by Stan Stokes.


Fortress Under Siege by Stan Stokes.

Portrait of a Queen by Stan Stokes.


Ruby's Fortress by Stan Stokes.


Nine-o-Nine by Stan Stokes.

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