Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

"B-17" redirects here. For other uses, see B17 (disambiguation).
"B-17 Bomber" and "B-17 Flying Fortress" redirect here. For the video games, see B-17 Bomber (video game) and B-17 Flying Fortress (video game).
"Flying Fortress" redirects here. For the film, see Flying Fortress (film).

B-17 Flying Fortress
A B-17G, Sentimental Journey, performing at the 2014 Chino Airshow in Chino, California
General information
TypeHeavy bomber
National originUnited States
ManufacturerBoeing
StatusRetired; small number in service as warbirds
Primary usersUnited States Army Air Forces
Number built12,731[1][2]
History
Manufactured1936–1945
Introduction dateApril 1938
First flight28 July 1935[3]
Variants
Developed intoBoeing 307 Stratoliner

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the American four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the German multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. The B-17 was also employed in transport, anti-submarine warfare, and search and rescue roles.

In a USAAC competition, Boeing's prototype Model 299/XB-17 outperformed two other entries but crashed, losing the initial 200-bomber contract to the Douglas B-18 Bolo. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, which were introduced into service in 1938. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances[4][5] but from its inception, the USAAC (from 1941 the United States Army Air Forces, USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon. It was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bomb load. It also developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base.

The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted air raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.[6] But it was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight component of the Allied strategic bombing campaign over Europe, complementing RAF Bomber Command's night bombers in attacking German industrial, military and civilian targets.[7] Of the roughly 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by Allied aircraft, over 640,000 tons (42.6%) were dropped from B-17s.[8]

At the start of 2024, six aircraft remain in flying condition.[citation needed] About 50 survive in storage or are on static display, the oldest of which is The Swoose, a B-17D which was flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of the United States' involvement in World War II. There are also several reasonably complete wrecks, such as underwater, that have been found. B-17 survivors gained national attention in 2022 in the United States, when one was destroyed in a fatal mid-air collision with another warbird at an airshow.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yenne.p8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Angelucci and Matricardi 1988, p. 46.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference first flight was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Parker 2013, pp. 35, 40–48.
  5. ^ Herman 2012, pp. 292–299, 305, 333.
  6. ^ Parker 2013, p. 41.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carey Pointblank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yenne.p46 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).