B-17 (Flying Fortress) Facts

• The Boeing B-17 is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) introduced in the 1930s.
• The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, civilian, and military targets.
• Stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage widely circulated, increasing its iconic status.
• Of the 1.5 million metric tons of bombs dropped on Germany by U.S. aircraft, 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s.
• Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times coined the name "Flying Fortress" when the Model 299 was rolled out, bristling with multiple machine gun installations.
• The aircraft went on to serve in every World War II combat zone, and by the time production ended in May 1945, 12,731 aircraft had been built by Boeing, Douglas and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed).
  
  
  
  
• The British Royal Air Force was the first to use the B-17 for combat purposes.
• Approximately 4,750, or one third, of B-17s built were lost in combat.
• Following World War II, the B-17 was declared obsolete and the Army Air Forces retired most of its fleet.
• About a dozen B-17s are still operable of some 50 airframes known to survive. Many of these surviving examples are surplus or training aircraft, which stayed in the U.S. during World War II. However, there are a few exceptions.
• The B-17 Flying Fortress has become, for many reasons, an icon of American power and a symbol of its Air Force.
• The B-17 was the primary aircraft in use by the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots).
• The most famous B-17, the Memphis Belle, toured the U.S. with its crew to reinforce national morale (and to sell War Bonds), and starred in a USAAF documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress.
• The Japanese called it the "four-engine fighter" since most fighter planes had one to two engines.