Resurrecting a B-17 Flying Fortress WW2 Bomber | The City Of Savannah | Boeing Heavy Bomber

Resurrecting the B-17 "City of Savannah". Restoring a B-17 Flying Fortress.
On Dec. 3, 1944, a rare pause interrupted the assembly line at Hunter Field as soldiers and civilians gathered on the flight line to christen one of the gleaming B-17Gs as the City of Savannah.
Now known as Hunter Army Airfield, the post was then a training base for the Army Air Corps. During the last two years of World War II, its 10,000-man work force processed 9,000 aircraft and 70,000 crewmen to assignments throughout the world.
The City of Savannah, however, was a singular endeavor.
Men, women and schoolchildren throughout Savannah participated in a war-bond drive to finance a B-17 and train and equip its crew. The goal of $500,000 was actually "oversubscribed," a Treasury Department official said.
When it came time to present the plane and its crew, several thousand Savannahians crowded onto the base for the ceremonies. They listened as the Hunter Field Band presented a concert of military tunes, watched as pilot Lt. Ralph W. Kittle and the rest of the B-17's crew were introduced, and bowed their heads as the base chaplain bestowed his blessings on the bomber.
The City of Savannah then took off for England.
There, it was assigned to the 388th Bomb Group at Knettishall Air Base. This 8th Air Force unit flew over targets in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
On its 13th mission, the City of Savannah flew deep into Germany and lost three engines to enemy fire. It nonetheless made it to the target and dropped its bombs, but it didn't have enough power to make the return trip to Knettishall.

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, then introduced it into service in 1938. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances but from its inception, the USAAC (later, the 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 bombload. 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 raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. But it was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight strategic bombing campaign over Europe, complementing RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing of German industrial, military and civilian targets. Of the roughly 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, over 640 000 tons (42.6%) were dropped from B-17s.

As of November 2022, four aircraft remain airworthy, none flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of the United States' involvement in World War II.

General characteristics

Crew: 10: Pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier/nose gunner, flight engineer/top turret gunner, radio operator, waist gunners (2), ball turret gunner, tail gunner
Length: 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m)
Wingspan: 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m)
Height: 19 ft 1 in (5.82 m)
Wing area: 1,420 sq ft (131.92 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 0018 / NACA 0010
Empty weight: 36,135 lb (16,391 kg)
Gross weight: 54,000 lb (24,500 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 65,500 lb (29,700 kg)
Aspect ratio: 7.57
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton-Standard constant-speed propeller
Performance

Maximum speed: 287 mph (462 km/h, 249 kn)
Cruise speed: 182 mph (293 km/h, 158 kn)
Range: 2,000 mi (3,219 km, 1,738 nmi) with 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) bombload
Ferry range: 3,750 mi (6,040 km, 3,260 nmi)
Service ceiling: 35,600 ft (10,850 m)
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
Wing loading: 38.0 lb/sq ft (185.7 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.089 hp/lb (150 W/kg)
Armament
Guns: 13 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in 9 positions (2 in the Bendix chin turret, 2 on nose cheeks, 2 staggered waist guns, 2 in upper Sperry turret, 2 in Sperry ball turret in belly, 2 in the tail and one firing upwards from radio compartment behind bomb bay)
Bombs:
Short range missions; Internal load only ( less than 400 mi): 8,000 lb (3,600 kg)
Long range missions; Internal load only (≈800 mi): 4,500 lb (2,000 kg)
Max Internal and External load: 17,600 lb (7,800 kg)

#B17 #bomber #aircraft

[jdmmike]

I was lucky enough to be able to ride in a B-17 with my late father years ago at the Corsair's Over Connecticut airshow. I also got to ride in a T-6 Texan which was really awesome. Such a good day. I got a feeling like "Man most of the best WW2 American fighter pilots learned on this beauty of a plane."

[alantoon]

The museum has done a great job since it opened.
My contribution...three plastic model airplanes on the Deenethorpe diorama.

[davidblack]

Man, It would be so much fun to be part of the restoration crew . To see it come together and know you had a hand in it must be an awesome feeling .

[pickititllneverheal]

What a cool restoration. Thanks for sharing.

[jimfinlaw]

I wish the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force good luck on their B-17G restoration project for static display. I'm not too surprised they found a B-17 top turret here in Ohio because they were manufactured right here in Ohio during the war. I flew on the B-17G Liberty Belle back in 2009 from Bolton Field in Columbus, Ohio to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton to take part in the USAF's Tatoo Celebration there then we flew back to Bolton Field in Columbus. It was the best two hour flight in a B-17G I ever had. The flight crew were really awesome. Its currently being restored back to flying condition in Douglas, Georgia. My father was a Second Lieutenant in the USAAF during WWII and he was an instructor pilot in B-17's, B-24's and Martin B-26 Marauders when he was stationed at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida in 1944. One of the planes he actually flew during the war and survives today is the famous B-17F Memphis Belle when it was assigned to the 483rd Bomb Squadron at MacDill Field in 1944. My father was their instructor pilot. I'm sure my father showed his students that B-17 training film in this video. Back in 2007, I was on the Memphis Belle's restoration team while volunteering at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB and it took us 3 months to restore the Belle's landing gear to what you see today. It was an honor and a privilege to help restore such an iconic B-17F to static display. I encourage anyone who is interested in working on any of these B-17 projects out there to do so because its very rewarding.

[jstephenallington]

It's wonderful to see one of these great aircraft being restored so that future generations can see what great aircraft that they were.
I've also had a chance to fly aboard one of the restored Flying Forts, and while I wouldn't trade the experience for (almost) anything, I did so with great sadness and a firm belief that these fine aircraft (and other old warbirds) should be preserved, intact, for future generations to appreciate by grounding them now, before terrible accidents like the one that just happened in Texas, take the last of these grand old aircraft away from us forever.
This one fact remains, one day the last of these aircraft will takeoff, fly and then come back down for the last time, and it is on us what condition the aircraft is in at the end of that flight.

[stulynn]

These old training films are so much cooler after you actually have a chance to work on one

[wadeguidry]

Cool! Now I know how to fly a plane. Thanks dudes!

[DanO.]

These airmen had to know so much because everything was mechanical like using paper charts etc very talented and brave men

[flyingfortressrc]

I was lucky enough to see this bird in the early 80's when it was briefly at the Pima Air Museum. It was only there for a month or two before it disappeared.
I'm glad to see it being restored so well.

[JasSta]

Great effort on the restoration job. She's gonna look schmick! Interesting to see on a warbird aircraft as well known as a B-17, there are still so many bits and pieces that are not available, or lack drawings/info . The turrets a good example, -no plans, parts, maybe some old pics, surprised there isn't plenty parts/info/drawings out there.
Biiig job becomes maybe thousands of little jobs. Not easy at all and respect people who can plug on and slowly tick off each job until one

[ALLRCAIRCRAFT]

Such beautiful work. With all that work, why not make it flying?

[travismauldin]

Will it be restored to fly or display?

[neilhaas]

The B-17 Flying Fortress is a unique war plane bomber as seen in Red Tails movie. The B-17 fought against the Luftwaffe planes the Luftwaffe itself. Nice airplane four engines & the turrets. Love the U.S. Navy. 🇺🇲🇺🇲❤️👍🤗😁😀

[dukecraig]

The instructor pilot in the training film is Arthur Kennedy, after the war he went on to be a pretty famous actor in Hollywood who among other parts played the role of Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia.

[markrix]

I think it's kind of strange that we made so many of these war items during WWII and they're so hard to find out is but this plan is beautiful

[Barstool_cub_driver]

Two things:

I remember when the M8M “acquired” the pilot side instrument panel of the actual Memphis Belle. They tried trading it back to the USAF Museum . The USAF Museum had to threaten to bring legal actions to take the panel back.

2. They once gave me two free tickets to the MAAM WW2 weekend airshow.

[glennboyd]

The Memphis Belle has to be one of the most absurd war movies that ever came out of Hollywood. If you want to see the reality experienced by the brave men who fought in the B17's then I suggest that you watch the original documentary footage shot of her last combat flight during WW2. The tension, fear and real drama are all to apparent and you will be on the edge of your seat from start to finish, believe me!

[jimrahn]

My father flew mapping missions over the arctic for the Canadian government in this aircraft when it belonged to Kenting Aviation as CF-HBP

[theallseeingmaster]

But will she be air worthy after all the work?