| B-17 Flying Fortress |
The B-17 Flying Fortress was developed during World War II for the US Army as a strategic, long-range, multiengine bomber. B-17s served in all theaters of the war and were legendary for being able to lose engines and even chunks of their fuselage in brutal attacks and still return their crew safely home. Several variants of the B-17 were developed during the war each featuring improvements like additional armament and more crew capacity. The final B-17 was the B-17G, which was produced in larger quantities than any previous model.
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| FACTS & STATS: |
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| Range |
2,400 miles (3,862 km) |
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| Length |
| 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m) |
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| Engine |
| Four 1,200-horsepower Wright R-1820-97 engines |
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| Wingspan |
| 103 ft 9 in (31.63 m) |
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| Max Speed |
287 mph (462 kmh)
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| Ceiling |
| 35,000 ft (10,668 m) |
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| Weight |
Empty 36,135 lbs (16,391 kgs);
max takeoff: 65,000 lbs (29,484 kgs) |
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| Armament |
| Thirteen .50 cal. machine guns, plus 17,600 lb. (7,983 kg) max. bomb load |
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| Click on the pictures below to learn more about each image! |
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