It combined features of the company's experimental XB-15 bomber and 247 transport.
Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells, and was built at Boeing's own expense. The prototype B-17, with the Boeing factory designation of Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. The competition for the air corps contract was to be decided by a "fly-off" between Boeing's design, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin Model 146 at Wilbur Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000 mi (3,200 km) and a speed of 250 mph (400 km/h). Requirements were for it to carry a "useful bombload" at an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m) for 10 hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph (320 km/h). The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. On 8 August 1934, the USAAC tendered a proposal for a multiengine bomber to replace the Martin B-10. 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. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. Īs of November 2022, four aircraft remain airworthy, none flown in combat. aircraft, over 640 000 tons (42.6%) were dropped from B-17s. Of the roughly 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. 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. The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. It also developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. It was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances but from its inception, the USAAC (later, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, then introduced it into service in 1938. 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. It was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
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