The Boeing B-17G WWII Bomber: What We Know

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — The first flight of the Boeing-built B-17G bomber was in July of 1935. With four 1,200-horsepower engines, the plane accommodated two pilots, a bombardier, a navigator, a radio-operator, and five gunners. Equipped with 11 to 13 machine guns, it had a 9,600-pound bomb load.

A bio on Boeing's website reads, "On July 28, 1935, a four-engine plane took off from Boeing Field in south Seattle on its first flight. Rolling out of the Boeing hangar, it was simply known as the Model 299. Seattle Times reporter Richard Smith dubbed the new plane, with its many machine-gun mounts, the 'Flying Fortress,' a name that Boeing quickly adopted and trademarked. The U.S. Army Air Corps designated the plane as the B-17."

Boeing writes that, "In the Pacific, the planes earned a deadly reputation with the Japanese, who dubbed them 'four-engine fighters.' The Fortresses were also legendary for their ability to stay in the air after taking brutal poundings."

Boeing got a letter in 2010 from an 88 year-old veteran who said that "he returned to England after a bombing raid over Germany with 179 flak holes and only two out of the four engines, he wrote: 'I’m glad to be alive. Thank you for making such a good airplane.'”

Gen. Carl Spaatz, the American air commander in Europe, said, “Without the B-17 we may have lost the war.”

Wednesday Oct. 2 at 9:53 a.m. at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, one of the few remaining B-17G bombers crashed killing seven including the pilot.

The plane, captained by Ernest 'Mac' McCauley, 75,who had logged some 7,300 hours flying the bomber, was a touring craft for aficionados and WWII history buffs.

The crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The B-17G Flying Fortress was part of a fleet of touring WWII planes

The World War II B-17G Flying Fortress heavy bomber, owned by the Collings Foundation was at Bradley as part of its Wings of Freedom Tour, according to the foundation's Facebook page.
In a Hartford Courant report about the tour, it was noted that the vintage planes could be toured for $15 and that flights were available for a higher fee.

The craft is a four-engined "heavy bomber" developed in the 1930s and was among the most significant of bombers in the WWII Allied campaign against the Nazis.

According to a military aircraft site, "The legendary bomber accounted for over 290,000 sorties with 640,000 tons of ordnance dropped during World War II."

It was one of just over a dozen still registered to fly currently in the nation.

The foundation said it was cooperating fully with authorities. It has shuttered its website to only include this message:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were on that flight and we will be forever grateful to the heroic efforts of the first responders at Bradley. The Collings Foundation flight team is fully cooperating with officials to determine the cause of the crash of the B-17 flying Fortress and will comment further when details become known."

Kevin MacDonald wrote on Facebook that his grandfather flew a B-17.

Hundreds take to Facebook to share experiences of flying in the B-17

There are more than 1,300 comments on this post from Collings. In dozens and dozens, people share their experiences aboard the craft. Many recall their time visiting the plane as among the most memorable of their lives and in particular, because it helped them connect with the past where dozens shared that a family member flew in Allied campaign in WWII to defeat the Nazis.

One person wrote, "We are truly saddened by this."

"One of the pilots of this foundation was at Love Field for an air show in 2017. My sister, Donna, and I told him about my Dad who was a navigator in WWII and flew an unheard of 56 missions, and that he was at home just a couple of miles north of there but due to him being on hospice, he couldn’t make it to see the B-17 one more time. The pilot asked us for some landmarks and said to have our Dad outside in the front yard at 16:45 - 1700 hours and he would do his best to fly over. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen (or felt), he flew right over us. We could feel the vibration and hear him coming long before he got there. It covered the sky over our house. My Dad said “that rascal did that for me?” He had a huge smile. i will never forget the Collings Foundation. They have kept the WWII planes alive. This is a tragedy. #collingsfoundation"