B17 FLYING FORTRESS
This cache is NOT
LOCATED at the ABOVE
COORDINATES!
They are for a suitable parking
area.
The
name Flying Fortress has entered the world of myth and legend.
Perhaps more than any other plane, the B-17 represented the power
of American aviation in the years that Europe was overrun by Axis
troops. A total of 12,731 Flying Fortresses were produced during
the war. Throughout the war they made history. On August 17, 1942,
B-17s began daylight bombing missions in Europe. On January 27,
1943, they began bombing raids on Germany. (The night bombing raids
were conducted by tour-engine RAF planes.) Wilhelmshaven,
Schweinfurt, Wiener Neustadt,
Regensburg, and Berlin were only some of the cities that saw the
skies filled with hundreds and hundreds of bombers in formation,
together with the flaming wreckage of hundreds more. Thousands of
lives were lost, and cities were almost completely
leveled.
The
most famous B17 is the Memphis Belle. In
May 1943 it became the
first U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25
missions over Europe and return to the United
States. It was
featured in a 1990 Hollywood feature
film.
Project 299, as
Boeing called it, got started on August 16, 1934, only eight days
after the company had received the official government request for
a prototype multi-engine bomber to be ready by August of the
following year. Specifications called for a plane that could
carry a payload of 2,000 pounds a distance of between 1,000 and
2,000 miles at speeds between 200 and 250
m.p.h. The Boeing designers took advantage of the knowledge
they had gained in building the civil transport Model 247 and in
developing the Model 294 bomber. The first prototype took to the
air on July 28,1935. Less than a month
later, in a transfer flight, it showed what it could do, flying
over 2,000 miles nonstop in nine hours. This plane was destroyed on
October 30 during takeoff, and 13 pre-series aircraft were ordered
built for testing. The first of these planes, the YB-17, took to
the air on December 2, 1936, and the others were delivered for
testing between March 1 and August 5, 1937, to the 2nd Bombardment
Group. Another body, originally designed for static testing, was
equipped with four Wright engines and super-chargers and designated
the Y1 B-17A. The performance of this plane was so promising that
the supercharger became standard in later production. Static tests
were deemed unnecessary after one of the Y1B-17s had flown through
a storm without any damage.
The first order for a series model came in
1938, when 39 B-l7Bs were ordered. A second order, for 38 B-17Cs
(with heavier armament, armor for crew, and self-sealing fuel
tanks) arrived in 1939, followed in 1940 by an order for 42 B-l7Ds,
which were substantially identical with the preceding model. These
last two versions of the Flying Fortress were the first to see
combat. They were used from May, 1941, by the British (B-17C, with
no great success) and after Pearl Harbor by the Americans. Most of
the B-17s at Pearl Harbor were destroyed on the ground by the
Japanese, but those that survived the Japanese attack were
responsible for the first American air offensive of World War II.
On December 10, 1941, B-17s attacked Japanese
shipping.
The 1941 version, the B-17E, was
extensively modified. The entire rear section of the plane was
radically altered to provide greater stability, especially at high
altitude, and to make room for the installation of a defensive gun
position in the tail. The plane's armament was increased by the
addition of two mechanically controlled gun turrets, one on the
back and one in the belly. Both turrets had 12.7-mm. guns, and
machine guns were also installed on the sides of the fuselage. Two
7.62-mm. light machine guns, manually operated, were kept forward.
A total of 512 B-17Es were built. They appeared in the Pacific
first, early in 1942, and later in Europe, in July, with units of
the 8th Air Force, based in Great Britain. On August 17 these
planes made their first raid on the European front, with a daylight
bombing mission to Rouen. The next model was the B-17F,
which appeared in 1942. It had still heavier armament and some
other modifications. A total of 3,400 aircraft were built. Lockheed
and Douglas helped in the production of this model, with 500 and
600 planes respectively. The rest were produced at the Boeing plant
in Seattle. The largest
production series of the Flying Fortress was the B-17G. The Boeing
company built 4,035; Douglas built 2,400
in Long Beach; and Lockheed built 2,250 in Burbank. Most of these
8,685 planes were sent to Europe, beginning in 1943. These planes
had heavier defensive armament, with a remote-controlled turret
forward, just below the navigator-bomber's
position.
Several experimental versions were also
built, as well as non-bomber B-17s, including photo-reconnaissance,
naval rescue, and transport models. The United States was not the
only country to employ the Flying Fortress. During the war the RAF
took just over 200 Flying Fortresses, 20 of them B-l7Cs and the
rest models E, F, and G. These planes were assigned to Bomber
Command and to Coastal Command and remained in service until the
end of the war. The
Germans captured about 20 Flying Fortresses, some intact and some
damaged. They were assigned to the Kampfgeschwader 200 and used to study improved
fighter tactics. Some of these planes were used by the Luftwaffe in
secret operations, either without insignia or with fake USAAF
insignia. After the war
some surviving B-l7Gs served in the new Israeli air force and in
the air forces of Brazil and the Dominican Republic. And some
Flying Fortresses were transformed into water bombers for fighting
forest fires.
This is part of a
series of 23 caches dedicated to the American Aircraft of
WWII. Each cache is
dedicated to a particular aircraft model and can be logged as an
individual find. The
series consists of 16 regular caches and 7 mystery
caches. The series will
be divided into 5 sub-series, one for each category of aircraft
(
Fighters,
Bombers,
Seaplanes, and
X-series Prototypes) and a final series consisting of three of
the most recognizable aircraft of WWII. (
P51 Mustang,
B17 Flying Fortress and
B29 Super Fortress)
This mystery cache is the B17 FLYING FORTRESS
portion of the series.
To find it, you must first find SEAPLANES(
GC16759) and BOMBERS(
GC1D2JA).
Each log has a code that is to be used to find this caches’
final location.
B17 FLYING
FORTRESS= N40
SEAPLANES
W074
BOMBERS
This series is located along a portion of the Randolph
Trails. These
trails are well maintained and easy to walk. There is parking for this cache
located at the above coordinates.
Trail maps are readily available at most of the trail
heads. Randolph’s trail system runs a 16-mile
course traversing five parks, the Clyde Potts Reservoir
Watershed and 2,000 acres of pristine open space. The trails
link together schools with neighborhoods and connect to
Patriots’ Path at Combs Hollow and Old Brookside. Randolph’s trails should be
viewed as a work in progress as the township continues to
pursue easements and funding to expand our trail network. The
township funds 90% of design and construction costs through
state grants and developer contributions. Over $1.5 million
in state grants and developer contributions has been invested
in Randolph’s trails. Open year round, the trails
can be used from dawn to dusk and are closed at night. During
the winter months, there is no snow or ice removal, providing
a wonderful opportunity for cross-country skiers and snowshoe
enthusiasts.