This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the then-United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations.. Although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation.. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances
The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. .The United States Eighth Air Force based at Thorpe Abbotts airfield in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.
From its pre-war inception, the USAAC (later USAAF) touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-range bomber that was able to defend itself, and to return home despite extensive battle damage. It quickly took on mythic proportions, and widely circulated stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as an effective weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million mrtric tons of bombs dropped on Germany by U.S. aircraft, 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s.
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Technicals
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
Wingspan: 103 ft 9 in
Height: 19 ft 1 in
Wing area: 1,420 sq ft
Empty weight: 36,135 lb
Loaded weight: 54,000 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 65,500 lb
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial engines, 1,200 hp each
Performance-
Maximum speed: 287 mph
Cruise speed: 182 mph
Range: 2,000 mi with 6,000 lb bombload
Service ceiling: 35,600 ft
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min
Armament-
Guns:
13 × .50 in M2 Browning machine guns in 8 turrets in dorsal, ventral, nose and tail, 2 in waist positions, 2 in "cheek" positions, and 1 in the post-dorsal position
Bombs:
Short range missions <400 mi: 8,000 lb
Long range missions ≈800 mi: 4,500 lb
Survivors
Airworthy-
B-17F s/n 42-29782 “Boeing Bee” is stored at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
B-17G s/n 44-8543 “Chuckie” is owned by Training Services Inc. in Virginia Beach, VA.
B-17G s/n 44-83514 “Sentimental Journey” is owned by Commemorative Air Force in Mesa, AZ.
B-17G s/n 44-83546 “Memphis Belle” is owned by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. in Anaheim, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-83563 “Fuddy Duddy” is owned by Martin Aviation Inc. in Santa Ana, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-83575 “Nine-O-Nine” is owned by the Collings Foundation in Stow, MA.
B-17G s/n 44-83872 “Texas Raiders” is owned by the Commemorative Air Force in Houston, TX.
B-17G s/n 44-85718 “Thunderbird” is owned by the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, TX.
B-17G s/n 44-85740 “Aluminum Overcast” is owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI.
B-17G s/n 44-85778 “Miss Angela” is owned by the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-85829 “Yankee Lady” is owned by the Yankee Air Force in Belleville, MI.
On display-
B-17E s/n 41-2446 “Swamp Ghost” is on display unrestored at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, CA.
B-17F s/n 42-3374 “Homesick Angel” is on display at Offutt AFB, NE.
B-17G s/n 42-32076 “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby” is on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
B-17G s/n 43-38635 “Virgin's Delight” is on display at the Castle Air Museum, former Castle AFB, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-6393 “Return To Glory” is on display at the March Field Air Museum (March Joint Air Reserve Base), Moreno Valley, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-83512 “Heavens Above” is on display at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX.
B-17G s/n 44-83542 “Piccadilly Princess” is on display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, FL.
B-17G s/n 44-83559 “King Bee” is on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, Ashland, NE.
B-17G s/n 44-83624 “Sleepy Time Gal” is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum, Dover AFB, DE.
B-17G s/n 44-83663 “Short Bier” is on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill AFB, UT.
B-17G s/n 44-83690 “Miss Liberty Belle” is on display at the Grissom Air Museum in Peru, IN.
B-17G s/n 44-83785 “Evergreen International” is on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR.
B-17G s/n 44-83863 Formerly “Gremlin's Hideout”, is on display at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, FL.
B-17G s/n 44-83884 “Yankee Doodle II” is on display at the Eighth Air Force Museum, Barksdale AFB, LA.
B-17G s/n 44-85599 “Reluctant Dragon” is on display at Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX.
B-17G s/n 44-85738 “Preston's Pride” is on display at AMVETS Chapter 56 (Mefford Field) in Tulare, CA.
B-17G s/n 44-85790 “Lacey Lady” is on display at The Bomber Foundation in Milwaukie, OR.
B-17G s/n 44-85828 “I'll Be Around” is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.
Stored or under restoration-
B-17D s/n 40-3097 “The Swoose” is under restoration by the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH.
B-17E s/n 41-2595 “Desert Rat” is under restoration by Michael W. Kellner in Crystal Lake, IL
B-17E s/n 41-9032 “My Gal Sal” is under restoration by the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial Foundation in Cincinnati, OH.
B-17E s/n 41-9210 is under restoration to airworthiness by Vulcan Warbirds Inc. in Seattle, WA.
B-17F s/n 41-24485 “Memphis Belle” is under restoration by the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH.
B-17G s/n 44-83525 “Suzy Q” is in storage at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, FL.
B-17G s/n 44-83684 “Piccadilly Lilly II” is under restoration to airworthiness by the Planes of Fame in Chino, CA.
B-17Gs/n 44-83814 is in storage at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
B-17G s/n 44-83790 is under restoration by Don Brook in Douglas, GA.
B-17G s/n 44-85813 is under restoration to airworthiness by Tech II in Springfield, OH.