Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress

Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress (105/MD), assigned to Wright Field in pre-war natural metal finish, USAAF, circa 1941.

The B-17C was a B-17B with a number of improvements, including more powerful R-1820-65 engines. To boost crew safety, the waist-mounted machine gun blisters were replaced with teardrop-shaped, slide-out Perspex window panels flush with the fuselage, and the ventral blister was replaced by a lower metal housing dubbed a "bathtub turret", similar in appearance and general location on the lower fuselage, to the Bola ventral gondola being used on Nazi Germany's He 111P medium bomber. The most important additions made to the "C" series were self-sealing fuel tanks and defensive armor plate added to vital areas.

With the passage of the Lend-lease Act in 1941, the Royal Air Force requested B-17s. At that time, the US Army Air Corps was suffering from shortages of the B-17, but hesitantly agreed to provide 20 examples to the RAF. Though the Air Corps did not consider the B-17 ready for offensive combat, the aircraft was still desperately needed in Britain. The 20 ferried bombers were Boeing production B-17Cs (company designation Model 299T). The aircraft's single .30 caliber nose-mounted machine guns were replaced with 0.5 inch Brownings.

Following their delivery, the 20 B-17C bombers were placed immediately into frontline service and designated RAF Fortress Mk I. They performed unremarkably while in British service. By September 1941, three months after the Army Air Corps became the Army Air Forces, 39 sorties had made up 22 missions. Nearly half of those were aborted due to mechanical and electrical problems. Eight of the 20 aircraft were destroyed by September, half to various accidents. Their machine guns tended to freeze-up at high altitudes and were generally unable to effectively protect the Fortresses from German fighter attack. Their success as bombers were also limited, largely because they were unable to strike targets from the high altitudes at which the RAF flew its daylight bombing missions.

The first of the B-17C series flew in July 1940, with a total of 38 being built. The 18 remaining in Army Air Forces service, following the 20 transferred to the RAF, were upgraded to Boeing's new B-17D configuration. However, one of these bombers, B-17C 40-2047, crashed while being ferried from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Mather Army Air Base, California, on November 2, 1941.

Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress (105/MD), assigned to Wright Field in pre-war natural metal finish, USAAF, circa 1941.

Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress (105/MD), assigned to Wright Field in pre-war natural metal finish, USAAF, circa 1941.

Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress (105/MD), assigned to Wright Field in pre-war natural metal finish, USAAF, circa 1941.

B-17C, Oakland, California; circa 1941.

Boeing B-17C.

Boeing B-17C, serial number 40-2049, at Wright Field; circa 1940.

Boeing B-17C; circa 1940.

Boeing B-17C; circa 1940.

B-17C, Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, August 28, 1940.

On the B-17C the fuselage blisters were replaced by flush panels; a “bath tub” gun position was installed under the fuselage.

A burned B-17C aircraft rests near Hangar Number Five, Hickam Field, following the attack by Japanese aircraft. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; 7 December 1941.

A crashed U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress (s/n 40-2049) at Bellows Field, Territory of Hawaii. It was flown by 1st Lt. Robert H. Richards, 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, from California and arrived over Oahu during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. Richards made a forced landing while being attacked. Although repairable, the aircraft was later used for spare parts and not repaired. 7 December 1941.

Boeing B-17C.

Boeing B-17C.

Boeing B-17C cockpit. This is a really interesting find, this is the cockpit of a B-17C. There are several differences from later variants visible here, including the lack of armor behind the seats, different oxygen bottles behind the pilot, raised flight deck flooring, and early style control wheels. A more subtle change is the position of the photographer himself – in the B-17E and later versions he would be standing where the Sperry dorsal turret structure would be installed.

A Boeing B-17C assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group at Iba Airfield, approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Manila on the island of Luzon, Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands, October 1941. (U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency)

B-17C at Iba Airfield. Contrary to the belief of some that it was only Clark and Del Monte airfields that could accommodate heavy bombers. This photo dispels the myth. In the background is an A-27.

A Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress, similar to Colin Kelly’s B-17C (40-2045). The Air Corps began camouflaging its B-17s in olive drab and neutral gray during Spring 1941.