Boeing B17G 'Sally B' is owned by B17 Preservation and is housed at the Imperial War Museun Duxford, England.
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History[]
- Spring 1945 - Built as a B-17G-105-VE 44-85784 [1] at Lockheed's Vega factory at Burbank, California as part of the final batch of 100 aircraft. [2]
- 17 June - Accepted by USAAF.[2]
- 2 July - Collected from factory airfield. Eventually transferred to modification centre at Nashville, Tennessee for removal of combat equipment.[2]
- 12 November - Arrived at Wright Field, from where 44-85784 spent four years for tests of experimental equipment.[2]
- 1950 - Aircraft loaned to the General Electric Flight Center based at Schenectady, New York. Spends over three years as test vehicle for tests of infra red tracking equipment in wingtip pods and modified nose cone, resulting in ETB-17G designation.[N 1]
- 7 February 1954 - Flown to Hill Air Force Base, Utah for removal of special modifications and return to standard configuration.[2]
- July - Placed in storage at Olmstead Air Force Base, Middletown.[2]
- 28 October - Struck from USAF inventory after transfer to Institut Geographique National as F-BGSR.[2]
- 1958 - While en route to a movie assignement, Keith Sissons lands in Zinder, Niger - in what was then French West Africa - and photgraphs a B-17 in IGN service. NB - This aircraft is not believed to be the eventual Sally B.[3]
- 1974 - Withdrawn from IGN service and sold to Ted White and Don Bullock of Euroworld Limited. [1]
- January 1975 - Re-registered in US as N17TE. [4]
- 15 March - Flown from Beauvis to Duxfold by Don Bullock. Named Sally B in honour of Ellinor 'Elly' Sallingboe, companion of Ted White. [4]
- Summer - Appeared at Biggin Hill Air Fair in markings of 457th Bomb Group. [4]
- 1976 - Re registered as G-BEDF. [4]
- 1979 - Ted White and Elly Sallingboe form B-17 Limited to operate Sally B. Don Bullock acquires an A-26 Invader and leaves B-17 Limited. Keith Sissions becomes chief pilot of Sally B. [4]
- 1981 - Repainted as Ginger Rogers for filming of LWT series We'll Meet Again at West Malling. [5]
- September 1982 - Participates in the first Great Warbirds Air Display at West Malling, shortly after Ted White is killed when his Harvard crashes at a display at Malta. [N 2]
- Winter 1983-1984 - In order to avoid damage due to the damp UK weather Sally B is hangered at Duxford and given a coat of Olive Drab and Neutral Grey Paint, to protect the airframe, [N 3]
- 1989 - Reworked to B-17F configuration for location filming at Duxfold and Binbrook, for the film 'Memphis Belle' by Warner Brothers.[5]
- 1994 - Participates in the 50th anniversary D-Day fly past at Portsmouth.[3]
- April-May 1995 - Participates in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holland. [6]
Notes[]
- ↑ E prefix indicates loan status, effectively transferring the Air Force's responsibilities to the contractor. The T denoted a training role.[2]
- ↑ As a tribute to Ted White, It was decided to apply the yellow and black checkerboard scheme from the cowling of the Harvard onto the cowling in Sally B's no 3 (starboard inner) engine. Apart from the period spent filming 'Memphis Belle' in 1989, Sally B has retained this marking ever since.[5]
- ↑ The aircraft also received the colours of the 447th bomb Group at the same time.[5]
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sally B News Issue 29 page 14 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Sally B Mag 29 p14" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Sallingboe, Ellinor (Editor). Sally B News. Issue 29 - Summer 1995. page 15
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sallingboe, Ellinor page 9
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Sallingboe, Ellinor page 16
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Sallingboe, Ellinor page 17
- ↑ Sallingboe, Ellinor pages 20-21