B-17G "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 B-17G-90-DL-44-83690 "Flying Fortress" is a heavy bomber manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. Douglas was one of two companies in addition to Boeing, designated to manufacture B-17s during World War II. General features of the B-17 include its mid-wing monoplane design, aluminum-clad exterior, four radial engines, massive wing structure, and heavy armament. Greenfield, Kent. American Strategy in World War II: A Reconsideration. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1963. B-17G "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 B-17G-95-DL "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 is a historic B-17 Flying Fortress Heavy bomber located at the Aviation Museum, Grissom Air Force Base in Pipe
Alan Magee Alan Magee Alan Eugene Magee (January 13, 1919 – December 20, 2003) was an American airman during World War II who survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17 Flying Fortress. He was featured in "Smithsonian Magazine" as one of the 10 most amazing survival stories of World War II. Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack, Magee joined the United States Army Air Forces and was assigned as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber. On January 3, 1943, his Flying Fortress—B-17F-27-BO, "41-24620", nicknamed "snap! crackle! pop!"—part of the 360th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, was on