Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry (prototype Model 299/XB-17) outperformed both competitors and exceeded the air corps' performance specifications. Although Boeing lost the contract (to the Douglas B-18 Bolo) because the prototype crashed, the air corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, becoming the third-most produced bomber of all time,
76th Flying Training Wing (World War II) 76th Flying Training Wing (World War II) The 76th Flying Training Wing was a wing of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, and was stationed from 1943-46 at Smyrna Army Airfield, Tennessee. There is no lineage between the United States Air Force 76th Maintenance Wing, established on 5 February 1942 as the 76th Observation Group at MacDill Field, Florida and this organization. The wing was a heavy bomber training wing of Eastern Flying Training Command. Its schools provided four-engine heavy bomber transition training for experienced pilots who were moving