B-17E 41-9210 Flying Heritage Collection. Under further
restoration in Arlington, Washington.
Photo by Mike Deskins
Photo by Mike Deskins
41-9210 was accepted by the Army on 16 May 1942.
It was loaned to the Honeywell Corp. in Minneapolis for avionics development
work. In early 1945 it was transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corp.
In an agreement dated 10 July 1945, the RFC's Office of Surplus Property
transferred it to the University of Minnesota for educational use, being
released on 08 November 1945. The University of Minnesota amended its agreement
with the U.S. Government in 1952 and purchased the aircraft for $7575.00.
It was traded to Lysdale Flying Service for a Cessna
170 and registered N5842N on 22 December 1952. On 03 December 1952, before
he took possession of it, Jack Lysdale already sold 41-9210 to Albert Leeward
of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Leeward owned 41-9210 from 29 December 1952 until
04 March 1955 when he sold it to Kenting Aviation, Ltd. of Toronto, Canada.
Kenting Aviation operated it as one of its aerial survey aircraft registered
as CF-ICB. Kenting sold CF-ICB to Four Star Aviation of Miami Florida in
1964.
On 23 July 1964, Four Star exported it to Compania
Boliviano de Aviacion of La Paz, Bolivia. It was given Bolivian registration
CP-753 and joined a fleet of other B-17s hauling freight over the Bolivian
Andes. In 1976 it was damaged in a take-off accident and was relegated
as a parts source for other B-17s at a La Paz air strip. Made airworthy
in the early 1980s, 41-9210 was used by Frigorificos Reyes to haul beef
carcasses from outlying farms to meat markets in La Paz. In the late 1980s
it again sat abandoned on the La Paz airfield. In 1989, failed attempts
were made to acquire the plane by the producers of the film Memphis
Belle and British warbird collector Roy Jacobsen.
The owners of World Jet, Don Whittington and his
brother purchased it and prepared it for flight arriving in Florida in
March 1990. The B-17 may actually have been sold as it was registered for
several years to Scott D. Smith of Colorado Springs, Colorado, though the
B-17 remained in Fort Lauderdale under gradual restoration. In 1998 the
Air Station Museum of Arlington, Washington, made bids to buy the B-17E
but apparently could not come up with enough money to fund the project.
Then, unexpectedly in September 1998, it was flown to Moses Lake, Washington.
It was rolled into one of the old SAC hangars on the field. Reports say
that the registration was transferred to the Flying Heritage Collection.
In May 1999, it was flown to Arlington, Washington. It is again in storage
undergoing further restoration. If
you have any updates please e-mail me. Any updates to the current location
or contacts in Arlington would be appreciated.
