B-17F 42-29782 Museum
of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington.
Flies as 229782, Boeing Bee.
Photo by Tony Manninen
Photo by Ed Davies
B-17F-70-B0 serial number 42-29782, which spent the
war stateside with training units was surplused in November 1945. In 1946,
it was given to Stuttgart, Arkansas for display. Stuttgart city government
tired of the display, turned the plane over to civilian operators. The
plane was disassembled and removed from Arkansas in 1953. The civil registration
N17W was assigned. It operated for a number of years as a pesticide sprayer
and as a fire bomber. In 1985, it was bought by Seattle businessman, Bob
Richardson to make it available for the Museum of Flight. It appeared in
the films 1000 Plane Raid and Tora, Tora, Tora. It also appears
as Kathleen, the only genuine B-17F used in the making of the film, Memphis
Belle in 1989.
42-29782 has been in a seven-year restoration
at the Boeing-Renton plant near Seattle. The Museum of Flight's newly restored
B-17F Flying Fortress returned to the skies over Seattle for it's first
flight on May 9, 1998. The Museum's airplane is the world's last flyable
Seattle-built B-17F. The airplane departed Renton Airport at about 3:00
p.m. The airplane arrived at the Museum of Flight at approximately 3:45
p.m. The plane now enters an extensive flight testing program and will
not be on permanent display at the Museum until some future date.
Boeing Bee is not currently on display at the museum, so make advance arrangements
before you arrive if you would like to see Boeing Bee.
