B-17G 44-83872 Commemorative Air Force,
Gulf
Coast Wing, Houston, Texas. Flies as 483872, Texas Raiders.
Photo by CAF, Gulf Coast Wing
Texas Raiders was delivered to the Army Air Force
as B-17G-95-DL 44-83872 on 12 July 1945. Following operational checks it
departed for NAMU Johnsville, Pennsylvania, where it was accepted by the
Navy and became PB-1 BuNo 77235. It was placed in Pool status for the remainder
of July. From August 1945 to December 1946 it underwent conversion from PB-1 to PB-1W, sealing the bomb bay doors, adding long
range fuel tanks and installation of APS-20 Seasearch Radar in a
bulbous housing below the former bomb bay. BuNo 77235 was operated from May 1947 to 3
June 1953 in various state side assignments, mainly at NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland. After its second routine overhaul was completed
on 15 January 1954 it was transferred to NAS Atsugi, Japan. This assignment
with VW-1 was the last operational assignment for this PB-1W. In January
1955, VW-1 phased out PB-1W operations for the new WV-2 Warning Stars produced
by Lockheed. On 15 January 1955 BuNo 77235 arrived at the
Storage Facility at Litchfield Park, Arizona. It remained in Flyable Storage
Status until officially retired from Naval service on 25 August 1955. It
acquired 3257 hours flying time during its naval career.
The aircraft was used by Litton Industries
as a cargo plane and aerial photographic aircraft until the Confederate
Air Force acquired it in the mid-1960s. Texas Raider has had a prosperous career with
the Gulf Coast wing of the Confederate Air Force. Texas Raiders underwent
a $300,000 restoration and rebuild project from 1983 to 1986.
In the early '00s the Confederate Air Force changed its name to Commemorative Air Force. Currently, due to an FAA Air Worthiness Directive on B-17's, Texas Raiders is in maintenance until further notice.
If you have any comments or have found information on my page that
is incorrect, please e-mail
me! If you know of a surviving B-17 that is not on my page, please let
me know!
