A large force of aircraft was detected flying south towards Luzon, and at 8: 30 am 15 of the 19 B-17s at Clark took off, ordered to patrol within communications range of its control tower, while the 24th Pursuit Group ordered the three P-40 squadrons on alert and the P-35 squadron at Del Carmen to patrol central Luzon for intruders.

There were no spare parts, engines, or propellers for the B-17s in the Philippines ; damaged B-17s had to be cannibalized to keep the bombers flying.

Even with the then top-secret Norden bomb sight and intimidating B-17 combat " boxes " ( i. e. close formation flying to allow mutual protection for B-17s and more concentrated bombing patterns ) flak, bad weather and determined Luftwaffe attacks resulting in a low number of bombs hitting the target-something that is clearly represented in the simulation.

After flying combat missions from Great Britain in B-17s and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ), Lieutenant Hurlburt was assigned in mid-1943 to the First Proving Ground Electronics Test Unit at Eglin Field.

For instance, the opening Historical mission as a Luftwaffe pilot pits their Fw 190 against the group of unescorted B-17s, but at an altitude that makes even basic flying difficult.

A few B-17s flying from Australia attacked the invasion fleet, and U. S. submarines harassed it from the adjacent waters, but with little effect.

As lead aircraft, 482 BG B-17s and B-24s usually flew missions from stations of other groups with some key personnel of the host group flying in the pathfinder aircraft.

Nine B-17s of the 14th Bombardment Squadron pioneered an air ferry route from California to the Philippines.

When a war warning from Gen. George C. Marshall was received in the Philippines on 28 November ( Philippine time ), the next day FEAF began dispatching two B-17s a day on reconnaissance flights of the sea lanes north of Luzon, but with orders not to overfly Japanese territory on Formosa.

Sixteen B-17s were dispersed from Clark to Del Monte No. 1 on the morning of 6 December ( 5 December in the United States ), but neither maintenance facilities nor barracks had been built, and only a single radio was operating when war commenced.

On 29 December 1941, Brereton and his small staff arrived in Darwin, where his only combat forces were 14 B-17s of the 19th Bomb Group that had come south from Del Monte, and reestablished FEAF headquarters.

On 20 February, just back from a mission to bomb the invasion force at Bali, seven B-17s of the 19th BG were caught on the ground by Zero strafers while re-arming and five were destroyed.

The next day 4 B-17s took off from Del Monte after midnight and bombed enemy shipping in Lingayen Gulf.

In April 1942, a group of 7 B-25s and 3 B-17s from Australia returned to Del Monte for the Royce Mission, to attack the Japanese on three bombing missions.

Just as the destroyer pulled alongside Kinryu Maru to rescue her crew and embarked troops, she was attacked by four U. S. B-17s from Espiritu Santo which landed five bombs on or around Mutsuki, sinking her immediately.

The Ground offensive was preceded by bombing raids targeting Tarshiha, Jish and Sa ' sa from the 22 October, using B-17s and C-47s ( converted for bombing role ).

However, on 30 March, engaging yet another bomber stream ( in which he claimed two B-17s shot down over Hamburg ) he was hit by crossfire from another bomber.

::: ( Converted from B-24s to B-17s, Summer 1944 )

::: ( Converted from B-24s to B-17s, Summer 1944 )

::: ( Converted from B-24s to B-17s, Summer 1944 )

::: ( Converted from B-24s to B-17s, Summer 1944 )

::: ( Converted from B-24s to B-17s, Summer 1944 )

The 15th started the offensive on 5 April when it dispatched 235 B-17s and B-24s from Italy to transportation targets in the vicinity of the Ploesti oilfields in Romania.

He was one of the pilots that flew what will likely be the last-ever formation flight of B-17s across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to England ( via Canada, the Azores and Portugal ) in 1961, a trip that involved a near-miss with a submarine, a brawl with KGB agents, and just barely missing ending up in jail in Portugal, an epic trip he chronicled in his book Everything But the Flak.

Flying a P-51 Mustang, Major James H. Howard finds himself alone in defending a B-17 group from 30 German fighters and claims two German aircraft shot down, one probably shot down, and two damaged without loss to the B-17s ; he receives the Medal of Honor for his actions.

The Army felt the combination of the Norden and B-17 Flying Fortress presented an alternate solution, believing that small formations of B-17s could successfully attack shipping at long distances from the USAAC's widespread bases.

This consisted of fourteen aircraft flown from Langley Field to Tampa: three B-17s, two A-17s, and nine B-18s.

At 10: 00, 13 B-17s reached the convoy and bombed from medium altitude, causing the ships to disperse, and prolonging the journey.

Another five hits were claimed by B-17s of the 43rd Bombardment Group from higher altitudes.

B-17s from the 3d Bomb Division at Honnington Air Depot.

Moreover, it was becoming increasingly difficult to service the B-17s with the inadequate facilities at Del Monte.

On December 14, 1941, the American Army Air Forces reacted to the Japanese invasion of the Philippines at Legaspi, Luzon by sending 3 of a group of 6 Del Monte-based B-17s, ordered to attack the landing force.

Only one of the B-17s was able to make its way back to Del Monte ; the others had to crash-land short of their base.

The planes were immediately prepared for the long flight southward, and on December 15 the first group of B-17s left Del Monte airfield.

At this time the decision was reached to send all the B-17s to Del Monte Field on Mindanao to get them out of range of direct attack by Japanese land-based planes on Formosa.

Later, about 1100 on 8 December a combat strike was approved by FEAF against Formosa, to take place that day, and the B-17s which were sent to Del Monte Field were recalled to Clark to stage for the strike.

On 15 May the group was reassigned to Dalhart Army Airfield, Texas where the ground echelon was formed, and the operational squadrons trained with old II Bomber Command B-17s.

On 25 February, 114 B-17s and B-24s were dispatched to Steyr again, but the force became separated and the Liberators bombed the Fiume oil refinery instead.

In September, the VIII Air Service Command set up an Air Depot to service and repair B-17s, became the 1st Strategic Air Depot.

In 1945, B-17s bombed the Paderborn marshalling yard, the " Schildesche Rail Viaduct " was bombed on January 17, 1945, and on March 14 the Grand Slam bomb was used the very first time against The Viaduct.

On 21 May 1943, about the same time as the Luftwaffe had its first victory with Schräge Musik in Europe, the field-modified J1N1-C KAI shot down two B-17s of 43rd Bomb Group attacking air bases around Rabaul.

On 2, 15 June Air Force flew its first " shuttle " mission when 130 B-17s and P-51 escorts landed in Russian controlled territory after a raid in Hungary.

However, before the first B-17s arrived, plans for the field changed and the 396th was transferred to Moses Lake AAF, Washington.

Some 229 of 291 B-17s hit the city area and ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany in two groups: the first group bombed at 1439-1445 hours, the second group at 1451-1457 hours.

The first H2X-equipped B-17s arrived in England in early February 1944, and were first used in combat later that month.

" He quoted Maj. Gen. Emmitt O ' Donnell, then a major in charge of the B-17s sent to Mindanao, as concluding that the first day was a " disorganized business " and that no one was " really at fault " because no one was " geared for war.

On the night of April 2 – 3, 1942, he participated in the first bombing mission of the Tenth Air Force — an LB-30 and two B-17s, of which he co-piloted one of the latter — in an attack against Japanese warships at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands in support of the British, for which he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Wulfe Hound was first flown by the Germans on 17 March 1943, followed by more testing and development of fighter tactics against B-17s.