
Production-block:
B-17G-110-BO: 43-39274 to 43-39508
Manufacturer:
Boeing
History of
B-17 43-39508
Delivered – . Last Seattle built aircraft 9/4/45, Bu No 6981. On the ceremonial roll out on 9/4/45 it was covered with card cut outs of every target a B-17 attacked.
Last updated: 20. January 2022
04. February 2025 access_time 3:25
While Dave Osborne’s “B-17 Fortress Master Log” lists no service for 43-39508, I was able to track its assignment to the 13th Air Force, 2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron. It had been converted to a B-17H modified to carry an A-1 lifeboat under the forward fuselage. I flew at least one mission on 12-July-1945 flown by Lt. Forkner taking off from Morotai Island and searching for an enemy radio station on the Halmahera group of the Maluku Islands, in what is now eastern Indonesia. At the time, it was the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies. https://www.pbyrescue.com/Rescues/11jul45.htm