B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress – The Queen Of The Skies Model 299 – Prototype

Model 299 is a prototype the Boeing, equipped with four Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines with 560 kW each (762 hp); the prototype didn’t have any military name, however, called XB-17 from time to time also. The first flight took place on July 28th, 1935 and this flew Boeing model 299 3 weeks later non-stop from Seattle (there lies the Boeing plant) after Wright Field in Ohio where the acceptance test took place. The 3380 km long way put the machine back with an average speed of 406 km/h in approx. 9 hours.

Understandable based himself on this considerable performance excellent expectations of this sample and also the course of the initial prooftesting supported Boeings optimism.

Accident

On 30 October 1935, however, a message destroyed all hopes: The prototype had been destroyed in a take-off accident. The accident investigation revealed that the machine had been started with blocked oars. In this accident, the US Air Force pilot Major Ployer Hill and Boeing’s chief test pilot Leslie Turner were killed.

The good prooftesting results before the accident brought the US Army air to corps for the decision to obtain 13 YB-17 of (later Y1B-17) and an airplane for floor tests.