B17 Preservation's Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 'Sally B', G-BEDF, starting up its engines in clouds of smoke, with the starboard outer engine initially backfiring, rough running and spouting dramatic flames, before displaying, initially together with Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 'Nellie B', G-THUN, during the Imperial War Museum Duxford's - 'The Americans' Flying Day on Friday 28th July 2023.
Note that upon landing the B-17's starboard outer engine exhausts are still 'flaming'. The B-17 pilot was Peter Kuypers and Stuart Goldspink was flying the P-47..
Built as a Boeing B-17G-105-VE c/n 8693, Sally B was one of the last B-17s to be constructed by the Lockheed-Vega plant at Burbank, California. Accepted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as 44-85784 on 19th June 1945 it was too late to see war service, and was flown to Nashville for modifications. Converted for training purposes and re-designated TB-17G, it was based at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB), Ohio from November that year.
Continuing in the care of 2750th Air Base Group (ABG), ‘784 was selected for use as a research vehicle and in 1949 allocated EB-17G status. As such the B-17 was used in a variety of research roles, one of the most bizarre being the addition of a man-carrying pod on the starboard wingtip. Also fitted at the time was an infra-red tracking device in place of the Perspex nose. These trials continued for some years in a variety of guises and it was not until 1954 that ‘784 was returned to standard configuration, less armaments, at Hill AFB in Utah. No details have emerged of the trials which this aircraft was involved in.
In France the Institut Geographic National (IGN) had purchased several B-17s after the war for survey and mapping work, and added others as necessary; ‘784 arrived in November 1954 and was given the French registration F-BGSR. Based at Creil, these aircraft carried out work for the French government and others for many years. As they entered the 1970s it was apparent that the cost of operating the Flying Fortresses was getting prohibitive, also there was a shortage of spares. So The IGN replaced the B-17s with other aircraft.
Businessman and pilot, Ted White brought F-BGSR to Britain via Biggin Hill to the Imperial War Museum Duxford, as N17TE, in March 1975, to begin a new life as Sally B, named after Ted’s long-time companion Elly Sallingboe. Sally B made her debut at the 1975 Biggin Hill Air Fair, flying as the USAAF World War Two Memorial Flight.
A permanent operating base was set up at Duxford. Kept in flying condition by volunteers from the newly formed Duxford Aviation Society, the Fortress was painted in the 457th Bomb Group, USAAF 8th Air Force, based at Glatton during the Second World War, but retaining her original serial number 485784.
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