The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and other

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

air forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Forty-five planes survive in complete form, including 38 in the United States. Fewer than 10 are

airworthy In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is registe ...

. Of the 12,731 B-17s built, about 4,735 were lost during the war. After the war, planes that had flown in combat missions were sent for smelting at boneyards, such as those at Walnut Ridge and Kingman. Consequently, only six planes that survive today have seen combat. Most of the other survivors were built too late to see active service and then were used through the 1950s and 1960s in military and civilian capacities. Many are painted to represent actual planes that flew in combat.

Surviving aircraft

, 18 B-17s are registered with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA). These include '' Nine-O-Nine'' (N93012, crashed in October 2019), ''

Texas Raiders ''Texas Raiders'' was an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-17G-95-DL built by Douglas-Long Beach. In 1967, it was purchased by the Commemorative Air Force’s Gulf Coast Wing "Texas Raiders" group, which maintained and flew the aircra ...

'' (N7227C, crashed in November 2022), and a B-17G registered in

Granite Falls, Minnesota Granite Falls is a city located mostly in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat with a small portion in Chippewa County, Minnesota. The population was 2,737 at the 2020 census. The Andrew John Volstead House, a Na ...

(N4960V) that was scrapped in 1962. The other 15 are in the following table. Of the B-17s registered with a

civil aviation authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

, such as the FAA, less than 10 are being kept in airworthy condition, and some of those have not been flown for more than five years. Some other B-17s are being restored, and may become airworthy in the future.

Aircraft by manufacturer

Bold denotes a plane that is airworthy, excluding planes that have not been flown for more than five years. There are six.
''Italics'' denotes a plane that is potentially airworthy, but has not been flown in the past five years. There are three.
denotes a plane that was used in combat. There are six. The surviving aircraft include examples of four B-17 variants: one B-17D, four B-17Es, and three B-17Fs, with the rest delivered as B-17G. Some B-17G survivors have been modified to represent B-17Fs, such as for filming of the 1990 movie '' Memphis Belle''. B-17G 44-8543 has been modified, including having its chin turret removed, to more closely resemble the B-17F that it wears the livery of ("Ye Olde Pub").

List

The aircraft are listed in ascending order by their serial numbers, which do not necessarily reflect the order in which they were delivered. Serial numbers are linked to the specific aircraft's article, when available. The location column sorts by country, then by state for aircraft in the United States.

Related aircraft

Known wrecks

In addition to the 45 surviving planes, there are several known complete or near-complete wrecks around the world. The most recent wreck to be recovered ('' Swamp Ghost'') was removed from a swamp in Papua New Guinea in 2006. There are currently no plans underway to recover any wrecks.

Re-build projects

These are projects utilizing salvaged B-17 parts or partial B-17s. * 42-3455 ''Lucky Thirteen'' – A project to build an airworthy B-17F, incorporating some parts recovered in France from a September 1943 crash. * 44-83387 ''Piccadilly Lily'' – A surviving B-17G fuselage, used as a prop for the ''

Twelve O'Clock High ''Twelve O'Clock High'' is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight bombing missions against Germany and Occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II ...

'' movie and '' 12 O'Clock High'' television series, being rebuilt with elements from other B-17s.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Surviving B-17 Flying Fortresses Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses World War II bombers of the United States Survivors