B-17 Sentimental Journey Airbase Arizona
Description:
Base:
Mesa, AZ
Website:
| B-17 Specs | |
|---|---|
| Role | Heavy Bomber |
| Manufacturer | Boeing |
| Introduced | April 1938 |
| Produced | 1936-1945 |
| Power | 4 × Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial engines, 1,200 HP each |
| Length | 74 ft 4 in |
| Height | 19 ft 1 in |
| Wingspan | 103 ft 9 in |
| Range | 2,000 mi |
Sentimental Journey was originally manufactured and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces for war service in 1944 where she flew missions in the Pacific Theater. After the war she flew for training, testing and at-sea rescue missions and was eventually sold for surplus and used as a fire bomber. In 1978 the aircraft was purchased by a Commemorative Air Force (CAF) member and donated to the newly formed Arizona unit of the world-famous CAF. She was meticulously restored and is today maintained in tip-top condition and operated by all-volunteer crews from the membership of CAF Airbase Arizona.
The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in central and southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.
--Wikipedia
