B-17 Texas Raiders Gulf Coast Wing
Description:
Base:
Conroe, TX
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 |
B-17G Flying Fortress Texas Raiders is one of the most recognized and popular warbirds currently flying. The United States built 12,731 B-17s and today only five are actively flying. Texas Raiders was the first Flying Fortress acquired solely for the purpose of restoration and use as a flying museum. The aircraft has been restored to wartime configuration by an entirely volunteer group of dedicated supporters, and has been on her mission to Educate, Inspire, and Honor for the Commemorative Air Force for over 50 years. See a detailed history and more at www.B17TexasRaider.org
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
