USAAF
19th BG
Former Unit
Assignments
11th BG
14th BS
September 9, 1941
Via NASM
Aircraft History
This is the oldest B-17 Flying Fortress left in the world. Built by Boeing on April 28, 1941. Adorned with red and white striped tail, with tail number 21 of the 11th BG, 14th BS.
Part of the first group of 14th BS B-17s to fly across the Pacific. They flew via Darwin and 7-Mile Drome on September 9, 1942 arriving at Clark Field, the longest mass flight of land based aircraft flown until that date, Nicknamed "Old Betsy" (no nose art).
Wartime History
After the
attack on Pearl Harbor, this B-17 flew what was likely the first American combat mission of
the war, a reconnaissance mission out of Del Monte Airfield. Less than
a week later, "Ole Betsy" took off to bomb Lingayen Gulf, piloted by Goodman. Soon
after taking off, it experienced engine trouble and proceeded to Davao, an alternate target. The airplane
arrived over the Davao Gulf in darkness and conducted the first American night
bombing attack of the war.
At the end of December 1941, this B-17 was relocated to Singosari on Java. During a mission to bomb Tarakan on January 11, 1942, three enemy fighter aircraft mounted a 35-minute attack. The crew claimed two of the attackers and the B-17 escaped. The damage was extensive enough to end her career as a bomber.
Flown to Melbourne for a complete overhaul and fitted with a new tail scavenged from B-17D 40-3091. Captain Weldon Smith became the new pilot of this restored Flying Fortress. and nicknamed it "The Swoose" after a popular song.
Storage
This aircraft is in storage in a preserved but unrestored state at
the National
Air & Space Museum Paul Garber Facility.
References
The Swoose: Odyssey of a B-17 by Herbert S. Brownstein, Smithsonian Press 1993.
B-17
NASM Profile
