CHARLES WINTERS' B-17

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The most famous of the USAAF heavies, the B-17 high altitude heavy bomber first flew as the Model 299 in July 1935. The Mainstay of the US daylight precision bombing in Europe, it was widely used in other theatres, in various roles and with other operators such as the UK and even Nazi Germany which had captured a few. Nicknamed the "Flying Fortress", the B-17 gained its name through its phenomenal array of defensive armament necessary to fly in the same skies as the Luftwaffe fighters.

Approaching Israel's War of Independence, the Jewish underground in Palestine was hard pressed for weapons and ammunition and had employed agents throughout the world to acquire these. In early 1948, an American agent managed to buy 4 Flying Fortresses for the price of $15,000 each. Retired USAAF examples, all 4 were devoid of guns or navigational gear and only one was fitted with the original turrets, the only one that had actually taken part in the Second World War. With the outbreak of the War of Independence the U.S. Government imposed a weapons embargo on the opposing sides in the war and the aircraft were forced to leave the U.S. or risk seizure by the FBI. On June 12th 1948, three aircraft left Miami for Puerto Rico. After filing flight plans for Brazil the aircraft actually left for the Portuguese Azores where fuel had been secured for the long flight across the Atlantic to Corsica, their next scheduled stop. On July 17th the planes finally landed in Ezion, an air base in Czechoslovakia from which the Czech government had allowed Israel to operate cargo flights. The long flight had however attracted American attention and when the fourth aircraft attempted to make it, it was seized in the Azores by request of the U.S. government. The three remaining B-17s remained in Czechoslovakia for three weeks during which attempts were made to acquire original turrets and equipment for the bare aircraft. These failed however, and the aircraft left for Israel on July 15th.

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