@ Atwater, CA
April 2021
One of the many bombers on display at the Castle Air Museum is “Virgin’s Delight”, a B-17G Flying Fortress painted with the markings of the 94th Bombardment Group, which was under the command of Col. Frederick Castle. After a promotion to Brigadier General, Castle was in command of the 4th Combat Bombardment Wing when he was killed while flying a mission over France. Six of the crew were able to bail out and survive before the B-17 exploded, killing Castle and his co-pilot. For his heroism, Castle was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Merced Army Air Field was redesignated Castle Field in his honor on Jan. 17, 1946. The facility became Castle Air Force Base in 1948, and was closed in 1995.
Delivered in August 1944, this Flying Fortress never saw any combat and was used in a variety of training roles before being surplused in 1960. This aircraft then spent twenty years fighting wildfires before coming to the Castle Air Museum. At this time, “Virgin’s Delight” is one of 46 complete surviving airframes in existence. Of the 12,731 B-17s produced, 8,680 were the G-variant, the last model of the line.
