@ Pooler, GA
November 2021
The centerpiece of the National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force is this Douglas-built Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress. During World War II aircraft were sent to England from Hunter Field in Savannah. The 5,000th airplane to be sent was a B-17G appropriately named City of Savannah, bought with half a million dollars donated by the citizens of Savannah. That aircraft survived 44 missions only to come home and be scrapped. Delivered in June 1945, this B-17 airframe (44-83814) never saw any combat and saw a variety of civilian roles and ended up in storage at the National Air and Space Museum before coming to Georgia in 2009. In early models of the B-17, the waist guns were mounted directly opposite each other. Later versions incorporated a staggered arrangement, along with a K-6 swivel mount for the guns which allowed the gunners’ windows to be enclosed and to be left closed in combat, cutting down on the frigid drafts. Fuji X-Pro2 w/18-135mm.
