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Alan Eugene Magee (January 13, 1919 – December 20, 2003) was a United States airman during World War II who survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17 Flying Fortress. [1] He was featured in the 1981 Smithsonian Magazine as one of the 10 most amazing survival stories of World War II.
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II. Forty-five planes survive in complete form, [ 1 ] [ a ] including 38 in the United States with many preserved in museum displays.
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II.
The optical tracking equipment was installed in detachable wingtip pods equipped with explosive bolts and parachutes for recovery of test data in the event of the loss of the drone. [1] [3] DB-17 was the designation for B-17s converted as drone director aircraft. They would be used to guide the QB-17 target drones during the missile tests. [1] [3]
In January 2019, a surviving B-17 (serial number 44-8543) operated by Erickson Aircraft Collection of Madras, Oregon, was repainted as Ye Olde Pub. [25] The plane is flown in airshows and to provide historic flight experiences. [26] Lloyd Jennings, a waist gunner on the B-17, was the last surviving crew member of the incident; he died in 2016. [27]
The base near Biskra, Algeria, was a more reasonable 300 miles (480 km) from the bombing target. [10] Burbridge also said that the collision occurred when the bomber group was returning to base after having dropped its bombs on target, so that the aircraft did not complete a bombing run after being damaged as had been incorrectly recounted. [5]
As for the B-17's name, Zeamer's aircrew referred to 41-2666 only as "666" or "the plane". On 14 June 1943, two days before their final mission together, Zeamer officially named their B-17 Lucy. He had the name painted in script under the three windows on the port side nose, mostly between and underneath the small forward window and larger gun ...
The bomber had never been in a plan to be displayed, Dailey noted. A recommended condition of this transfer was that the National Museum of the United States Air Force transfer ownership of a restored B-17 to the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex for display, as that museum otherwise lacked a Boeing B-17. [6]