Some info on the lost plane that I pulled from the web
Nine-O-Nine was a
Boeing B-17G-30-BO Flying Fortress heavy bomber, of the
323rd Bomb Squadron,
91st Bomb Group, that completed 140 combat missions during
World War II, believed to be the
Eighth Air Force record for most missions, without loss to the crews that flew it. A different B-17G, painted as a representation of the original Nine-O-Nine, crashed at
Bradley International Airport in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on October 2, 2019.
B-17G-85-DL,
44-83575, civil registration N93012, owned and flown by the
Collings Foundation of
Stow, Massachusetts, appeared at airshows marked as the historic Nine-O-Nine.
The Collings' Flying Fortress was built at
Long Beach, California, by the
Douglas Aircraft Company and accepted on April 7, 1945. Although she was too late for combat, #44-83575 did serve
air-sea rescue duties as part of the Air/Sea 1st Rescue Squadron and later in the
Military Air Transport Service.
In April 1952, #44-83575 was instrumented and subjected to the effects of three different nuclear explosions. After a thirteen-year "cool down" period, #44-83575 was sold as part of an 800-ton scrap pile and Aircraft Specialties Company began the restoration of the aircraft.
Damaged skin was fabricated and replaced on site; engines and props were stripped, cleaned, repaired, and tested; four thousand feet of new control cable was installed; all electrical wiring and instrumentation was replaced.
For twenty years, without a major problem or incident, #44-83575 served as a fire bomber dropping water and borate on forest fires. She was sold in January 1986 to the Collings Foundation. Restored back to her original wartime configuration by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft, she represented one of the finest B-17 restorations and won several awards.
