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Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress ~ Nine-O-Nine |
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Airplane Type .......... |
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress |
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Date
..........May
3rd 2006 |
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USAAF Serial ........... |
44-83575 |
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FAA Serial Number ... |
NL93012 |
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Location
.....Hawthorne Municipal Airport |
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Owner / Operator ..... |
The Collings Foundation |
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Los Angeles |
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Markings Carried ..... |
91st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force |
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California,
U.S.A. |
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The Collings
Foundation Flying Fortress is painted in the markings of one of the most
celebrated B-17s to serve with the Eighth Air Force. In early 1944, it
was allocated to the 91st Bomb Group, based at Bassingbourn,
England. There it was christened with the name ‘Nine-O-Nine’, after the
last three digits of its military serial number, 42-31909. |
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Flying its first
mission on March 2nd 1944, this aircraft led something of a
charmed life. During the next thirteen months, it successfully completed
mission after mission. The airplane was never forced to return to base
early due to a mechanical failure. It flew its 140th and last
mission on April 25th 1945. Throughout those months, not a
single crewman was injured in combat. |
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The Collings
Foundations
Wings of Freedom Tour travels far
and wide across the United States each year. Stopping at an average of
one hundred and twenty cities, they bring the history of these World War
Two bombers and the men that flew them, to as many people as possible. |
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