Building the B-17 Flying Fortress

This new book presents rare original photos and full manufacturing details of America's greatest multi-engine combat aircraft flown in World War II. Contents cover building the Flying Fortress from wingtip to wingtip and from the bombardier's Perspex nose to the tail-gunner's twin-Browning cannons. Significant aspects of B-17 production include exterior views of each model variant from various angles, all crew stations in each B-17 type (including the entire flight deck), defensive gun turrets used in every B-17 model, fuselage interiors, exteriors, engines, nacelles, and even control surfaces.

Factory original colour drawings as well as reproductions of original specifications sheets and other information packed documents created by manufacturers during the 1940s are also included for the reader. As a research asset, the book's appendices feature a detailed survey of every production block of the 12,731 B-17 bombers produced during the war in an unbelievable time span of only three-and-a-half year--an industrial phenomenon unlike any the world had ever seen.

What sets this book apart from all others in the crowded B-17 field is literally hundreds of factory-original close-up detailed photographs and illustrations accompanied by comprehensive high-resolution reproductions of original Boeing drawings and all are explained in detailed yet easy to understand descriptive text.