B-17F
Israel Air Force 
Number 69 Squadron
Ramat David, Israel, 1948

This skin was made by Jeff Stoermer.  I made a few little tweaks but nothing of significant note.

The package is a "snapshot" and will install a British nationality craft in whatever slot you wish. You can also just use the files as you normally would.

-RedEyes

Some history:

The most famous of the USAAF heavies, the B-17 high altitude heavy bomber first flew as the Model 299 in July 1935. The Mainstay of the US daylight precision bombing in Europe, it was widely used in other theatres, in various roles and with other operators such as the UK and even Nazi Germany which had captured a few. Nicknamed the "Flying Fortress", the B-17 gained its name through its phenomenal array of defensive armament necessary to fly in the same skies as the Luftwaffe fighters.

Approaching Israel's War of Independence, the Jewish underground in Palestine was hard pressed for weapons and ammunition and had employed agents throughout the world to acquire these. In early 1948, an American agent managed to buy 4 Flying Fortresses for the price of $15,000 each. Retired USAAF examples, all 4 were devoid of guns or navigational gear and only one was fitted with the original turrets, the only one that had actually taken part in the Second World War. With the outbreak of the War of Independence the U.S. Government imposed a weapons embargo on the opposing sides in the war and the aircraft were forced to leave the U.S. or risk seizure by the FBI. On June 12th 1948, three aircraft left Miami for Puerto Rico. After filing flight plans for Brazil the aircraft actually left for the Portuguese Azores where fuel had been secured for the long flight across the Atlantic to Corsica, their next scheduled stop. On July 17th the planes finally landed in Ezion, an air base in Czechoslovakia from which the Czech government had allowed Israel to operate cargo flights. The long flight had however attracted American attention and when the fourth aircraft attempted to make it, it was seized in the Azores by request of the U.S. government. The three remaining B-17s remained in Czechoslovakia for three weeks during which attempts were made to acquire original turrets and equipment for the bare aircraft. These failed however, and the aircraft left for Israel on July 15th.

The newly born IAF wished to mark the heavy bomber's entrance into service in a large display of force, and on their way to Israel the three heavy bombers were tasked with bombing Egyptian targets. Two aircraft were tasked with bombing Gaza city and the Egyptian air base at El-Arish, but failing to find their targets bombed Rafiah instead. The third aircraft was tasked with bombing Cairo. Surprising the Egyptians which had thought their capital immune to such attacks and had therefore left it undefended, 30 people were killed when a bombload aimed at the Royal Palace and an officers school failed to hit its intended targets. The planes finally arrived in Israel on the evening of July 15th, landing at Ekron air base. The new bombers provided the yound IAF with previously undreamt of capabilities. Whereas previously the only bombers were converted transport aircraft such as the C-47 or de Havilland Dragon Rapide, which were confined to night bombing, the B-17 could fly farther and carry a far bigger bombload. It could conduct daylight operations and while at first the bombers were escorted by fighter aircraft, these soon proved unnecessary and the bombers could attack unescorted. The new aircraft formed the 69th "Patishim" (Hammers) squadron at Ramat David AFB, a squaron which has since operated the F-4 Phantom and the F-15I.

The IAF put to good use the unparalleled capabilities it had acquired with the arrival of the B-17s, dictating a hectic schedule for the 69th squadron with as many as three sorties per day for each aircraft. The B-17s flew their next missions on the day following their arrival. On the morning of July 16th the three bombers attacked El-Arish air base, while at noon they attacked Egyptian forces in the south and at night Syrian forces on the northern front. The next few days again saw extensive use of the B-17 with attacks against Jordanian, Iraqi and Egyptian forces, against the Syrian capital Damascus and against various Arab air bases.

On October 15th Israel launched operation "Yoav" to open the way to the besieged Negev desert and the 69th squadron flew dozens of sorties against Egyptian strongholds. During operation "Horev" the B-17s once again attacked Egyptian forces on the southern front, this time throughout the Sinai. A single maritime mission was also flown when two Egyptian destroyers attempted to shell Tel-Aviv on the first day of 1949. One Flying Fortress was launched against the destroyers but failed to hit the ships. By the war's end in July 1949 the 69th squadron had flown about 200 sorties, having taken an important part in every major Israeli operation.

Following the War of Independence the 69th squadron moved to Ekron AFB, but moved again in 1953, this time to Hazor. During this period only two B-17s were airworthy at any one time as the Fortresses' maintenance proved an extremely difficult task. Yet in the years before operation "Kadesh" (the 1956 Suez Crisis) the IAF managed to acquire original B-17 spares and turrets and at least one example was equipped with a maritime search radar. The heavy bombers became maritime patrol aircraft and carried a silver livery. In June and July 1956 the aircraft were sent to storage at "Bedek Aviation" (later Israel Aircraft Industries) at Lod airport.

The onset of the Suez crisis in October 1956 brought a return to service of two B-17s. Both were taken out of storage and deployed at Ramat David air base. Although fighting broke out on October 29th the Forteresses did not fly their first mission until two days later. Expecting an Egyptian Air Force attack on Israel, the bombers were put on standby for a possible strike against Egyptian air fields. Although such an attack did not materialize, piston engined aircraft were not permitted near the battlefield until October 31st. The first B-17 sorties of the war were bombimg raids on Egyptian positions in the Gaza strip. In contrast to the important part the aircraft played in the War of Independence, the Fortresses played a very minor part in this campaign and displayed very poor performance. On November 1st and 2nd the bombers attempted to bomb Gaza but failed on both attempts because of poor weather conditions. On November 2nd one B-17 was damaged by ground fire while on November 4th both aircraft failed to hit their targets because of malfunctions in the bomb release mechanisms.

The aircraft were once and for all retired from the IAF in 1958. They were the last and only strategic bombers ever employed by the IAF.
 
Specification: Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
Type: 10 seat strategic heavy bomber.
Powerplant: 4 * Wright R-1820-97.
Performance: max speed - 302 mph at 25,000ft, operational range - 3,400 miles.
Weights: max takeoff weight - 32660kg.
Dimensions: span - 31.62m, length - 22.78m.
Armament: 13 * 12.7mm machineguns with up to 7983kg of bombs carried internally.

