Nine-O-Nine
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''Nine-O-Nine'' was a Boeing B-17G-30-BO Flying Fortress heavy bomber, of the
323d Bombardment Squadron 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
,
91st Bombardment Group The 91st Bomb Group (Heavy) was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. Classified as a heavy bombardment group, the 91st operated B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft and was known unofficially as "The Ragg ...
, that completed 140 combat missions during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, believed to be the
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
record for most missions, without loss to the crews that flew her. A different , painted to mimic the ''Nine-O-Nine'',
crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stations, along with some Alternativ ...
at
Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about halfw ...
in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxim ...
, in October 2019.


Service history

The original aircraft, from a group of 30 B-17Gs manufactured by
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, was nicknamed after the last three digits of her serial number: 42-31909. ''Nine-O-Nine'' was added to the USAAF inventory on December 15, 1943, and flown overseas on February 5, 1944. After depot modifications, she was delivered to the 91st BG at RAF Bassingbourn,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, on February 24, 1944, as a replacement aircraft, one of the last B-17s received in factory-applied camouflage paint. A former navigator of the 91st BG, Marion Havelaar, reported in his history of the group that ''Nine-O-Nine'' completed either 126 or 132 consecutive missions without aborting for mechanical reasons, also believed to be a record. M/Sgt. Rollin L. Davis, maintenance line chief of the bomber, received the
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
for his role in achieving the record. Her first bombing raid was on
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, on February 25, 1944. She made 18 bombing raids on Berlin. In all she flew 1,129 hours and dropped 562,000lb (225 tonnes) of bombs. She had 21 engine changes, four wing panel changes, 15 main gas tank changes, and 18 changes of
Tokyo tanks Tokyo tanks were internally mounted self-sealing fuel tanks used in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers
(long-range fuel tanks). ''Nine-O-Nine'' returned to the United States after the war in Europe finished, on June 8, 1945. She was sent to the
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facility at Kingman,
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on December 7, 1945, and eventually scrapped.


Collings Foundation ''Nine-O-Nine''

The Collings Foundation of Stow, Massachusetts, flew a different B-17G painted as a "tribute ship" to honor the original ''Nine-O-Nine'' at airshows and for "living history" flights, from 1986 until October 2019.


Military history

Flying Fortress 44-83575 (variant B-17G-85-DL) was built by the
Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...
in
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, and was accepted by the military on April 7, 1945. Arriving too late for use in combat, 44-83575 operated as an Air-Sea Rescue aircraft until 1952, when she was reassigned to the
Air Force Special Weapons Command The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) is a USAF Named Unit, assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The AFNWC operates at the Center level of the AFMC. It is currently under the command of Major ...
for use as a specimen in weapons-effects testing. In this role, she was subjected to three
nuclear explosion A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, t ...
s as part of Operation Tumbler–Snapper. After a 13-year "cool down" period, the plane was sold for scrap, for a price of .Thompson, Scott A. (2000) ''Final Cut: The Post-War B-17 Flying Fortress: The Survivors''. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. pp.116-120


Civilian history

As 44-83575 was in relatively good condition, she was restored by Aircraft Specialties Company to
airworthy In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is register ...
condition for use as a
water bomber Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
over the course of ten years, entering service in 1977, until her operator's liquidation in 1985. The Collings Foundation purchased the aircraft in January 1986, and her subsequent restoration to wartime configuration by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft won several awards. Carrying civil registration N93012, the plane was painted as ''Nine-O-Nine'' (including "231909" on the tail) and appeared at many airshows. It was featured in a 2019 episode of ''Museum Access'', which included a detailed tour of its interior and video of the aircraft in flight; an "NL93012" placard can be seen on the instrument panel and "231909" on its tail.


Incidents

On August 23, 1987, N93012 was caught by crosswinds during a landing at
Beaver County Airport Beaver County Airport or is a county-owned public airport three miles northwest of Beaver Falls, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but Beaver County Airport i ...
near
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. Landing too far down the runway, the plane rolled off the end of runway, crashed through a fence and power pole, and came to rest down a ravine. Landing gear, chin and ball turrets, bomb bay doors,
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nose,
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
s, wings, and fuselage all sustained damage. There were no fatalities, however three of the twelve people on board were injured. Repair work by volunteers and Air Heritage Aircraft Restoration Inc., supported by donations, brought N93012 back to airworthy condition. On July 9, 1995, N93012 was again damaged, this time near Norfolk, Nebraska, when her landing gear would not fully deploy and she was forced to make an emergency landing, causing some damage to the fuselage and at least one propeller. On the morning of October 2, 2019, N93012 crashed at
Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about halfw ...
in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxim ...
, while attempting to return shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash, and seven of the thirteen people on board were killed. The
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
(NTSB) launched an investigation, and in April 2021 released a report citing pilot error as the likely cause, with inadequate maintenance as a contributing factor.


References


External links


Spherical panoramas over, under, around and through the Collings Foundation B-17G, ''Nine-O-Nine''

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress on ''Jay Leno's Garage''
via
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News report (WTAE-TV) of August 1987 incident
via
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{B-17 family Individual aircraft of World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress