City of Savannah

"City of Savannah" 5000th airplane processed through Hunter Field, GA in 1944

While roaming the Combat Gallery at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, an old airman approached me to talk about the B-17, 'City of Savannah' on display.  He told me that this particular Flying Fortress was built toward the end of the war never left The States.  Nevertheless, this bomber has an interesting history.

It was purchased for $350.00 after the war's end and used to fight fires.  Go rent the 1989 movie Always and you'll get a good idea what kind of combat this old bird experienced.  This B-17 was retired from the fire department in the 1970's and ended up at National Air and Space Museum until 2009.

It was then disassembled and trucked down 1-95 to the Might Eighth facility.  The ball turret and tail gun section had been removed decades ago to fight fires.  The old vet told me that they've secured a tail gun section and will be installing it soon.

You can see images of her restoration on facebook.