Mighty Eighth museum unveils B-17

摘要

The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah, Georgia unveiled its freshly-completed B-17G Flying Fortress 44-83814 on 28 January, 73 years to the day after the establishment of the Eighth Air Force at Savannah's Hunter Army Airfield. The B-17 has been under restoration since the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum presented it to the museum in January 2009. More than 200 volunteers have lavished around 60,000 hours of effort on returning the former water-bomber back into its military guise. The aircraft, which never saw combat itself, now represents B-17G 43-39049. It gained the name City of Savannah after the residents of Chatham County, Georgia, who raised $500,000 to pay for the construction of one B-17 and the training of its crew.