CFS2 B-17F "Kestrel's Komet"
Repaint by Walter Myers
waltm@voyager.net
12 February 2001

This is a fictional Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress painted to look like an earlier model E of the type that might have been seen in the Pacific Theater in 1941-42. 

I wanted to paint one of these big, beautiful birds in a manner that would be consistent with period of the war represented in Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2. I have researched historical photographs and documents in order to come up with this repaint. While my hope is that the repaint alludes to historical accuracy, the only obvious discrepancy is the single .50 caliber machine mounted on the upper part of the Plexiglas nose cap which was a trademark of the Eighth Air Force B-17Fs deployed in Europe. 

While the B-17 is traditionally associated with the prosecution of the air war in Europe, the Flying Fortress actually first saw combat in the Pacific on December 7, 1941 when a ferry flight of unarmed B-17s from the mainland happened to enter Hawaiian airspace just as the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor. The planes were nearly out of gas as they landed at Wheeler Field in the middle of the Japanese attack. It so happened that earlier in the morning a nearby radar station detected the incoming Japanese aircraft, but the military management concluded that the radar returns were caused not by unknown enemy aircraft, but by the anticipated flight of B-17s.

B-17s served as a first-line bombers in the Pacific until September 1943 when they were replaced by longer-ranging B-24 Liberators. During their tour B-17s flew thousands of sorties against Japanese land targets and shipping. Bombing ships from 20,000 ft. (safely above flak and anti-aircraft guns) proved difficult however as the ships had time to maneuver out of harm's way before the bombs reached sea level. Fortunately such missions, while not overtly successful, can be credited with distracting enemy fleets enough to give lower flying dive bombers a much needed advantage. After September 1943 B-17s continued to fly in the Pacific as heavily gunned transports ferrying supplies to destinations where unarmed C-47s dare not go.

Enjoy!
