The last flying B-17 in Europe, since 45 years in England 1975 - 2020
Sally B is the name of one of the airworthy Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses from 1945, the only airworthy B-17 in Europe, one of three B-17s in the United Kingdom. The aircraft is at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, England. The Sally B flies at air shows in the UK and throughout Europe, serving as an aerial memorial to the bomber crews and fighter pilots of the US Air Force who lost their lives in Europe during the Second World War. The aircraft was dispatched to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on June 19, 1945 as 44-85784, too late to be used actively in the war. After having been converted to a TB-17G training variant and then to an EB-17G, it was decommissioned in 1954. In 1954 the Institut Géographique National in France bought it for use as a survey aircraft. In 1975 it was moved to England, registered with the CAA as G-BEDF, and restored to its state of dispatch on June 19, 1945. The Sally B was first equipped with original turrets and other badly-needed additions for its role as Ginger Rogers, one of the B-17 bombers in the fictitious bomber unit featured in the 1981 We'll Meet Again LWT series. In the winter of 1983/84, the Sally B was painted an olive green and neutral gray instead of the bare metal pattern it had had since construction, in order to protect its airframe from Britain’s humid weather. At the same time it was given the markings of the 447th Bomber Group. The Sally B was used in the 1990 film Memphis Belle as one of five flying B-17s needed for various film scenes, and was also used to recreate the real Memphis Belle in one scene. Half of the plane is still in the Memphis Belle paintwork today, after the Sally B Nose-Art and the black and yellow checkerboard pattern on the engine cowling of the starboard internal engine (No. 3) was restored, as a tribute to Elly Sallingboe, for the companion Ted White, whose Harvard plane had the same pattern on its hood. (Sally B was redesigned to the B-17F configuration for filming.) Since 1985, Sally B has been operated by Elly Sallingboe's B-17 Preservation Ltd and is maintained by Chief Engineer Peter Brown and a team of volunteers. The aircraft is flown by experienced volunteer commercial pilots. The B17 Charitable Trust is used to raise funds to keep the aircraft running. In 2008 Elly Sallingboe was awarded the Transport Trust's Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 30 years of commitment to the preservation and operation of the UK's only airworthy Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress as a flying monument to the tens of thousands of American crew members who lost their lives in its sister aircraft during the Second World War. One of the most important events in Sally B's flight calendar is an annual tribute overflight after Memorial Day service at the American Military Cemetery in Madingley, Cambridge. This takes place on the May holiday weekend. During the summer months, flypasts over former 8th Air Force bases are also conducted whenever possible.
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