B-17 Preservation Ltd 'Sally B' Official Website

The B17G Sally B, is the official memorial to the 79,000 men of the USAAF who lost their lives in the European Theatre of WWII. A plaque was unveiled in October 1979 by Colonel John K Vanden Heuvel DSC, and this was subsequently placed in the radio compartment of Sally B, thus making her the official USAAF memorial flight.

Having rolled off the Lockheed-Vega line at Burbank as B-17G-105-VE construction No: 8693, Sally B was 58th from the production run of 12,731 B-17s. Upon acceptance into the USAAF on 19th June 1945, she was given the serial number 44-85784. Like many B-17s she was delivered too late to see active war service and remained stored. From May 1948 she embarked upon a test career with the newly formed USAF. During her test career, she sported some very interesting modifications such as a manned pod on one of the wingtips! 

With all tests completed, the airframe was no longer required, and after removing all test equipment, 4485784 was flown to Olmstead AFB, Pennsylvania on 2nd July 1954 to await disposal. This could very well have been the end for the aircraft, however fate swung in her favour and the French Institute Geographique National, who already had a sizable fleet of B17's throughout the world bought her from the USAF for use in survey work. 44-85784 was cancelled from the USAF inventory on 28th October 1954, and flown to Europe as F-BGSR and was based at Creil, just outside Paris. 

After many years in France, the aircraft was acquired by Ted White who ferried the aircraft to the UK, the same place she could well have operated from if she was built slightly earlier! Renamed Sally B and registered as N17TE she made her air show debut at the Biggin Hill Air Fair on May 18, 1975.

The aircraft has made numerous TV and film appearances, the first of these being in the winter of 1980/81, where she starred in the TV series "We'll Meet Again" filmed at West Malling. This was rather fortuitous for Sally B as the TV company funded the construction of her gun turrets. 

Tragedy struck in June 1982 when Ted White was killed whilst flying his Harvard out in Malta. As a memorial to the man that started the Sally B organisation, the inner cowling of the starboard engine is painted with a black and yellow checkerboard similar to that worn by Ted's Harvard.

Sally B's most famous role was in the David Puttnam film "The Memphis Belle" in 1989 where the chin turret was removed to "convert" the aircraft to the B-17F model. Codes and nose art were continually changed to portray other B-17s, such as "C-Cup" and "Baby Ruth". In the final sequences the aircraft wore the markings of the "Memphis Bell" herself as she returned from her last mission. These are the markings still worn by the aircraft, although the famous cowling chequerboard has been re-painted and the teddy bear returned to the bomb aimers window. The chin turret was replaced, and the aircraft has achieved ultimate stardom!

Operated by B-17 Preservation Ltd, and registered as G-BEDF, the aircraft makes numerous appearances at air shows all over the country, and it is a mammoth task to keep this old lady (the largest wartime aircraft to fly in private hands) in the air. Funding is provided by the dedicated Sally B supporters group, as well as sponsorship deals with Flypast Magazine  agreed in 2001, and with Air BP in June 2002. Additional help is provided by the IWM at Duxford, as she also flies as the official flagship of the American Air Museum. 

If you've ever had the opportunity to sit in the nose section of this aeroplane, you instantly get the feeling of vulnerability, that large perspex nose really isn't going to protect you from much except the elements, and you find yourself thinking about what it must have been like being under attack from Luftwaffe fighters, 20mm shells coming into the forward compartment after a head on attack, the smoke, the noise, and the fear. You leave the compartment with a whole new perspective on the air war over Europe.

2005 marked the 30th Anniversary of Sally B operations in UK skies, a real milestone for a large warbird such as this, however it has been marred by EU Regulation 785/2004 which successfully grounded the aircraft until a temporary rescue package was found. Every year Sally B over flies over the American Cemetary at Maddingly near Cambridge in memorial to those US servicemen that died during WWII.

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