Corgi 1/72 AA33323 BOEING B-17G FLYING FORTRESS - 44-85784 / G-BEDF - 'SALLY B' (B-17 PRESERVATION LTD)

£179.99 - Saving you 10% on the RRP £199.99

This is a pre-order model, reserve now for £1, with the balance due (£178.99) when stock is received and prior to dispatch.

Sally B (G-BEDF) is a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress based at Imperial War Museum Duxford. She is particularly significant because she is the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe, maintained as a flying memorial to the American airmen who served in Europe during the Second World War.

Sally B was built as a B-17G-105-VE by the Lockheed-Vega plant at Burbank, California, with construction number 8693. She was accepted by the United States Army Air Forces on 19 June 1945 as serial number 44-85784. Her completion came too late for her to participate in combat during the Second World War.

Instead, the aircraft was converted into a TB-17G trainer and subsequently an EB-17G experimental aircraft. During this period she participated in research programmes, at one point carrying an unusual manned pod on the starboard wingtip and an infrared tracking system in place of the standard glazed nose.

In March 1975, businessman and pilot Ted White brought the aircraft from France to Britain, initially registered N17TE. She was based at Duxford and became known as Sally B, a name connected with White's longtime companion, Elly Sallingboe. Her first British airshow appearance followed at the 1975 Biggin Hill Air Fair.