View source for Sally B

{{About|the B-17 bomber|the traffic reporter on [[BBC Radio 2]]|Sally Boazman}}
{{Short description|Preserved 1945-built B-17 heavy bomber}}
{{Italic title}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2010}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name                 = ''Sally B''
|image                = B-17G-105 44-85784-Sally B.jpg
|caption              = The ''Sally B'' in 2005
|sole example of type?= N <!-- only Y or N -->
|aircraft name        = Sally B 
|other_names          = <!--Other names (nicknames, nose art names) this aircraft is known by-->
|type                 = [[B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17G<br/>Flying Fortress]]
|manufacturer         = [[Boeing]]
|construction_number  = 8693
|construction_date    =  <!-- either roll-out date or span of time for lengthy projects, whichever seems more appropriate -->
|civil_registration   = G-BEDF
|military_serial      = 44-85784
|radio_code           = <!-- military radio codes where this is a commonly-used way of identifying this aircraft (e.g. US, British, and German military aircraft of WWII -->
|first_flight         = <!-- date of first flight -->
|owners               = <!-- owners or operators, whether private individuals, companies, or military services -->
|in_service           = 1945–54
|flights              = <!-- number of flights made by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
|total_hours          = <!-- total number of hours flown by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
|total_distance       = <!-- total distance flown by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
|fate                 = Airworthy<!-- fate/disposition of this aircraft -->
|preservation         = [[Imperial War Museum Duxford|Duxford]]<!-- where this aircraft is currently preserved (if it is) -->
}}

[[File:LAA – Elly Sallingboe.JPG|thumb|Elly Sallingboe awarded the [[Transport Trust]] Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008]]

'''''Sally B''''' is the name of an airworthy 1945-built [[B-17 Flying Fortress|Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress]]. At 79 years old, she is the only airworthy B-17 based in Europe, as well as one of three B-17s preserved in the United Kingdom. The aircraft is presently based at the [[Imperial War Museum Duxford]], in eastern England.<ref name="Sally B History">{{cite web  
| url = http://www.sallyb.org.uk/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=5
| title = Sally B: The History
| accessdate = 2008-07-29 | author = | date = | work = www.sallyb.org.uk/ | quote = }}</ref> ''Sally B'' flies at airshows in the UK and across Europe as well as serving as an airborne memorial to the [[United States Army Air Forces]] airmen who lost their lives in the European theatre during [[World War II]].

== History ==
The aircraft was delivered to the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF) on 19 June 1945 as {{not a typo|44-85784}}, too late to see active service in the war. After being converted to both a TB-17G training variant and then an EB-17G, she was struck off charge in 1954. In 1954, the [[Institut Géographique National]] in France bought the plane for use as a survey aircraft.<ref name="Sally B History"/> In 1975, she moved to England and was registered with the [[Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)|CAA]] as G-BEDF<ref name=CAAhist>{{cite web |url=http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-BEDF.pdf |title=UK Register of Civil Aircraft. Registry Entry G-BEDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610204149/http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-BEDF.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-10 }}</ref> to be restored to wartime condition.

The ''Sally B'' was first fitted with accurate gun turrets and other much needed additions for her role as ''Ginger Rogers'', a B-17 bomber of the fictitious bomber unit featured in the 1981 LWT series [[We'll Meet Again (TV series)|''We'll Meet Again'']].<ref name="Sally B Mag 29 p17">Sally B News Issue 29 page 17</ref>

During the winter of 1983–84, ''Sally B'' was painted in an olive drab and neutral grey colour scheme, in place of the bare metal scheme she had worn since construction, in order to protect the airframe from the damp UK weather.  At the same time, she received the markings of the [[447th Bomb Group]].<ref name="Sally B Mag 29 p17"/>

The ''Sally B'' was used in the 1990 film ''[[Memphis Belle (film)|Memphis Belle]]'' as one of five flying B-17s needed for various film scenes, and it was used to replicate the real ''Memphis Belle'' in one scene.  Half of the aircraft is still in the ''Memphis Belle'' livery,<ref name="Sally B History"/> following restoration of the Sally B nose art and the black and yellow checkerboard pattern on the cowling of the starboard inner (no 3) engine, carried as a tribute to Elly Sallingboe's companion Ted White, whose [[North American T-6 Texan|Harvard]] aircraft had the same pattern on its cowling. ''Sally B'' was reworked to B-17F configuration for filming.<ref name="Sally B Mag 29 p17"/>

Since 1985, ''Sally B'' has been operated by Elly Sallingboe's B-17 Preservation Ltd and maintained by Chief Engineer Peter Brown and a team of volunteers. The aircraft is flown by volunteer experienced professional pilots. The B17 Charitable Trust exists to raise funds to keep the plane flying.<ref>{{EW charity|1079007|THE B17 CHARITABLE TRUST}}</ref> In 2008, Elly Sallingboe was awarded the [[Transport Trust]] 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in recognition of over thirty years of dedication to the preservation and operation of Britain's only airworthy Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress as a flying memorial to the tens of thousands of American aircrew who lost their lives in her sister aircraft during the Second World War.<ref name="Sally B History"/>

One of the key events in the flying calendar for ''Sally B'' is an annual tribute flypast following the [[Memorial Day]] service at the [[Madingley#Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial|American Military Cemetery]] at Madingley, [[Cambridge]]. This takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Flypasts over former [[Eighth Air Force]] bases are also carried out whenever possible during the summer months.<ref name="Sally B History"/>

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center">
File:Boeing B17 Flying Fortress - flyby 1985.jpg|Flyby (in May 1985)
File:Boeing B17 Flying Fortress 1985.jpg|On ground (in May 1985)
File:B-17G-105-44-85784-Sally b and P-47.jpg|With a [[P-47 Thunderbolt|P-47]] (in Oct 2006)
File:Antwerp Boeing B17G G-BEDF Sally B 41.jpg|During Liberation Festivities in Antwerp 2019
File:Antwerp Boeing B17G G-BEDF Sally B 66.jpg|During Liberation Festivities in Antwerp 2019
File:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress «Sally B» fly by (R.A.F. Woobridge, Aug. 6, 1976).jpg|«Sally B» fly by at R.A.F. Woodbridge on Aug. 6, 1976
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sallyb.org.uk/ B-17 Preservation Ltd]
*[http://robert.warbirds.photos.us.com/c1415785.html Related pictures taken by Robert Roggeman, Belgium]
*[http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford Imperial War Museum Duxford]
{{Commons category|Sally B. (aircraft)}}

{{B-17 family}}

[[Category:Individual aircraft of World War II]]
[[Category:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]]