Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Fast Facts

• Swamp Ghost took off on the night of Feb. 22‚ 1942 from Garbutt Airfield in Australia.
• Role: Heavy bomber‚ strategic bomber
• National origin: United States
• Manufacturer: Boeing
• Introduced: 1935
• Primary users: United States Army Air Force‚ Royal Air Force
• Produced: 1936-1945
• Number built: 12‚731 (512 E models)
• Unit cost: $238‚329 US
• Engines: Four 1200 hp Wright Cyclone GR-1820-65 radial engines
• Top speed: 318 mph
• Ceiling: 37‚000 feet
• Dimensions: Wingspan 104 feet‚ length 74 feet
• Weight: 39‚319 pounds
• Armament: Eight 0.50-inch machine guns (a pair in the waist‚ dorsal positions and ventral positions) and one 0.30-inch machine gun in the nose