B-17 "909"

FS2004 Collings Foundation B-17G "Nine-O-Nine"

The most widely recognized and revered aircraft type of World War II, the B-17 Flying Fortress, takes to the skies again. The B-17G (Serial # 44-83575) has been returned to its wartime configuration under the auspices of the nonprofit Collings Foundation of Stow, MA and given the name "Nine-O-Nine".

The Collings Foundation B-17 was named "Nine-O-Nine" in honor of a 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron plane of the same name which completed 140 missions without an abort or loss of a crewman.

The original "Nine-O-Nine" was assigned to combat on February 25, 1944. By April 1945, she had made eighteen trips to Berlin, dropped 562,000 pounds of bombs, and flown 1,129 hours. She had twenty-one engine changes, four wing panel changes, fifteen main gas tank changes, and 18 Tokyo tank changes (long-range fuel tanks). She also suffered from considerable flak damage.

After European hostilities ceased, "Nine-O-Nine", with its six-hundred patched holes, flew back to the United States. While the rigors of war never stopped the historic "Nine-O-Nine", she succumbed at last to the scrappers guillotine, along with thousands of other proud aircraft.

K. E. Strohm - KeSha Enterprises August 2005 Email: ken@kesha.us

This Freeware Find has left me speechless! Well, I better write something, since you're visiting! Ken Strohm has produced an outstanding model of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. I'm going to keep this short and sweet and let the pics do the talking.

The paint job is excellent! I've taken so many screen shots (again!) that my screen shot program is smokin'! The paint reflects the "war weary" look of the "909". Reflective textures look excellent anytime, but especially when flying in the dawn hours or dusk. This is where I went screen shot crazy! Looking from the outside in, the detail of the interior can be seen extremely well, in the

nose, waist gun positions and especially inside the bomb bay doors, which are fully animated. I didn't read anywhere where you can set a key to actually drop the bombs however. Fire up your CFS2 or 3 for this! You'll see in the screen shots the detail I'm talking about. The detail is everywhere, to include the bristling guns! The interior is just as detailed. 2D and Virtual Cockpits both look great. The panel and sub panels in the 2D view are

also extremely detailed. I was very impressed with the assortment of subpanels that are provided. The autopilot panel is authentic and easy to use. The manual does explain everything. The realism of this product both with the looks and the flight modeling are fantastic! This package is packed with goodies that some payware products don't have! I have flown this aircraft quite a bit, recreating some of the routes from the war. That had to have been a chore! From what I understand, controlling one of these Fortresses was like bench pressing 50 to 100 pounds, for hours at a time! Can you imagine the flying in those massive bomber streams, with other B-17's frighteningly close! This is where the light bulb came on above my head!

Did I hear someone say "low wattage"?!? If you're reading this about the B-17, odds are good that you're a fan of the B-17, or are definitely interested! Would anyone out there in cyberspace be interested in flying in "Farmboyzim's Airspace", taking off in massive (or small) formations? Perhaps flying routes, and joining up with other formations from various locations at predetermined rally points. Yeah, I know what I may be getting myself into! It sounds like a bit of organization will have to be done! I do think this could be a very fun adventure, and we might see smoke come from my Multiplayer Server's ears! Everyone can download this or any other B-17 (although this is the most impressive Fortress that I have found so far!), fly it around for a couple of weeks and get used to all its functions, and then we could start meeting and fill the virtual skies with the sound of the thundering B-17!

This aircraft Freeware addon gets a definite "5 plane" rating on the Farmboyzim scale! If you are into the heavies of WW II, then this addon is a must have! If you're interested in my idea of some "Fortress Formation Flying, drop me a line, and let me know you're interested! If you want to add your experience, especially with B-17's, feel free to add any info that may help in planning this venture! Click Here to e-mail me.

Thanks Ken for an outstanding Freeware Addon!

Here are a few more screenshots...