RobMoser
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 p.621 #3 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel | |
Hey Jim, found something for you 
You Can Buy This Extremely Rare World War II-Era B-17 Bomber
It's all yours! Well, if you have $9 million laying around.
A used aircraft broker is advertising a B-17E Flying Fortress bomber for $9 million.
This particular bomber never saw combat, but it did see a fairly extensive career, flying all over the Western Hemisphere.
The plane last flew in 1998, and is approximately 80 percent restored.
One of the most famous airplanes to serve in World War II is sitting in storage in Washington state. It could be yours for a cool $9,000,000.
This B-17E bomber, built by Boeing in 1941, never saw combat, but did see an extensive career in both North and South America, including a stint flying meat across Bolivia, when it was known as "El Tigre" ("The Tiger"). The swashbuckling bomber is now in pieces, awaiting a buyer who is willing to reassemble it into a working airplane again.
The B-17E racked up a total of 1,800 flying hours during the war. After V-E Day, the bomber was donated to the University of Minnesota, back when the government would just give bombers to colleges. There, it languished until it went off to fly aerial mapping surveys in Canada, then operated out of Thule, Greenland. In the 1960s, it headed south of the equator to Bolivia, where it flew meat and other perishables from one end of the country to the other. The plane earned the nickname "El Tigre" at the time, and suffered one crash-landing when a landing strut gave way.
In 1990, the plane was flown back to the United States, and in 1998, it was flown to Washington state, where it resides today.
To be clear, this B-17E is not in flying condition. The aircraft is in tear-down condition to facilitate rebuilding, and the plane's metal skin is both bare and in excellent condition. Once the rebuild is complete, it will be, as Platinum states, one of the nicest B-17s anywhere. But, you know, someone has to buy it first.
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