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The sign accompanying the B-17. It reads

Boeing B-17G "Flying Fortress"

The Flying Fortress is one of the most famous airplanes ever built. The B-17 prototype first flew on July 28, 1935. Few B-17s were in service on December 7, 1941, but production quickly accelerated. The aircraft served in every WW II combat zone, but it is best known for daylight strategic bombing of German industrial targets. Production ended in May 1945 and totaled 12,726.

In March 1944 this B-17G was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group and based at Bassingbourn, England. There it was named Shoo Shoo Baby by its crew, after a popular song. It flew 23 combat missions in WW II, receiving flak damage seven times. Its first mission (Frankfurt, Germany) was on March 24, 1944, and last mission (Posen, Poland) on May 29, 1944, when engine problems forced a landing in neutral Sweden where the airplane and crew were interned. In 1968, Shoo Shoo Baby was found abandoned in France; the French government presented the airplane to the USAF. In July 1978 the 512th Military Airlift Wing moved it to Dover AFB, Delaware, for restoration by volunteers of the 512th Antique Restoration Group. The massive 10-year job of restoration to flying condition was completed in 1988 and the aircraft was flown to the Museum in October 1988.

Specifications
Span	103 ft. 10 in.
Length	74 ft. 4 in.
Height	19 ft. 1 in.
Span	55,000 lbs. normal max.
Armament	Thirteen .50 cal. machine guns plus normal bomb load of 6,000 lbs
Engines	Four Wright "Cyclone" R-1820s of 1,200 hp. each
Crew	10
Cost	$276,000
Performance
Max. speed	300 mph/ 261 knots
Cruising speed	170 mph/ 148 knots
Range	1,850 statute miles/ 1,608 nautical miles
Service ceiling	35,000 ft.