“Five Grand” (Boeing B-17G-70-BO Flying Fortress, Serial number 43-37716) is seen here before deploying to England where it survived 78 combat missions with the 338th Bomb Squadron, 96 Bomb Group.
The B-17G, named, 5 Grand, was constructed at the Boeing Plant 5 in Seattle, WA, in 1944. It was named, 5 Grand, because it was the 5,000th B-17 to come off the Boeing production line in Seattle, since Pearl Harbor. It was the only B-17 that was ever individually signed by all of the Plant 5 workers before leaving the Seattle factory. The largest signature on the airplane, which disappeared in later photos of the plane, was made by Boeing assembler/installer, Frank Novito, on the upper surface of one of it's wings, with large block letters that he made in black paint on the upper wing skin with a large push broom. He, apparently, wanted the German pilots, to think of him and the fine work he did building the plane, as they surely must have done so, while they were trying to shoot, 5 Grand, down !
To boost morale on the home front during the Second World War, aircraft manufacturers began to celebrate production aircraft milestones. Lockheed, for example, painted their 5,000th P-38 Lightning, red, and named it, Yipee. But Boeing wanted to do something different, as it approached delivering the 5,000th B-17 Flying Fortress to be built since the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. entered the war against the Axis powers. Aircraft number, 40-37716, a B-17G, was that aircraft, and, early on, it was marked with a notice on the fuselage that it was the 5,000th Flying Fortress to be built since the U.S. entered the war. Every worker, who played a part in the construction of this particular aircraft, was invited to sign the part of the aircraft they produced, as it advanced down the production lines in Seattle.
So, these signatures celebrated the efforts of the thousands of workers, who immigrated to Seattle to escape the effects of the Great Depression, in order to work in Boeing's massive production facilities. The enthusiasm that workers applied to their signatures, surprised even the Boeing management, as even parts from the subcontractors' bound for, 40-37716, arrived signed, even though they would be hidden away deep inside the aircraft. Appropriately, the B-17G was named, 5 Grand, and before leaving the Renton plant, it was already being celebrated in newsreels and war bond drives. Instead of towing the B-17G out of Plant 5's front doors, as had always been done for the protocols of the day, upon completion, the workers, themselves, pushed, 5 Grand, out the factory doors to band music, cheers and great fanfare.
In May 1944, 5 Grand, was officially delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces, at Boeing Field, and a bottle of champagne was ceremonially broken over the aircraft's nose. The USAAF even made sure that the crew assigned to, 5 Grand, were made up of local flyers from the Puget Sound area, with Edward C. Unger of Seattle selected as the aircraft's command pilot. 5 Grand, was, then, flown to Kearney AAF Depot in Nebraska for further modifications to make her combat ready. When she left the United States for the Eighth Air Force's bomber bases in Britain, over 35,000 signatures adorned the bare metal finish of, 5 Grand. Some thought that the plane should be stripped of it's signatures, as they figured, rightfully so, that the Luftwaffe would make special efforts to shoot it down, which they dutifully did just so ! But, it was finally decided the signatures would stay.
On it's trans Atlantic flight to England, the air crew found the B-17G was about 7 mph slower in cruise than a stock B-17G due to the extra weight of the paint used on the signatures and, also, the extra drag of the surface roughness from the thousands of colorful signature applications ! Both of these factors increased fuel consumption, which was also higher than normal, with the lower speeds of the plane, also less than normally forecast for a trip across the Atlantic, resulting in one of, 5 Grand's, engines cutting out upon landing in the U.K. due to low fuel.
Once in the U.K., 5 Grand, was assigned to the 333rd Bomber Squadron of the 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton Heath in Norfolk, U.K. One of it's first local test flights, before any combat missions were flown, also ended in near disaster when, 5 Grand's, electrical system failed, preventing it's main landing gear from extending, causing, 5 Grand, to make a gear up landing after ejecting it's ball turret.
Finally, when ready for combat, 5 Grand, was assigned to the 338th Bomb Squadron, and the 96th Bomb Group, at BX-H, Snetterton, U.K. Once in combat, the plane quickly received a reputation with the American B-17 pilots for being a German fighter plane magnet, because, flying high, above the clouds, on it's many missions over Europe and Germany, the famous B-17, was an unusual looking sight in the air, glowing in the sun, with a sort of bright orange color on it's bare aluminum skin, peppered with yellow, white, red, and black speckled spots, which were the workers' painted signatures, with many of the workers having signed their names on, 5 Grand's, fuselage and wings. Appropriately, the German pilots certainly did take notice of this unique and unusually strange looking and brightly glowing B-17! And, possibly, figuring it for some kind of lead ship, they honored it with unusually fierce attention, by trying very hard, and repeatedly, to shoot it down, damaging it on several occasions with their cannons, so seriously, that it had to be taken out of service and sent back to repair stations for major repairs.
The plane was pulled from combat and delivered to Cheyenne, Wyoming, 15 May 44; Kearney 30/6/44; Dow Field 13 Jul 44; Assigned to the 338th Bomb Squadron, and the 96th Bomb Group, at (BX-H) Snetterton, U.K. 14 Jul 44. During training, the plane's command pilot, Lt. Jack Bimemiller had an electrical failure and was unable to lower the landing gear. He was ordered to Honington, U.K. to land, wheels up. The airplane flew 78 missions after repairs were completed. Then, it was transferred to the 388th Bomb Group. May 1945. It returned to the USA Bradley Repair Depot, 14 Jun 45. After an overhaul, the plane left for Seattle and further refurbishment for a war bond tour in the U.S. from 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas, 29 Jul 45. After completion of the bond tour, 5 Grand, was sent to Lubbock, Texas, for refitting.
After one major repair, 5 Grand, was returned to service (RTS) and reassigned to the 388th Bomber Group kin Britain. It would fly a total of 78 missions over the German Reich adorned with her signatures and her gunners claiming two Luftwaffe fighters destroyed.
On 14 June 1945, 5 Grand, again returned home to the United States, first landing at Bradley Field in Connecticut before continuing on to Boeing Field in Seattle for refurbishment for a war bond tour. While in Seattle, many employees happily found most of their signatures still in place. Local officials wanted to preserve, 5 Grand, as a memorial to the city's home front war effort, but, while the Seattle politicians debated the cost, 5 Grand, was flown to Lubbock AAF Base in Texas for further repairs and refurbishment before being flown to storage at Kingman AAF Base in Arizona to be held in storage while Seattle officials decided how to proceed on the planned memorial, incorporating, 5 Grand. The U.S. Army Air Forces were willing to donate, 5 Grand, to Seattle for the memorial planned by the Seattle Historical Society, but on 3 January 1946, Seattle city officials declined the donation of, 5 Grand, on the grounds that building a memorial with the aircraft, represented too costly an endeavor.
Despite the efforts of Boeing employees who had signed, 5 Grand, and all of those wanting to preserve this piece of history, no one in the local government wished to take responsibility for the aircraft. So, still resplendent, with it's thousands of signatures, the plane was sold off by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and sent to Kingman, AZ, to the airplane scrappers, where, 5 Grand, was unceremoniously broken up and scrapped, forever lost to history. 22 Nov 1945
Source :
National Archives and Records Administration, 342-C-K-2442
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/43-37716
https://www.flickr.com/photos/airandspace/albums/72157715574200936
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougsheley/4127692270
