Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber developed in the mid-1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. It became the third-most produced bomber in history, behind the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the German Junkers Ju 88, and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II.
Seattle Times reporter Richard Williams coined the name on the 27th of July 1935, describing the gun-studded prototype as a 15-ton flying fortress in a photo caption. Boeing had the nickname trademarked soon afterward.
The Model 299 prototype crashed on the 30th of October 1935 because its control-surface gust lock had not been released before takeoff. The crash killed pilot Major Ployer Peter Hill and, weeks later, Boeing test pilot Leslie Tower, and it led directly to the creation of the modern written pilot checklist.
Boeing, Douglas, and Vega built a total of 12,731 B-17s between 1935 and 1945. The B-17G was the most numerous variant, with 8,680 produced.
On the 17th of August 1943, 230 B-17s bombing Schweinfurt's ball-bearing factories lost 60 aircraft to roughly 300 Luftwaffe fighters. A second raid on the 14th of October 1943, known as Black Thursday, cost 77 more B-17s and left about 650 of 2,900 crew members missing.
As of October 2025, three B-17s remain in flying condition, with several more being restored toward operational status. About 50 survive in storage or on static display, including The Swoose, the oldest surviving example.