BOEING B-17F FLYING FORTRESS "Boeing Bee" USAAF

POSTAGE STAMP 1/155 PS5413-2

The postage stamp die-cast metal, historical airplanes include aircraft from WWI to present. They are fully decorated with authentic details and come with a display stand. Wingspans are from 4 1/2" to 8".

On 20th December 1943 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown embarked upon his first mission over enemy territory, the bombing of the Focke-Wulf factory at Bremen. While the route to the target was relatively routine, once over it the mission ran into problems. Accurate flak smashed the Plexiglas nose, knocked out the number 2 engine and damaged engine number 4. Brown was forced to slow the bomber, dropping out of formation and becoming a straggler, a very vulnerable position for the aircraft.

The bomber then came under sustained enemy fighter attacks, number 3 engine was damaged along with the internal oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems and only the dorsal turret and one nose gun were still serviceable. Of the crew, most were injured, Brown had been shot in the shoulder and the tail gunner had been killed.

The final fighter to intercept the plane was flown by Franz Stigler, who, upon seeing the damage to the B17 and the wounded crew visible inside through the holes, decided not to shoot them down. Instead, after failing to persuade them to land, he escorted them to the coast, at which point Stigler saluted and flew home. Brown landed safely but was told to tell no one of the German's actions. Both Stigler and Brown survived the war and in the late 1980s Brown tracked down Stigler discovering that he lived just a few hundred miles from him, having moved to Vancouver after the war. They met in late 1990 and remained friends until their deaths just a few months apart in 1998.

This die-cast metal model comes in 1/155 scale and includes a plastic display stand. Model is approximately 5 1/2 inches long with 8 inch wingspan.