B-17D The Swoose (Restoration 14 Feb 2024)

[@stevendorris5713]

Now I'm all tingly with excitement! Thanks for the update!

[@USAFmuseum]

You're very welcome Steven!!!

[@fw1421]

I saw the Swoose sitting at the back of the restoration hangar in 2014 when they were still working on the Memphis Belle. It’s great to see them finally working on the Swoose.

[@rogerd777]

I see that actress Swoosie Kurtz, daughter of Col. Frank Kurtz, the pilot of this aircraft and is named for the aircraft, is now 79 years old. I trust that she is good health. I hope that when The Swooze is completed and put on display, she is there to see it. Is the NMUSAF in communication with her?

[@ruse1157]

No idea how this got on my recommended but now I'm to invested

[@happyhome41]

LOVE your public face. Had the good fortune of being stationed at WPAFB Area B for six years in the early 80’s, and seeing some wonderful work and activity by the museum and staff. Keep up the good work ! And THANK YOU !

[@USAFmuseum]

That is awesome!

[@xyzaero]

I want to fly that X-32 in the background ❤

[@USAFmuseum]

Same!!!

[@aj-2savage896]

Actress Swoosie Kurtz is named after this plane.

[@kennethhummel4409]

And Lou Diamond Phillips was named by his father in honor of USMC Gunny Sergeant Lou Diamond. Look that guy up someday. He was one of the inspirations for Gunny Highway for the movie Heartbreak ridge, an old breed marine whose home address is Marine Barracks 8th and I st, Washington DC.

[@petepetrini9759]

There is a very old movie called "Air Force" made in the early 1940's just after Pearl Harbor that was all about the actions of a B-17D "Mary Ann". Great old picture.

[@willausterman3104]

It's a real shame the bubble gun positions and rear tub can't be restored, not a single other surviving B-17 had them.

[@fredhayes6162]

Ahh the Swoose, part swan, part Goose. I do hope I'll live long enough to see her restoration completed,

[@Normandy1944]

This reminds me of a number of years past when the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum began its resto of the City of Savannah...a G model. They did almost all of their wonderful work on the display floor...thus you could visit it as it progressed.

[@user-lv4ox5ul8i]

I saw some of the pieces at the Garber Facility in Oxen Hill, MD. My mother, now 99, was friends with the pilot, Col. Kurtz and his wife, Margo. She was kind of like a nanny to their daughter, Swoosie.

[@charlieboye2009]

Can't wait to see this restored!!

[@pauljensen5699]

Impressive! Everyway!

[@cleekmaker00]

I'm overjoyed 40-3097 will be restored as "Alexander The Swoose" instead of a 'generic' B-17D from the early days of the Pacific War. There's just too much History in her bones to be anything else.

[@nicholasskific4795]

OMG i was just there today and now I see this video

[@HaddaClu]

Still say the Shoo Shoo Baby shouldn't have been traded away. She was a true gem. Besides if you had kept her and traded something else for the Swoose then you could show the evolution of the B17s design throughout it's lift with three different models of the aircraft. Swoose, Memphis Belle, and Shoo Shoo Baby.

[@2ksnakenoodles]

Is Shoo Shoo Shoo baby still airworthy?

[@HaddaClu]

@@2ksnakenoodles She sat for what 20 years in the hanger? She'd need at least an overhaul to check everything over; but she should have been in good shape. Unfortunately she's in bits and pieces at the Smithsonian now...

[@cleekmaker00]

But with The Belle and The Swoose, they have two of not only the most significant B-17's and Aircraft of WW2, but also the oldest surviving B-17 and sole example of a D Model. Better they be in Dayton where they truly belong instead of DC. Shoo Shoo Baby will have a good home where she'll get lots of attention.

[@petepetrini9759]

As I understand it Shoo Shoo Baby actually belonged to the Smithsonian and we only had it on loan

[@davelewandoski4292]

FINALLY

[@jethawk9941]

Let’s keep this one on the ground shall we

[@thomasherbig]

Is that a Monica in the background?

[@kennethhummel4409]

Are you going to restore her to flyable condition at a stuffed and mounted static display? I know that it won’t ever be allowed to fly again but it would be a proper thing to do as full of a restoration as possible.

[@USAFmuseum]

Info here: www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196864/boeing-b-17d-the-swoose/

[@cleekmaker00]

@@USAFmuseum Very glad to read that the airplane will be restored as The Swoose instead of the earlier Proposal to make her a generic representation of an early SWPAF bomber.

[@raystarr4388]

I remember seeing the belly gun tub for this aircraft. Any plans on reattaching it to the aircraft?

[@USAFmuseum]

Transport period for resto.

[@paulmurphy773]

@@USAFmuseum but originally they showed them replicating the belly gun tube and the staff said it was being restored to the bomber version in camo ...

[@525Lines]

It's probably been in your museum for 75 years. What restoration does it need? Hate to see the original paint job wrecked.

[@USAFmuseum]

Info is in the comments and on the fact sheet.

[@willausterman3104]

It sat rotting in Smithsonian storage for years, the paint job was already ruined. NMUSAF just recently finished restoring the Memphis Belle and her paint job is perfectly accurate. The Swoose will look so close to its old appearance thar you won't be able to tell. She's lucky NMUSAF got her out of the Smithsonian's grip.

[@stanleydomalewski8497]

Magnificent !