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The Boeing B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ was one of the U.S.A.’s main four-engine heavy bombers, operating alongside the B-24 Liberator, and the later B-29 Superfortress, in all theatres of World War 2. It’s a fact that the B-17 almost never saw its place in history and the defeat of Nazi Germany, as the prototype, known as Model 299, crashed due to pilot error during its evaluation in October 1935. Thankfully, the design had shown such promise during the testing phase, in fact, far exceeding the requirements of the original specification, that further prototypes were ordered despite Boeing losing the original contract with the United States Army Air Corps. It was this further evaluation that saw the type enter active service in 1938. The actual name ‘Flying Fortress’ was coined by a newspaper hack who witnessed a roll-out of the machine, bristling with guns and turrets, and Boeing realised that this was the sort of propaganda they needed, and trademarked the name. After the initial prototypes, serial production of the B-17 began with the B-17B variant, and underwent a major revision with the introduction of the ‘E’. This type featured a substantially redesigned tail and fillet that featured throughout subsequent versions, giving the B-17 its iconic profile. An extra 10ft of length was added to the fuselage. Other refinements included the addition of a tail and dorsal turret, and the addition of a Bendix turret to replace the fixed bathtub type that had graced previous versions. This was found to be disappointing, and was eventually replaced with the Sperry ball turret that became a permanent feature of all future marques.
Boeing’s ‘G’ incarnation of the Fort, was perhaps the most significant of all types built, and of course, numerous ‘F’ version modifications were carried over, such as the remotely operated Bendix chin turret that was introduced in the late block series of the ‘F’. Differences between the ‘G’ version and the previous main production ‘F’ type were the positions of the nose cheek guns to accommodate the remote yolk for the Bendix turret operation, and for late block production of the ‘G’, the introduction of the Cheyenne tail gunner position which offered a reflector gun sight and much improved field of fire. Unlike the early production blocks of the ‘G’, the later production blocks introduced staggered waist gun positions for the flexible-mount .50-cal machine guns.
The B-17G was powered by 4 × Wright
R-1820-97 “Cyclone” 1200hp turbocharged radial engines that were constantly
uprated over the service life of the B-17, and it also carried 13 x .50cal M2
Browning machine guns. A typical long-range mission would see the B-17G carry
around 4,500lbs of bombs. Wingspan was 103ft 9in, with a length of 74ft 4in. A
crew of 10 was typically carried by all variants of the B-17G.
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Returns
If you are having problems with your purchase, please contact us as soon as you notice an issue. You can email or call us, photos and details of your order are necessary.
Please do not return the item before you contact us and get a return confirmation from us. Please do not send your purchase back to the manufacturer.
We will try to resolve issues of warranty/faulty items with you.
Our products are covered by the manufacturer's warranty, so you do not have to worry.
If the item we shipped is not the item you ordered we will take action accordingly.
To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.
Gift cards are exempt from being returned.
Refunds
Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also let you know of the approval or rejection of your refund.
If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.
Late or missing refunds
If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account again.
Then contact your credit card company, it may take some time before your refund is officially posted.
Next contact your bank. There is often some processing time before a refund is posted.
If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at sales@sikhobbies.com.au.
Sale items
Only regular priced items may be refunded, unfortunately sale items cannot be refunded.
Exchanges
We only replace items if they are defective or damaged. If you need to exchange it for the same item, send us an email at sales@sikhobbies.com.au and send your item to: SIK Hobbies Rockingham, 10-12 Goddard Street, Rockingham WA 6168, Australia.
Gifts
If the item was marked as a gift when purchased and shipped directly to you, you’ll receive a gift credit for the value of your return. Once the returned item is received, a gift certificate will be mailed to you.
If the item wasn’t marked as a gift when purchased, or the gift giver had the order shipped to themselves to give to you later, we will send a refund to the gift giver and he will find out about your return.
Shipping
To return your product, you should mail your product to: SIK Hobbies Rockingham, 10-12 Goddard Street, Rockingham WA 6168, Australia
You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item for any reason. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.
Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.
If you are shipping an item over $75, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.