"Clandestine Fortress", The

Flight Journal, Jun 2003 by Thompson, Warren E

The U.S. Navy flew this rare PB-IW in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The dome fitted on the top of the B-17 fuselage, as shown here, housed an APS-20 early warning radar that was developed by the Navy at the end of WW II to alert its aircraft carriers to low-flying, attacking Japanese aircraft. A total of 31 B-17Gs were modified to carry the APS-20 searching radar, and they were assigned to VPB-IOl as early as 1946.

Installations of this search radar had first been done on the Grumman TBM and later on the P2V, AF-2 and AD-2W/4W aircraft. The AFs and ADs were usually paired with an attackaircraft type, since the "W" versions did not have armament. During its time with the Navy, it had two configurations: one with the radome on top of the fuselage and one with the radome on the underside. The bomb bays were sealed and used to house large fuel tanks that gave the PB-IW the extended range needed for its missions.

This picture was taken at Pohang AB (K-3) in South Korea on March 12, 1953, during the Korean War. This PB-IW had burned out the magnetron (transmitting tube) on its radar, and the Marine squadron at Pohang (VMJ-I) was able to provide a spare because its AD-4W aircraft also used the APS-20 radar. M/Sgt. Dan Georgia provided the needed part, and to return the favor, he was given a test-hop in the aircraft.

Commenting on the incident, M/Sgt. Georgia stated, "I never inquired as to what their mission was. I believe it was highly classified because the Navy was flying a lot of reconnaissance up north and along the coastline above the North Korean border. None of the aircraft's crew talked about what they were doing in the area."

All of these modified Flying Fortresses were painted in a dark-blue scheme, and they were eventually replaced by similarly modified Constellations.

-Warren E. Thompson

migalley@bellsouth.net