Editing Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (section)

=== Japanese-captured B-17s ===
[[File:B17jp.jpg|thumb|This captured USAAF Boeing B-17D, in Japanese livery, was flown to Japan for technical evaluation]]

In 1942, Japanese technicians and mechanics rebuilt three damaged B-17s, one "D" and two "E" series, using parts salvaged from abandoned B-17 wrecks in the Philippines and the Java East Indies.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.historynet.com/japans-fleet-flying-forts.htm| title = The Surprising Story of Japan's B-17 Fleet| date = 26 January 2018}}</ref> The three bombers, which still contained their top-secret [[Norden bombsight]]s, were [[Ferry flying|ferried]] to Japan where they underwent extensive technical evaluation by the ''Giken'', the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]]'s Air Technical Research Institute (''Koku Gijutsu Kenkyujo'') at Tachikawa's air field. The "D" model, later deemed an obsolescent design, was used in Japanese training and propaganda films. The two "E"s were used to develop air combat tactics for use against B-17s; they were also used as enemy aircraft in pilot and crew training films. One of the two "E"s was photographed late in the war by US aerial recon. It was code-named "Tachikawa 105" after the mystery aircraft's wingspan ({{cvt|104|ft}}) but not correctly identified as a captured B-17 until after the war. No traces of the three captured Flying Fortresses were ever found in Japan by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] occupation forces. The bombers were assumed either lost by various means or scrapped late in the war for their vital war materials.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p314" />