Editing Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (section)

==== U.S. Air Force ====
{{See also|3205th Drone Group}}
[[File:QB-17 Flying Fortress Drones over New Mexico 1946.jpg|thumb|left|BQ-17 Flying Fortress drones over New Mexico, April 1946]]

After World War II, the B-17 was quickly phased out of use as a bomber and the Army Air Forces retired most of its fleet. Flight crews ferried the bombers back across the Atlantic to the United States where the majority were sold for scrap and melted down, although many remained in use in second-line roles such as VIP transports, air-sea rescue and photo-reconnaissance.<ref name="Swan mil p80" /><ref name="Bowers Boeing p290" /> [[Strategic Air Command]] (SAC), established in 1946, used reconnaissance B-17s (at first called F-9 [''F'' for ''Fotorecon''], later RB-17) until 1949.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p310-1" /><ref name="Knaack bomber p465" />

The USAF [[Air Rescue Service]] of the [[Military Air Transport Service]] (MATS) operated B-17s as so-called "Dumbo" [[air-sea rescue]] aircraft. Work on using B-17s to carry [[airborne lifeboat]]s had begun in 1943, but they entered service in the European theater only in February 1945. They were also used to provide search and rescue support for [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29]] raids against Japan. About 130 B-17s were converted to the air-sea rescue role, at first designated B-17H and later SB-17G. Some SB-17s had their defensive guns removed, while others retained their guns to allow use close to combat areas. The SB-17 served through the [[Korean War]], remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p303-4" /><ref>Hess & Winchester 1997, pp. 86, 89–90</ref>

In 1946, surplus B-17s were chosen as [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|drone aircraft]] for atmospheric sampling during the [[Operation Crossroads]] atomic bomb tests, being able to fly close to or even through the [[mushroom cloud]]s without endangering a crew. This led to more widespread conversion of B-17s as drones and drone control aircraft, both for further use in atomic testing and as targets for testing [[surface-to-air missile|surface-to-air]] and [[air-to-air missile]]s.<ref name="WoF p91" /> {{nowrap|One hundred and seven B-17s}} were converted to drones.<ref name="Flight Sperry" /> The last operational mission flown by a USAF Fortress was conducted on {{Nowrap|6 August}} 1959, when a DB-17P, serial'' 44-83684 '', directed a QB-17G, out of [[Holloman Air Force Base]], New Mexico, as a target for an [[AIM-4 Falcon]] air-to-air missile fired from a [[McDonnell F-101 Voodoo]]. A retirement ceremony was held several days later at Holloman AFB, after which ''44-83684'' was retired.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} It was subsequently used in various films and in the 1960s television show ''[[Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)|12 O'Clock High]]'' before being retired to the [[Planes of Fame]] aviation museum in Chino, California.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://warbirdregistry.org/b17registry/b17-4483684.html |title = Warbird Registry – Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress |website = warbirdregistry.org }}</ref> Perhaps the most famous B-17, the ''[[Memphis Belle (aircraft)|Memphis Belle]]'', has been restored – with the B-17D ''[[The Swoose]]'' under way – to her World War II wartime appearance by the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]], Ohio.<ref name="NMAF Memphis" />