I thought that the last USAF B-17 flew in 1957 but in this old May 1961 video of my Dad's, there is a USAF B-17 painted with Day-Glo orange trim displayed at the May 1961 March Air Force Base airshow. As with the other Day-Glo-highlighted aircraft at the show, I believe that these aircraft were assigned to the Edwards Air Force Base Test Center at that time. I was only 6 years old at the time but I remember the Edwards AFB airshow of that same month (with the help of my Dad's dating of his videos, of course) and that these same aircraft were displayed up there at Edwards. What I don't know is what this B-17 was utilized for.
The last part of the video is of a KC-97 aerial tanker. My Dad had flown in this exact aircraft (same tail number) early in the Korean War as part of a stateside tanker instructor crew as a flight engineer. My Dad knew that this Day-Glo-painted aircraft was then assigned to the Edwards AFB test flight program. It still had the Strategic Air Command diagonal blue-with-white-stars band across the rear fuselage when it was at the 1961 March AFB airshow.
But are there any hints as to the use of the USAF B-17 at the time of this 1961 video??
Good times!
Link to video:
http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/octane130/Message%20Board%20Photos/?action=view¤t=MarchAFBAirshowMay1961.flv
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