July 26, 1935
In August 1934, the US Army Air Corps issued a request for a multi-engine
bomber aircraft that could carry a useful bomb load at a cruising speed of 220
MPH at an altitude of 10,000 feet for ten hours, top speed to be 250 MPH. The
Boeing company design looked something between a scaled-down version of the XB-15, a very large bomber prototype then in design, and a scaled-up,
four-engine version of the Model
247.
The Model 299 was publicly rolled out at Boeing field
in Seattle on 17 July 1935. First flight was on 28 July, and on 20 August 1935
the aircraft flew from Seattle to Wright Field near Dayton for Air Corps
evaluation. A crash occurred on October 30 1935 destroying the 299 (A lock on
the flight controls was left engaged and the aircraft stalled on takeoff) and some felt that the aircraft was too much for a
pilot to handle but the Air Corps saw the obvious merits of the design and on
January 17th 1936 the Air Corps ordered 13 flying additional aircraft and 1
static airframe for testing, these were designated
Y1B-17 / Y1B-17A.
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| The interior of the cockpit w/ the forward control panel. July 26, 1935 |
A look forward in a naked navigator/bombardier compartment | Radio operator's compartment looking forward. The bomb bay is just through that door. | Interior view, left waist gunner position |
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| Exterior view of the nose glazing | The early bombsight aperture | Exterior view port side | Exterior view, right waist gunner's position |
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| Notice the landing gear has double sided struts. | In flight | In flames | After the fire is out |
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