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Re: B-17
Graham,
Even though I concur with the first part of the message (the B-17 was supposed to be a land fortress against invaders coming from the sea, but the USAAC had something else behind their minds), the USAAC did give names to all their aircraft for radio recognition purpose.
What is usually called "serial number" was nothing else than the last part of a radio call-sign. In peace time, pilots identified themselves as "Lightning 334" or "Airacobra 213" to control towers. In operational theaters, aircraft names were replaced by tactical codes, such as "Carman" for the 4th FG or "Dogday" for part of the 56th FG.
The habit of naming aircraft in WW2 was kept because many of them were still flying over the US territory where they had to be ID'd by air controllers.
Chris
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