Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

Oldest surviving B-17 moving from Smithsonian

DAYTON, Ohio — The oldest surviving B-17 Flying Fortress is leaving the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. to be restored at the Air Force museum in Dayton.

Sarah Parke, spokeswoman for the National Museum of the United States Air Force, says the restoration process will take several years before going on display in Dayton.

The fuselage and other parts already have been transferred.

The Air Force says the bomber, known as “The Swoose,” was originally called Ole Betsy and flew in the first combat mission in the Philippines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After repairs in 1942, it was renamed The Swoose — after a song about a bird that is half swan, half goose.