A Taiwanese pilot flew the longest B-17 Flying Fortress mission, which lasted more than 19 hours, over China
One of the most recognizable aircraft ever constructed is the Flying Fortress. July 28, 1935, saw the first flight of the B-17 prototype. Even though there weren’t many B-17s in use on December 7, 1941, production swiftly picked up once the US entered World War II.
Manufacturing ceased in May 1945, with 12,726 units produced. The B-17 served in every combat zone and was still in service after World War II, despite being best known for its daylight strategic bombardment of German industrial targets.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) formed an uneasy alliance with the nationalist Chinese government in Taiwan after Mao’s communists seized power in mainland China in 1949.
In 1953, the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) and the CIA formed the Black Bat Squadron, also known as the 34th Squadron. Its job was to conduct secret air operations over the mainland, dropping agents’ propaganda and gathering signals, images, and nuclear intelligence – using B-17, B-26, and P-2 aircraft.
The 34th Squadron had just one B-17 left at the end of May 1959. The Black Bats: CIA Spy Flights over China from Taiwan, 1951–1969 by Chris Pocock and Clarence Fu includes recollections from a former member of the 34th Squadron crew.
“We were preparing to send our last B-17 back to the US. A Chinese crew stripped the airplane of all the ELINT equipment. But after this work, someone forgot to reconnect the airspeed line to the pilot tube. During takeoff on the subsequent test flight, the airspeed indicator failed to register. But instead of flying by instinct, the Chinese pilot pushed the throttles all the way forward — and fire-walled the engines. He flew round the circuit for an emergency landing. If he didn’t make it on the first pass, he told the tower that he would ditch at sea. Fortunately, a flight engineer from Lockheed was onboard and realized what the problem was. He pulled the throttles back so that a safe landing speed was achieved.”
This final B-17 did perform a few more missions over the mainland in late 1959 and early 1960, despite the P-2 Neptune (named P2V by the US Navy until September 1962) being unquestionably superior for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) missions. One of these might have been the longest flight a B-17 has ever made, anywhere at any time. The ancient WWII bomber was flown over the regions of Guangdong, Hunan, and Guizhou on February 26, 1960. It then flew over the Yunnan plateau before returning on a roughly parallel track. Additional fuel tanks were installed for this flight, which took off from Hsinchu at 1600 on Feb. 26, 1960. The next morning, at 11:10, they finally arrived—19 hours and 10 minutes later!
It’s noteworthy that this journey lasted even longer, 20 hours and 40 minutes, according to a display in the former 34th Squadron museum! Long-distance flights in the B-17 were made possible, in accordance with former Black Bat pilot Dai Shu Qing, by the installation of an auxiliary fuel tank in the bomb bay. On the P-2, a comparable tank was added.
But in November 1960, the B-17 left the 34th Squadron. In 1961, it was delivered to the Skunk Works, where the ATIR jammer was installed in preparation for yet another covert operation. Four new engines have to be installed. Later, the B-17 was equipped with the Fulton Skyhook and used in Operation Coldfeet to drop and then rescue two Americans who were looking into a Soviet Union ice station that had been abandoned in the Arctic. The same B-17, as demonstrated in the video below, rose to fame when the Skyhook was employed to pick up James Bond and his girlfriend at the conclusion of the movie Thunderball.
The Black Bats CIA Spy Flights over China from Taiwan 1951-1969 is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Screenshot from video and unknown