They also serve…. These B-17s saw short but exciting lives during the early days of the Cold War, as three of ten radio-controlled drones that were used in the 1946 'Crossroads' nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. '588 (in the lead position) participated as a cloud sampler during both shots of the test and survived to serve another day. Tail stripes (black over yellow) signified the identity of the drone control B-17 assigned to each: the latter had large numbers painted in Roman numerals on their tail; 4-striped B-17G 44-83588 was assigned to drone control B-17 'IV'.
The story shown below relates to '588's time at Eglin AAF from October 1946 to March 1948, again serving as a 'NOLO' drone, but this time as a target for guided missile testing. Note that at this time, target aircraft used in this manner were simply referred to as 'drone' (or robot) and the director aircraft as 'mother'. Only later did the QB-17 and DB-17 designations come into use.
Douglas, Long Beach-built B-17G s/n 44-93588 was built for Project Dom-77B (operational reserve) and accepted by the USAAF on 12 April 1945. Its movements are as follows:
To Winslow, AZ 12Apr45 (remain overnight)
To Love Field, Dallas TX 13Apr45 (remain overnight)
Arrived, Patterson AAF OH 15Apr45
Declared excess 15Oct45
Returned to military use 07Nov45
Assigned to Warner Robins AAF GA 20Nov45 (ferried from Patterson that date)
Assigned to 4121st AAF Base Unit Kelly AFB TX 19Feb46 for conversion to drone
Assigned to Task Group 1.5 Clovis AAF NM 09May46
Departed US for Crossroads Test 16Jun46
Able Shot - 1 July 1946
Baker Shot – 23 July 1946
Returned to US ex-Crossroads 20Aug46
1504th AAF Base Unit Fairfield-Suisun AAF CA 20Aug46
509th BGp Roswell AAF NM 21Aug46
Assigned to 1st Experimental Guided Missile Gp Eglin AAF FL 01Oct46 as TB-17G
To 4141st AAF Base Unit Pyote AAF TX 17Mar48 (storage)
Authorised for reclamation 04Apr50
Reclamation complete 18Apr50