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BOEING B-17 FLYING FORTRESS
Variants - PB-1/PB-1W

The U.S. Navy (USN) received 48 B-17s towards the end of World War II, renamed PB-1 and used for maritime patrol missions. Post-war, the USN acquired 31 more B-17Gs, renamed PB-1W, and fitted with AN/APS-20 radar for Airborne Early Warning equipment and procedure development.

The Naval Air Material Center’s Naval Aircraft Modification Unit (NAMU) at Johnsville, Pennsylvania modified the B-17s to PB-1W specification by sealing up the bomb bay doors and installing 300 gallon drop tanks on each wing, in addition to the “Tokyo Tanks” mounted in the outer wings, holding a total of 3,400 gallons of fuel, giving the PB-1W an endurance of 22+ hours. Initially PB-1W's retained the natural metal finish with a protective wax coat, but later the PB-1Ws were painted gloss Navy Blue overall.

Boeing PB-1W Flying Fortress
Boeing PB-1W Flying Fortress.
[Source: USN Photo]

The scanner for the one-megawatt AN/APS-20 Seasearch S-band Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), manufactured by Hazeltine Corporation/General Electric, was ventrally mounted in a bulbous housing below the redundant bomb bay, with the RADAR relay transmitter, Identification friend or foe (IFF), Radio Direction Finder (RDF), Instrument Landing System (ILS), and LOng RAnge Navigation (LORAN) also being installed during conversion.

The conversion introduced the following changes:
  • Chin turret removed.
  • Norden bombsight removed.
  • Bombardier’s station retained as a look out post, while on ASW or airborne
    search and rescue (SAR) missions.
  • Top forward turret removed.
  • Cockpit armour removed.
  • 300 U.S. Gallon drop tanks fitted under the outer wings.
  • Extra fuel tanks in the outer wings (“Tokyo Tanks”).
  • AN/APS-20 Seasearch S-band Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), with transmitter
    in the fuselage and aerial in a bulbous di-electric fairing under the former bomb-bay.
  • Modernised Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF).
  • Radio Direction Finder (RDF).
  • Instrument Landing System (ILS).
  • LOng RAnge Navigation (LORAN).
  • 2 RADAR consoles facing aft in the former bomb-bay
  • Radio Operators seat turned to face outboard.
  • Waist gun positions and ball turret removed.
  • Bench seats fitted for observers at the waist positions.
  • Floating smoke markers carried.
  • A latrine and a galley were fitted amidships.
  • Tail guns and armour removed.
  • Provision for spares and/or cargo to be carried in the tail section.

The crew for USN PB-1Ws consisted of 6 officers, (Pilot in Command, Second in Command, Navigator, CIC Officer, and 2 RADAR Operators/Controllers) and 5 enlisted men (Plane Captain (now referred to as Crew Chief), 2nd Mechanic, Electronics Technician, and 2 Radio Operators).

Boeing PB-1W Flying Fortress/Bu 77235) of experimental squadron VX-4 on May 25, 1949.
Boeing PB-1W Flying Fortress/Bu 77235) of experimental squadron VX-4 on May 25, 1949.
[Source: USN Photo]

First delivered to Patrol Bomber Squadron 101 (VPB-101) in the spring of 1946, the Navy was eventually to have twenty two, out of thirty one post-war B-17s, fully upgraded to PB-1W standard. Late in 1946, VPB-101 would move to NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and be redesignated Airborne Early Warning Development Squadron Four (VX-4).

Sources:
Wikipedia
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