This one is very special to me. In 1935 Boeing entered a competition for a multi-engine bomber for the Army Air Service. They came up with a large four-engine design, the model 299, quite radical for the time. It flew nonstop from Seattle to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio for testing. The control locks were a new design, and the test crew too off with them locked, causing the plane to crash, killing Boeing's pilot and the Army test pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill. The design was accepted in spite of this, and went on to become the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress. In 1940 the new Army Air Base in Utah was named in honor of Major Hill.
Cut to 1990. I always like prototypes, so I started looking for a way to build that original Boeing 299, so I gathered parts from other kits and started looking at photographs. At the same time Rocky and I were asked by one of the museum curators to go up to Hill Field and fix their sadly disorganized model collection. It took us the better part of a week to sort it all out, but we got the job done. I noticed that they had a special model collection called 'Planes Major Hill Flew". They had a model of a WW2 B-17F, which he never saw, and later replaced it with a pre-war B-17C, which he also never flew. When I pointed this out the curator said "There aren't any models available of that plane, and the professional who built these told us it can't be done." I said "Really? It just so happens..."
These pictures were taken on Rocky's dining-room table in June 1990. Twenty-two years later that model is still part of a special display right in the middle of the museum lobby. If I ever get there again I'll take new pictures.
