44-85740

Built under license by the Vega Aircraft Corporation division of Lockheed in Burbank, California, serial number 44-85740 completed construction in the final months of World War II. It took to the skies on its maiden flight and was formally delivered to the United States Army Air Forces on May 18, 1945. Because the war in Europe had concluded just days earlier, the newly manufactured heavy bomber arrived too late to fly combat missions over the continent and was diverted to storage facilities.

Following the conclusion of hostilities, the aircraft was declared military surplus and placed into disposal storage. In 1946, the stripped airframe was sold through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a mere $750 to civilian buyers. Over the subsequent decades, the bomber transitioned through various utilitarian civil roles—serving as an aerial mapping platform, crop duster, and pest-control sprayer registered under civilian mark N5017N, dodging the scrap yards that claimed the vast majority of its wartime counterparts.

In 1978, a dedicated group of vintage aircraft enthusiasts known as 'B-17s Around the World' acquired the aircraft and transferred ownership to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1979. EAA volunteers and specialists undertook an exhaustive multi-year restoration to return the vintage bomber to its original wartime military configuration. Christened 'Aluminum Overcast', it was restored to honor the 398th Bombardment Group, specifically commemorating the lost B-17G 42-102516 that had been shot down over France in 1944.

Rather than being relegated to silent static retirement, Aluminum Overcast became the flagship ambassador for the EAA and one of only a handful of airworthy B-17 Flying Fortresses in existence. For decades, it embarked on extensive public flight tours across North America, accumulating more than one million flight miles while offering living history flight experiences and keeping the legacy of wartime aviators alive.