Production. B-17F heavy bombers. Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17F Bomber at the Long Beach, California plant of Douglas Aircraft Company. Better known as the "Flying Fortress," the B-17F is a later model of the B-17 which distinguished itself in action in the South Pacific, over Germany, and elsewhere. It is a long range, high altitude heavy bomber, with a crew of seven to nine men, and an armament sufficient to defend itself on daylight missions. Douglas Aircraft Company