B-17G-110-VE 44-85828 was one of the very last of the 12,731 Flying Fortresses built by Boeing between 1935 and 1945. Constructed in Burbank, CA, it was delivered to the USAAF in July 1945 and subsequently supplied to the US Navy. Issued with BuNo 77254, the aircraft was modified for US Coast Guard surveillance work and flown from stations in California and Alaska until 1959. Handed back to the USAF, it became the very last B-17 to be retired from US military service on October 14 that year. Sold into civilian ownership the following year, the aircraft was converted into a “borate bomber” for the aerial firefighting mission. Based in Wyoming and Montana with Aero Flite as tanker B-30 for the next 16 years, 44-85828 was eventually replaced by a C-54 tanker in May 1978 and retired to the Pima Museum in Tucson, AZ. It has been on static display in 390^th Bomb Group colors for the past 28 years.