Who was the B-17 XC-108 converted for?

Short answer

For General Douglas MacArthur. The conversion started from a B-17E with serial number 41-2593, brought to the VIP transport standard. A B-17F, the 42-6036, was also converted for the same general with the same purpose. Access was made easier with a retractable door with steps in the rear fuselage.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Sunset silhouette of flying fortress, Langley Field, Va

A custom-built transport for a general

The B-17E with serial number 41-2593 was converted to the VIP transport standard for General Douglas MacArthur. To make boarding and disembarking easier, the conversion included a retractable door with steps in the rear fuselage.

A second Fortress for MacArthur

MacArthur did not have just one aircraft of this type: a B-17F, serial number 42-6036, was also brought up to the VIP transport standard for him.

The B-17 as an experimental platform

The XB-38 Flying Fortress was the conversion of a single production B-17E to test whether the Allison V-1710 V-engine could replace the usual Wright R-1820 radial, in the early years of World War II. Only one was built, modified from a standard production aircraft. It mounted four turbosupercharged Allison V-1710-97s, liquid-cooled V12s rated at 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) each. Testing resumed after a repair until the ninth flight, on 16 June 1943, when the inner right engine caught fire and the crew bailed out; the aircraft was destroyed and the project was cancelled, partly because the V-1710s were in high demand for the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and North American P-51A Mustang fighters.