Italian Licence built Flying Fortress and it's implications

[Joe C-P]

This, of course, leads to the idea that Mussolini might have been drawn away from his fellow Fascist with sufficient incentive.
Perhaps Britain, France, and Italy can come to an "understanding" about northern Africa, and Mussolini convinced that expending its resources as Germany's "lesser" partner would be a waste, buying him off with some equipment sold cheap.

[Burncycle]

Did the C model even exist in 1938?

[Retired In Kalifornia]

I stumbled across this paragraph and while it seems unlikely that Boeing would licence the B17 to the Italians it makes for intriguing speculation.

In 1938 the RA issued a request for proposal for a BGR (Bombardiere a Grande Raggio, long-range bomber); proposals came from Caproni with their Ca.204 and Ca.211 projects, CRDA with Cant. Z.1014 (built only in mock-up form), Piaggio with the P.108B (a private venture project, offered as an additional entry) and the P.112. Also considered was the purchasing of a production license for the Boeing B-17C 'Fortress', but this idea was later discarded for reasons of autarchia (national self-sufficiency).

This question was endlessly debated 50 years ago for sure in aviation & modeling publications of the day, know that as was around then building plastic model airplanes. For myself I'd just purchased a 1/72 scale ACADEMY B-17B model that'll be done over in Regia Aeronautica Italia (RAI) mimetico livery c. late 1939 - early 1940 complete with tricolor rudder flash. Burning question in my mind is to paint it ala three color banded Savoia-Marchetti S.79s, three colored spotted Piaggio P.108 prototype (Giallo Mimetico 1 base; looks too lime colored for my taste alas), three color mottled CDRA CANT z.1007 or one of the 1940-41 Macchi three color schemes (Verde Mimetico 2 base) ala that employed for first production C.202s & contemporary C.200s. Am leaning towards the Savoia camo scheme, they (Savoia) apparently employed more Mimetico color shades thus lending me more artistic choice. I have sufficient Tauro & Sky Model decals for the job, including large RAI wing decals that'll look just fine on a B17. The version I'd like to make will not have the ubiquitous white fuselage band, they're a royal pain to paint on straight never mind getting widths to proportionally look good. Am in no hurry to build, got dozens more RAI models to build, earliest I MIGHT get to it will be 2016.

[Retired In Kalifornia]

Did the C model even exist in 1938?

Wikipedia says July 1940, B model first flew June 27, 1939.

[McColm]

The Russians flew the Lancaster during WWII.

[Retired In Kalifornia]

The Russians flew the Lancaster during WWII.

Yeppers...Wings Palette: Lancaster B.Mk.I

"Unit: 16th TRAO, Belomorsk Military Flotilla Serial: 01 (ex ME559) Crew commander - V.Sh.Evdokimov, navigator - V.Ya.Andreev. One of the six Lancasters abandoned by British at Soviets airfields in Archangelsk region. Two of them were repaired in served with Soviets. This Lancaster was unarmament and used for transport and patrol since January 1945."

[PR19_Kit]

Looks like they grafted a Halifax nose onto it, and deepened the bomb bay too.

[The Wooksta!]

They were Tallboy aircraft from the Tirpitz raids.