Designed by Boeing Aircraft in 1934, the B-17 Flying Fortress became one of the most famous aircraft ever built. Its prototype first flew on July 28, 1935, and the B-17 first went into combat in the Philippines and Hawaii on December 7, 941 in strikes against the Japanese fleet. It was eventually used in every theater of operation in World War II, but became best known for daylight strategic bombing of German industrial targets. By the time production halted in May 1945, a total of 12,731 aircraft had been produced. In Europe alone, B-17s dropped more than 640,000 tons of bombs, almost 200,000 tons more than all other Allied bombers and fighters combined. The aircraft earned the name Flying Fortress in aerial combat over Europe, averaging 25 enemy planes shot down per 1,000 sorties, and became legendary for sustaining heavy battle damage and still returning to base. This B-17G S/N 44-83863 is depicted as B-17F S/N 42-30180 Black Hawk, which served with the 96th Bombardment Group, later redesignated the 96th Test Wing on July 18, 2012, at Eglin AFB, Florida. Black Hawk also had ties to Eglin Field and was one of several aircraft used in Operation Aphrodite, a program from June 1944 to January 1945 that converted B-17s and PB4Ys into remotely controlled, automatic piloted bombers stripped of non-essential gear, packed with high explosives, and guided to their targets by a mother ship.