Boeing Model 299

July if 1935, the Model 299 is wheeled out of the hangar for the first time, looking sleek and futuristic compared to the array of cars in front of it. The prototype, forerunner of the B-17, first flew on the 28th of July, 1935. Unfortunately the prototype was lost in a crash due to faulty flight preparation, but the army was sufficiently impressed to order 13 more- designated the YB-17- to study and develop. 
It was a success, by the time production stopped in 1945, nearly 13,000 B-17s had been built.