Richard Williams; Dubbed B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’

Richard L. Williams, 78, the man who dubbed the B-17 bomber--the workhorse of World War II--the “Flying Fortress.” Assigned to write a Seattle Times caption on a picture of the B-299, a B-17 prototype, on July 17, 1935, Williams wrote: “Declared to be the largest land plane ever built in America, this 15-ton flying fortress, built by the Boeing Aircraft Co. under Army specifications, today was ready to test its wings.” The tag stuck to the plane that was used extensively during the war. In St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sunday of pneumonia.