3205th Drone Group The 3205th Drone Group is a discontinued United States Air Force unit . It was last active with the Air Proving Ground Center , based at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida . It was discontinued on 1 February 1961 . A notable moment in the Groups history is that a Douglas / Long Beach DB - 17P ( Formerly B - 17G - 90 - DL ) 44 - 83684 of the units 3225th Drone Squadron flew the last operational mission by a USAF Flying Fortress on 6 August 1959 . History . The 3205th Drone Group operated obsolete aircraft during the 1950s as radio - controlled drones as aerial targets for various tests . It was the primary post - World War II operator of surplus B - 17G Flying Fortress aircraft . It also operated converted F - 80 Shooting Star and a few RB - 47 Stratojet bombers that were converted into drone aircraft during the early years of the Cold War . Origins . At the end of World War II , the B - 17 Flying Fortress and B - 24 Liberator were obsolete as strategic bombers , being replaced by the B - 29 Superfortress . B - 24 production was ended after the German capitulation in May 1945 , B - 17 production ended in April . Many of these new aircraft were simply not needed due to the fortunes of war overwhelmingly in favor of the Allies , and most of them wound up being sent directly from the factory floors to storage areas . Initially , these unneeded aircraft were scheduled for scrapping and metal reclamation . This included the thousands of war - weary combat aircraft returning from the overseas theaters . A few B - 17s were sold to the civil marketplace , however most wound up in the smelters for aluminum recycling . The Army Air Forces , however , decided to retain several hundred new , unused B - 17s . The postwar Air Force B - 17s found uses as personnel and VIP transports ( CB / VB - 17 ) , loaned to defense contractors for various research purposes ( EB / JB - 17 ) , cartographic mapping ( FB - 17 ) , air - sea rescue ( SB - 17 ) , weather reconnaissance ( WB - 17 ) , and trainers ( TB - 17 ) . Their serial numbers were prefixed by an O , indicative of their obsolete status . All postwar B - 17 conversions and ongoing depot - level maintenance was managed by the Middletown Air Depot , Olmsted AFB , Pennsylvania . Air Proving Ground Command ( PGC ) obtained B - 17s for guided missile launching and as aerial targets for new weapons systems . They were designated as follows : When they were worn out or the need was diminished , the other postwar military B - 17s would more often than not be sent to Middletown and converted to the QB - 17 drone configuration . They would then be transferred to PGC and then be expended as aerial targets . Predecessor units . In 1946 , the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group was activated at Eglin Air Force Auxiliary Field # 3 , Florida . The unit ' s formation was a result of the Air Materiel Command ' s Engineering Division at Wright - Patterson AFB looking for places to allow its contractors to launch missiles . It was with this group that the DB - 17 / QB - 17 Fortress Drone Director / Drone was developed . In May 1946 , sixteen B - 17s were withdrawn from storage for conversion into drones with the addition of radio , radar , television , and other equipment . Six other Fortresses were converted as drone controllers . On 13 January 1947 the Group flew a QB - 17 drone , guided by a director DB - 17 , from its base at Eglin to Washington D . C . on a simulated bombing mission as a demonstration of capability . It also made preparations for operating QB - 17s for the Operation Sandstone atomic bomb tests during April and May 1948 . It also picked up responsibility for drone QB - 17 bombing tests ( e . g . , Operation Banshee ) The 550th Guided Missiles Wing ( GMW ) was activated in 1949 as an expansion of the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group . The 1st Guided Missiles Squadron operated MB - 17s , and the 2d Guided Missiles Squadron operated QB - 17 / DB - 17s . Although based at Eglin AFB , the wing established Detachment 1 at Holloman Air Force Base , New Mexico and Detachment 2 at Naval Air Station Point Mugu , California . In 1949 , the 2nd GMS tallied 3 , 052 flight hours without mishap and secured the green and white pennant denoting safety supremacy for USAF B - 17 type aircraft for the fourth straight time , gaining permanent possession of the three - starred flag . The 550th GMW played a prominent part in the spring of 1949 in the aerial filming of " Twelve O ' Clock High " , filmed in part at Eglin AFB . By March 1950 , the 2d Guided Missile Squadron , had 62 pilots manning 14 B - 17s , three B - 29s , and three Q F - 80A Shooting Star s , yellow - tailed drone aircraft used in the role of testing guided missiles . The 550th GMW moved to Patrick AFB , Florida on 11 December 1950 as a result of a reorganization of Proving Ground Command into Air Research and Development Command ( ARDC ) and to facilitate the development of long - range atmospheric guided missiles using the Florida Missile Test Range . 3205th Drone Group . The 3201st Air Base Support Squadron was activated at Eglin AFB on 26 April 1950 from personnel and equipment assigned to the 2nd Guided Missiles Squadron . It assumed the QB - 17 / DB - 17 drone aerial target mission . Re - designated the 3200th Drone Group on 1 June 1951 , it took over the detachments at Holloman AFB and Point Magu California . Participated in Atomic tests , Eniwetok Atoll , Marshall Island Group , Pacific 1950 – 1951 In July 1951 , with the expansion to group level , several squadrons were activated to support operations . the 3205th and 3215th Drone Squadrons were activated at Eglin ; the 3225th absorbed Detachment 1 at Holloman , which operated QB - 17s and QF - 80s over the Army White Sands Missile Range ; the 3235th absorbed Detachment 2 at NAS Point Magu , which operated QB - 17s over the Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility . Often , the QB - 17 would be the subject of intentional near misses to preserve the drone for as many missions as possible . Other QB - 17s were used for various unmanned but destructive tests such as the ditching tests carried out by NACA in San Francisco Bay . In April 1956 , with the development of the IM - 99 Bomarc surface - to - air missile , the 3215th Drone Squadron was moved from Eglin to Patrick AFB , Florida to support the Bomarc testing program . From Patrick , DB / QB - 17s could take off and the missile could be test - fired from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 3 over the Atlantic Missile Range . One such trial on 23 October 1957 ( Bomarc 624 - 11 ) saw the unarmed missile destroy a Flying Fortress target by a direct collision , more than 100 miles from the missile ' s launch point . However , the supply of QB - 17s was dwindling in the late 1950s , and in any case the 1930s - designed B - 17 could not realistically represent modern Soviet aircraft . This led to the refitting of two RB - 47E Stratojet s ( 53 - 4245 , 53 – 4246 ) that were being phased out of the inventory to a QB - 47E drone configuration . The QB - 47s also carried ECM gear and chaff dispensers in order to make for a more realistic target for the Bomarc during the tests . The Bomarcs were programmed to intentionally near - miss because the Stratojets were deemed too expensive to be intentionally destroyed in testing . However , one Stratojet drone did end up being shot down when an intended near - miss by a Bomarc turned into a hit . F - 80 drone operations . In parallel with the B - 17 drone program , in 1946 / 47 , three P - 80A Shooting Star fighters were converted to radio - controlled drones in a test program to develop faster , more maneuverable aerial combat gunnery targets for the new generation of jet fighters entering the Air Force inventory . The armament was all removed , and radio control equipment was installed . The pilot ' s controls were retained , which made it possible for the drone to be operated either manned or unmanned . Postwar funding and personnel shortages , however , led to the cancellation of this project . The project was revived in 1951 when eight first - generation F - 80As were converted to the QF - 80 drone configuration at the Sacramento Air Depot , McClellan AFB , California , under a project known as Bad Boy . These aircraft were assigned to the 3205th Drone Squadron for testing over the Eglin range . A second batch of 14 QF - 80s were converted in December 1953 at McClellan that featured larger center - mounted wingtip tanks equipped with cameras rather than fuel so that attacking aircraft could be photographed . These cameras could be jettisoned by remote control and lowered by parachute . In November 1953 , 55 more F - 80Cs were converted to the QF - 80F drone configuration , with improved radio - control equipment and a runway arrestor hook . Ten dual - seat T - 33A Shooting Star jet trainers were also converted to DT - 33 drone director aircraft to guide the drones . The drones were usually painted all red , but with natural metal finish on the top surfaces of both wings . Many QF - 80s were operated as pilotless drones both at the Eglin as well as the Holloman test ranges . In addition , Several QF - 80s were used for sampling of radioactive material from mushroom clouds of nuclear tests at the Atomic Energy Commission Nevada Test Site . The last of the QF - 80 drones were still operating as aerial targets in 1962 . Inactivation . By 1958 , the group ' s DB - 17P Flying Fortresses were wearing out , and the number of available QB - 17 drones was down to a handful . The wartime bombers were not designed or built for long - term use when new , and the supply of replacement parts was extremely limited , causing the aircraft to be very expensive to maintain . The aircraft had soldered long past their estimated lifetimes and were gradually taken out of service and retired to MASDC ( Military Aircraft Storage and Disposal Center ) , Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona . From MASDC the aircraft were sold to private owners or donated to aircraft museums ( see below ) . The last active USAF B - 17 Flying Fortress , was a Douglas / Long Beach B - 17G - 90 - DL , 44 - 83684 . It was manufactured in Long Beach , California , being accepted by the USAAF on 7 May 1945 . It was never assigned to an operational unit , instead being placed in long - term storage at South Plains Army Airfield , Lubbock , Texas in October . With the closure of South Plains AAF , the plane was flown to Pyote Army Airfield , Texas in July 1947 where it was stored by the 2753d Aircraft Storage Squadron . It was pulled from storage in March 1950 and flown to the Middletown Air Depot , Olmsted AFB , Pennsylvania , where it was inspected and modified to a DB - 17G . On 18 July 1950 it arrived at Eglin AFB , Florida and was assigned to the 3201st Air Base Support Squadron . The aircraft was deployed to the Pacific Proving Grounds where it was a support aircraft during the Operation Greenhouse nuclear tests beginning in April 1951 . Upon its return to Eglin in June , it was sent to Detachment 1 , 3200th Drone Group ( later 3225th Drone Squadron ) at Holloman AFB , New Mexico . It was modified to a DB - 17P at Olmsted AFB in 1956 . 44 - 83684 remained in service to the very end of the line of the B - 17 . It flew the last operational mission by a USAF B - 17 on 6 August 1959 when it directed QB - 17L 44 - 83717 from Holloman AFB as a target for an AIM - 4 Falcon air - to - air missile fired by an F - 101 Voodoo . After the mission , a ceremony was held to commemorate the occasion . A few days later , it was flown to MASDC storage at Davis - Monthan . With the retirement of the Flying Fortress , the group ' s activities were taken over by Headquarters , Air Proving Ground Center at Eglin in 1961 . The program at Eglin went on to use QF - 104A Starfighter drone aircraft until 1972 , and subsequently was transferred to Tyndall AFB , Florida as part of Aerospace Defense Command , for ADCOM interceptor aircraft weapons targets using the Eglin AFB range . Over the years , QF - 102s ( 1973 - 1986 ) , QF - 100s ( 1981 - 1992 ) and QF - 106s ( 1990 - 1998 ) have been converted into target drones . Since August 1981 the target drone mission has been assigned to the 82d Aerial Targets Squadron , now part of the Air Combat Command , 53d Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall . The 82d operates retired QF - 4 Phantom II aircraft ( 1997 - ) as target drones . The QF - 4 saw a total of 238 aircraft being converted , the last of which will be phased - out in 2014 . In 2010 Boeing was awarded the contract to start initial work on converting the first six F - 16A / Bs into aerial targets . These 6 aircraft are being used now as a testing platform . It is a mix of block 15 / 25 / 30 aircraft to show the feasibility of the modifications on these blocks .