Frank Kurtz

At 85 years old, Frank Kurtz physical status not available right now. We will update Frank Kurtz's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Kurtz joined the Army to train as a pilot, anticipating a career in commercial aviation. Before the war, he held the national junior transcontinental speed record and established half a dozen other speed marks for light planes.

He was Commander of the 463d Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force, Celone Airfield, Foggia, Italy (1944–45) and a survivor of the air attack at Clark Field in the Philippines, two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In Australia, he salvaged and helped to rebuild a B-17D Flying Fortress bomber using a combination of parts from other wrecked B-17s. At that time, the repaired B-17D was nicknamed "The Swoose" by 19th Bomb Group pilot, Captain Weldon Smith. The tail of a Boeing B-17D, AAF Ser. No. 40-3091 was grafted onto 40-3097, resulting in a hybrid B-17D. The bomber became "half swan and half goose" just like the lyrics in the then-popular novelty song "Alexander, The Swoose." Before the end of the war, "The Swoose" was scheduled to be scrapped and melted down for its aluminium content. Kurtz then convinced the City of Los Angeles to retrieve his by-then famous bomber for use as a World War II memorial: It was the only B-17 that flew from the beginning of World War II until the end. Today, "The Swoose" is the oldest surviving B-17 and the only early "D" model still in existence. It is being restored at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio.

After 24 years in the service of the United States Armed Forces (U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Forces, and the U.S. Air Force), Kurtz retired and became a top executive at the William May Garland development firm.

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