[Rinnwald]

Are the inside spaces any larger than a B-17? I toured a B-17 interior with my youngest son a couple of years ago at Paine Field, Washington.

I am tall and *ahem*...stout. I was able to scrape through the length of the plane, but with full gear, I could never have served aboard one. Most comfortable spot was the waist gunner area.

Smallest cockpit I’ve ever seen was in Tillamook Air Museum’s original Japanese Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar).

I guess there was always the infantry for the large ones.

[LifePath]

I can tell you because I have been in all four major bombers from WWII: B-17, B-24, B-25, and B-29.

The B-17 and B-25: tight and very tight.

The B-24 and B-29: relatively spacious, compared to the 17 and 25.

However, all of them were designed for 19-year old kids with zero body fat. The B-29 has a 40-foot long tunnel that goes from the forward pressurized section to the aft pressurized section. Part of crew training is to crawl through the tunnel.

[Oatka]

Are the inside spaces any larger than a B-17? I toured a B-17 interior with my youngest son a couple of years ago at Paine Field, Washington.

I walked therough a B-17 "Sentimental Journey" and was astounded at how small it was - felt like walking through a culvert stooped over.