Posted on 05/19/2019 1:32:38 PM PDT by Rummyfan
The B-17 “Flying Fortress” is one of the most iconic aircraft of World War II. Built by Boeing, the four-engine bomber was the United States’ primary weapon of destruction in the air campaign to annihilate cities and bring Nazi Germany to its knees. Its combat performance was decidedly uneven, yet no one questions its primacy in the war.
The B-17E, the first mass-produced model, carried nine machine guns and a 4,000-pound bomb load. Its distinctive and enormous tail improved control and stability during high-altitude bombing. Crews loved its smoothness—“It flew like an overgrown Piper Cub,” said one pilot—and its ability to absorb enemy fire and keep flying.
“Without the B-17 we may have lost the war,” said General Carl Spaatz, commander of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe.
Despite hundreds of hours of newsreel footage and its appearance in innumerable documentaries and big budget Hollywood films, however, no one has ever managed to capture what it was like to actually fly a mission in a B-17—dropping bombs on German cities while being attacked by Luftwaffe fighters and anti-aircraft fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
I had a B-17 fly right over my house at about 500-1000 feet a few years back...I was working in my backyard, and heard that sound, and began looking around and there it was...
All aviation nuts know the sound of those large reciprocating engines...especially when there are more than one!
I think it may have been flying to Hanscom AFB...I am right in the flight path!
Heh, I am going to guess your post was to shelterguy on the thread about the USPS going broke.
Maybe?
What’s your point.
Fascist much.
/s
Hey...what’s going on? What did I do to deserve that response?
Not sure what you are driving at. Can you explain, maybe I am misunderstanding you somehow.
You posted a response to the USPS going broke in a thread about a B-17 documentary.
I saw the “/s” tag, but not sure how it applies.
There was also the P-47 “Miss Behave” flown by Robert “Bob” Bosworth, he was a family fiend.
Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown_and_Franz_Stigler_incident#Franz_Stigler
A B-25 I once saw in an aircraft book had the name, and Emilio Vargas type babe on it titled “Miss Understood’’.
I had that same experience here in southern NJ a few years ago. A B-17 flew over on it’s way to a local airfield as part of a traveling tour. I heard the throaty roar of those Pratt& Whitney’s and there is was. What a sight. A few months later it was a B-24. I went to the show and I couldn’t believe how cramped the inside of both those planes were. There wasn’t anywhere in either plane you could stand upright. The bomb bay of the B-24 offered a little bit of an ability to at least straighten up a bit but the cat walk through the bomb bay was only about eight inches wide with a ‘’railing’’ about waist level. That was the only thing between you and the Earth. My God, those men, kids really had guts.
Heh, that’s okay...I wasn’t following along...:)
The B-24 Liberator (used in Doolittle's Raid due to its long range) got shot down a bit more than the B-17 because of its lower flight ceiling.
Thanks for posting this, Rum! I just scored a pair of tickets I would not have otherwise gotten as I had no idea this was coming down the pike. Why such a high-quality film about a high-interest topic would do one-night/one showing only is beyond me but... I got mine!
We have a B-17 that comes to our local airport down the road pretty much every year ( Commemorative Air Force ). When they do the engine run-ups prior to flight, you can hear it from my house like it was just across the street, and I’m at least 5 miles away. Nothing sounds like that.
The B-24 did have a longer range than the B-17. I have read that they were not as tough as the flying fortress.
It was B-25s on the Doolittle raid tho.
Nope, that was B-25s launched from the USS Hornet.
I think this give one gives a good idea what it was like. It was one DANGEROUS situation to be in. I think half of all B17's made were shot down. Those cannons the Germans had ripped them to pieces and those R4M Rockets late in the war were even more devastating. I wouldn't want to be in one.
.
Hahaha, my wife tolerates this. behavior...:)
Yes. They did indeed. God bless them all.
Those pics weren’t from today...the one I saw today may have been going to or leaving Westover...
"I've never been good with numbers."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
