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 ...
Just sayin'....
Thanks for posting this. I bought tix as soon as you posted it. Theatre was about 3/4 sold out already.
A beautiful aircraft.
A final development too late for production replaced the G chin turret with a smooth nose encasing an experimental .60 gun, and a recessed bombardier section.
It looked curiously like the YB-17 and early pre-war models: more streamlined.
Until 17 years ago, it was named the “Confederate Air Force.”
Great Photos!
It's a play on words. Flying the hump meant flying over the Hymalan Mtns.
The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) based in China. Creating an airlift presented the AAF a considerable challenge in 1942: it had no units trained or equipped for moving cargo, and no airfields existed in the China Burma India Theater (CBI) for basing the large number of transports that would be needed. Flying over the Himalayas was extremely dangerous and made more difficult by a lack of reliable charts, an absence of radio navigation aids, and a dearth of information about the weather.[2]
FiFi,,,
I once would see that Aircraft
Daily.
Before the
Confederate Airforce became
Politically Incorrect.
Indeed!
Red blooded American men will get the reference immediately, but only those who know the history of the B-29 implementation in the war will get both...:)
The Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour 2019 is making a swing through California. They were at John Wayne Airport on Mother's Day weekend.
They had a B-17, B-24, B-25, P-40 and P-51. You can buy a ride in any one, for a price. Actually, they are very reasonable, especially with the freedom of movement inside the airplanes once airborne.
I rode in the B-17 a few years ago. After seeing it fly, I'm planning to book a hour ride in the P-40. Both the P-40 and P-51 are dual controls, so you get to fly the airplane.
“The Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour 2019 is making a swing through California. They were at John Wayne Airport on Mother’s Day weekend.”
I’m under the flight path leading to John Wayne Airport so that explains it.
We sometimes get WWII fighters based out of Chino flying over but this one was on the John Wayne route right over the house. Love those radial engines.
One of the best WW II movies ever made. I find myself rewatching it at least a couple of times a year. A real classic.
That must have been great. I was disappointed when they caved in to political correctness. Maybe Nikki Haley complained
“I stopped collecting my mail over 10 years ago. I’m not required by any law to accept any mail from anyone.”
Low hanging fruit.
The first part was German gun camera pics, the last hairy one was from a post-WWII anti-aircraft missile test.
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