Walked through a B17 once at an air show. When I got just aft of the cockpit, I stretched my arms out and I was close to touching left and right side of interior of fuselage.at same time. I’m a below average height guy. Those aviators were brave....flying way up there in a freezing thin metal tube....thinking you could get killed or shot down without warning. Very humbling for me. Utmost, to the max, respect for those guys.
Just imagine if the plane is damaged, in a spin, and you try to make your way to an exit to bail out. It is difficult to get around in a B-17 when it is sitting on the ground and you don’t have anything cumbersome like a parachute.