Posted on 11/30/2022 1:54:31 PM PST by DFG
True. It had a bad problem with engine fires at the beginning. So did the B-24. In both cases they plowed ahead rather than stop production to address the problem.
They just tried to introduce fixes in models as possible in production. They literally knew most of the early models would be gone soon anyway.
They were not built to last, most of those planes were expected to be wrecks within the first couple of hundred hours.
Iwo Jima saved many many aircrews. The first ones even as the battle raged.
Interestingly, a B-29 that was pulled out of the ice in Greenland in the 90s ended up burning down before they were going to fly it away.
I think the government's rationale was that a victory at the end would justify the losses of life.
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