B-17 Flying Fortress
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The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was the first mass-produced, four-engine heavy bomber. It was most widely used for daylight strategic bombing of German industrial targets during World War II as part of the United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy.
Development
The prototype B-17 first flew on July 28 1935 as the Boeing Model 299, with Boeing chief test pilot Les Tower at the controls. During a demonstration later that year at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, Model 299 competed with the Douglas DB-1 and Martin Model 146 for a U.S. Army Air Corps contract to build a "multi-engined" bomber. At that time "multi-engined" generally meant two engines. The four engine Boeing design displayed superior performance, but Army officials were daunted by the much greater expense per aircraft. The Army ordered the two engine Douglas B-18 Bolo as it was less expensive than the Boeing Model 299. Development continued on the Boeing Model 299. October 30th of 1935 the Army Air Corps test pilot Ployer Hill took the Model 299 on a second evaluation flight. The flyers forgot to disengage the plane's "gust lock"--a device that holds the bomber's movable control surfaces in place while the plane was parked on the ground--and the aircraft took off, entered a steep climb, stalled, nosed over, and crashed. [link]. In January of 1936, the Air Corps ordered thirteen YB-17s with a number of significant changes from the Model 299, most notably that of the engines to more powerful Wright R-1820-39 Cyclones, next to 99 B-18s (successor of the DB-1).The first B-17 went into service in 1938. By December 7 1941, few B-17s were in use by the Army. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, production was quickly accelerated. The aircraft served in every World War II combat zone. By the time production ended in May 1945, 12,700 aircraft had been built by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed).
Operational history
The name "Flying Fortress" was coined by Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times who gave this name to the Model 299 when it was rolled out showing off its machine gun installations. Boeing was quick to see the value of the title and had it trademarked for use. Among the combat aircrews that flew bombers in World War II, noted aviation writer Martin Caidin reported that the B-17 was referred to as the "Queen of the Bombers."The first use of the B-17 (the B-17C) as the Fortress I in service with the RAF was against Wilhelmshaven on 8 July 1941. By September the RAF had lost 8 to combat or accidents. They had also uncovered problems with flying it at high altitudes (about 30,000 ft).
Before the advent of long-range fighter escorts, B-17s had only their machine guns to rely on for defense for the bombing runs over Europe. To address this problem, the United States developed a staggered combat box formation where all the B-17s could safely cover any others in their formation with their machine guns, making a formation of the bombers a dangerous target to engage by enemy fighters. However, the use of this rigid formation meant that individual planes could not engage in evasive maneuvers: they had to always fly in a straight line which made them vulnerable to the German antiaircraft 88 mm gun. Additionally, German fighter planes used high-speed strafing passes rather than engaging with individual aircraft to inflict maximum damage with minimum risk. As a result, B-17s lost up to 25% of their number on some early missions (see Raid on Schweinfurt) and it wasn't until the advent of a long-range figther escort - the P-51 - that the B-17 became strategically effective.
The B-17 was noted for its ability to take battle damage, still reach its target and bring its crew home. It reportedly was much easier to fly than its contemporaries, and its toughness more than compensated for its shorter range and lighter bomb load when compared to the Consolidated B-24 Liberator or the British Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Stories from veterans abound of B-17s returning to base with the tail having been destroyed, with only a single engine functioning or even with large portions of the wings having been clipped by flak. This durability, together with the large operational numbers in the Eighth Air Force and the fame achieved by the Memphis Belle, made the B-17 one of the most recognizable aircraft of the war.
The plane's extreme durability, and powerful defensive arcs led the Luftwaffe to develop a number of innovative (and costly) methods of combating the bomber. Late in the war, the Me-262 was to see the most (proportional) success against B-17s. However this success did not come from gun to gun combat. While the Me-262 could fly extremely fast, it had to slow down to accurately aim its guns. This endangered the fighter from the B-17's many guns. Instead, Me-262s would engage at long distances firing masses of rockets at the B-17 formations. While this tactic was successful, there were too many B-17s and too few Me-262s to make a real difference. The actual number of B-17s lost to Me-262s using this tactic was low.
The design went through eight major changes over the course of its production, culminating in what some consider the definitive type, the B-17G, differing from its immediate predecessor by the addition of a chin turret with two 0.50 calibre (12.7 mm) machine guns under the nose. This eliminated the aeroplane's main defensive weakness of head on attacks.
Variants/design stages
The B-17 went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants. Of the thirteen YB-17s ordered for service testing, only one was actually used. Experiments on this plane led to the use of a turbo-supercharger, which would become standard on the B-17 line. When this aircraft was finished with testing, it was redesignated the B-17A, and was the first plane to enter service under the B-17 designation.
As the production line developed, Boeing engineers continued to improve upon it. To improve performance, the original design was altered to include larger flaps. Most significantly, with the 'E' version the fuselage was extended by 10 feet, a much larger vertical fin and rudder were incorporated into the original design, a gunner's position in the tail and an improved nose were added. The engines were upgraded to more powerful versions several times. Similarly, the gun stations were altered on numerous occasions to enhance their effectiveness.
By the time the B-17G appeared, the number of guns had been increased from seven to thirteen, the designs of the gun stations were finalised, and other adjustments were complete. In this the G model incorporated all changes made in its predecessor, the B-17F. The B-17G is generally considered the definitive version of the B-17. Some 8,680 were built, and many were converted for other missions, such as cargo hauling, engine testing and reconnaissance.
Two versions of the B-17 were flown under different designations. These were the XB-38 and the YB-40. The former was an engine test bed for Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engines, to test the engine should the Wright engines normally used on the B-17 become unavailable. The YB-40 was a modification of the standard B-17 used before the P-51 Mustang became available. Since no fighters had the range to escort the B-17, a heavily armed modification was used instead with an additional power turret in the radio room, a chin turret (which went on to become standard with the B-17G) and twin .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns in the waist positions. The ammunition load was over 11,000 rounds making the YB-40 well over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) heavier than a fully loaded B-17F. Unfortunately, the YB-40s with their numerous heavy modifications had trouble keeping up with empty bombers. The project was abandoned with the advent of the P-51 Mustang and was phased out in July 1943.
Late in World War II, at least 25 B-17s were fitted with radio controls, loaded with 12,000 lb (5443 kg) of high explosives, dubbed 'BQ-7 Aphrodite missiles,' and used against U-boat pens and bomb-resistant fortifications. Because few (if any) BQ-7s hit their target, the Aphrodite project was scrapped in early 1945. [History of the BQ-7] During and after World War II, a number of weapons were tested and used operationally on B-17s. Some of these weapons included razons (radio guided), glide bombs, and JB-2 Thunderbugs - the equivalent of the German V-1 Buzz Bomb.
Units using the B-17
The B-17 was a versatile aircraft, and it served in dozens of units in theatres of combat throughout World War II. Its main use was in Europe, where its shorter range and smaller bombload relative to other aircraft available did not hamper it as much as in the Pacific Theatre. Only five B-17 groups operated in the Pacific, all converting to other types by 1943. Thirty-two groups were stationed in Europe, twenty-six in England and six in Italy.
It was also used by the Royal Air Force, though mainly in roles other than those for which it had been designed. The first B-17s, -C and -D models — known to the RAF as "Fortress I"s — used by the Royal Air Force had been unsuccessful, and despite its overwhelming success in American hands, the British were reluctant to use the B-17 for its original mission profile of heavy bombing. They regarded the B-17 as uneconomical, due to its larger crew and relatively small bomb load. Instead, they used them for patrol bombing, and later equipped a number of them with sophisticated radio-countermeasures equipment, where they served in some of the first electronic countermeasures operations with RAF 100 Group.
During World War II, some forty B-17s were repaired by the Luftwaffe after crash-landing or being forced down and put back into the air in the service of the Reich. These were codenamed "Dornier Do 200," given German markings, and used for clandestine spy and reconnaissance missions by the Luftwaffe.
When Israel achieved statehood in 1948, the Israeli Air Force had to be assembled quickly to defend the new nation from the war it found itself embroiled in almost immediately. Among the first aircraft acquired by the Israeli Air Force were three surplus American B-17s, smuggled via South America and Czechoslovakia to avoid an arms trading ban imposed by the United States. A fourth plane was captured and confiscated by American officials. In their delivery flight from Europe, the aircraft were ordered to bomb the Royal Palace of King Farouk in Cairo before continuing to Israel, in retaliation for Egyptian bombing raids on Tel-Aviv. They performed the mission (despite some of the crew fainting due to defective oxygen equipment) but caused little damage to the target. The B-17s were generally unsuitable for the needs of the Israeli Air Force and the nature of the conflict, in which long-range bombing raids on large-area targets were relatively unimportant. They were mainly used in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, flown by 69 Squadron IAF. They were withdrawn in 1958.
Obsolescence
Following World War II, the B-17 was obsolete, and the Army Air Force retired the fleet. Flight crews ferried the bombers back across the Atlantic to the United States, where they were melted down and sold for scrap. Some saw extended and gallant service as converted aeriel tankers used for fighting forest fires in the western United States.A number of B-17s survive in museums and at airports. About a dozen of these still fly, visiting airports or performing in airshows. Since the bombers that served in World War II were sold for scrap, most of these survivors are surplus or training aircraft, which stayed in the U.S. during the War. However, there are few exceptions.
The 'Memphis Belle', which flew 25 missions over Europe before touring the United States to advertise war bonds, was preserved in Memphis, TN from 1948 to 2003. The Memphis Belle has been transported to Wright Patterson Air Force base for restoration and display. The Dayton Daily News has more information on this move and how you can view the plane during its restoration.
The Swoose, the only surviving example of the narrow-tailed B-17s of the A, B, C and D series, fought in the Pacific Theatre before being converted to an unarmed transport/flying command post used by general officers of the Fifth Air Force in Australia, and was then ordered back to the United States in 1943. The oldest surviving B-17 in the world, The Swoose is presently in storage at the Smithsonian Institution's Silver Hill aircraft storage and restoration facility in Maryland. As of 2000, the Smithsonian was planning to restore her, though whether to full airworthiness or to static display standard had not been determined.
Col. Frank Kurtz, commander of the 463rd Bomb Group at Foggia, Italy and the father of actress Swoosie Kurtz, carried the Swoose name forward from the original Swoose (which he flew in the Pacific prior to being named CO of the 463rd), naming the B-17G he flew with the 463rd [Swoose II.] The 463rd BG was thereafter known as the "The Swoose Group."
Another noteworthy combat veteran is 'Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby', which flew 24 combat missions out of England before being forced to land in Sweden in late 1944. Sweden, which was neutral, interned the crew. About the same time, a deal was made between the Swedish and US Governments to allow about 300 American crewmen to return in exchange for nine B-17F and G that had landed intact in Sweden. Seven of these were converted by SAAB Aircraft into airliners that could take 14 passengers. 'Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby' became SE-BAP, flying for SILA, an airline that eventually became a part of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). In December 1945 it was one of two B-17s sold to the Danish Air Lines (DDL), and flew as OY-DFA 'Stig Viking' to June 1947. Transferred in March 1948 to Danish Army Air Corps as DAF 672, and in December 1949 to the Danish Navy. Then from October 1952 to the Royal Danish Air Force as ESK-721, and finally retired a year later. In all its service time in the Danish military, her nickname was 'Store Bjørn'.
After two years in storage, she was sold as F-BGSP to IGN, Institut Geographique National, a French aerial mapping company based in Creil outside Paris. Last flown in July 1961, the remains of the plane were donated to the U.S Air Force in 1972. A restoration was undertaken between 1978-1988 at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware and the plane can be seen today at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
It has also been recently discovered that the B-17G at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California was delivered to the 15th Air Force and most likely flew combat missions over North Africa and in the Mediterranean (which was confirmed by battle damage found after the plane was paint stripped during restoration). The exact details of that plane's service, though, are not yet known.
Two B-17s navigating and acting as mother ships for six P-38 Lightnings were forced to land on a glacier in Greenland during a ferry flight to the UK on July 15, 1942. None of the crews were lost. By the 1990s, these eight aircraft had been buried under more than 250 feet of ice. One of the P-38s was recovered and restored as 'Glacier Girl'. One of the B-17s was also reached ('My Gal Sal', 41-9032), but it remains dismantled in storage in Cincinnati, OH. None of the 'Lost Squadron' ever saw combat, however.
Noted B-17 pilots
Robert Webb- Ewald R Teubner
Notable B-17s
- Memphis Belle
- Liberty Belle
- Nine-O-Nine
- The Swoose
- Brennan's Circus
Operators
- Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Israel, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States (Army Air Corps, Army Air Force, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy),
Specifications (B-17G)
Quotes
"Without the B-17, we might have lost the war." -- General Carl Spaatz, Commander, U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, 1944
""She was a Stradivarius of an airplane..." -- Col. Robert K. Morgan, the man who flew The Memphis Belle.
"The plane can be cut and slashed almost to pieces by enemy fire and bring its crew home." -- [Wally Hoffman], B-17 Pilot, 8th Air Force, WWII
"This B-17 met a head-on attack by three Focke-Wulf FW-190 fighters. The gunners exploded two of them, and the top turret poured a stream of shells into the cockpit of the third. With a dead man at the controls, the fighter screamed in, and at a closing speed of 550 miles per hour smashed head on into the number-three engine. The tremendous impact of the crash tore off the propeller. It knocked the heavy bomber completely out of formation as though a giant hand has swatted a fly. The fighter cartwheeled crazily over the B-17. It cut halfway through the wing, and then sliced a third of the way through the horizontal stabilizer. The top and ball turrets immediately jammed, the radio equipment was smashed to wreckage, and all the instruments 'went crazy.' Pieces of metal from the exploding, disintegrating Focke-Wulf tore through the fuselage, and a German gun barrel buried itself in the wall between the radio room and the bomb bay. Crews of nearby bombers watched the collision. They saw a tremendous explosion, and the bomber hurtling helplessly out of control, tumbling as she fell. They reported when they returned to base that the Flying Fortress had blown up, and that the crew must be considered dead. The old Queen hadn't blown up, and the crew was far from dead. The pilots struggled wildly in the cockpit, and somehow between them managed to bring their careening bomber back under control. The gunners shot down a fourth fighter that had closed in to watch the proceedings. And then they brought her all the way back to England, and scraped her down for a belly landing on the runway. Postscript: not a man was injured." -- Martin Caidin, Black Thursday, page 85 - 86
References
External links
- [Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Museum - B-17 Sentimental Journey] - B-17 Restoration, crew positions, photos
- [Encyclopedia of American Aircraft]
- [USAF Museum]
- [Fantasy of Flight's B17] B-17 Flying Fortress on display at Fantasy of Flight
- [Twelve O'Clock High (1949)] at the Internet Movie Database
- [Memphis Belle (1990)] at the Internet Movie Database
- [The Memphis Belle A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)] at the Internet Movie Database
- [Combat America:The B-17 Story] - Watch real combat footage in color from WWII
- [Battle-Damaged B-17s] - Photographic chronicle of the horrific damage suffered by Forts in combat
- ['Aluminum Overcast'] - A restored B-17G that tours the United States in Spring and Summer months
- [Official site of the 95th Bomb Group]
- [World War II 8th Air Force website]
- [Warbird Alley: B-17 page] - Information about B-17s still flying today
- [Official Home Page of the 463rd Bombardment Group]
- [Sam Hewitt: 15th Air Force WWII POW]
- [Lacey Lady -- TheBomber.com]
- [ALL-AMERICAN -- The Miracle B-17]
- [The Most Unbelieveable Landing of a B-17]
- [The Air War in Retrospect] first hand accounts of WWII Veterans.
- [Videos of EAA's B-17G "Aluminum Overcast" starting engines and taxiing.]
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