Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

 
Boeing B-17 'Flying Fortress'

One of the most famous combat aircraft - and almost certainly the most famous bomber - ever built,  the B-17 is most closely asssociated with the epic daylight bombing campaign  conducted by the United States' 8th Air Force against the Third Reich,  and now tends to be thought of exclusively as a strategic bomber. 

It can therefore be a surprise to learn that the B-17 was in fact conceived as a maritime patrol and anti-shipping aircraft.   The original specification arose out of the tactical theories of those - such as the outspoken W.  Mitchell -  who argued that enemy fleets could be destroyed by high-altitude bombing,  and that the large warship (in particular the battleship) had been made obsolete by the invention of aircraft.  Mitchell and his team had demonstrated in the 1920s (in a series of tests conducted using derelict warships, most notably the ex-German Ostfriesland) that even a heavily-armoured capital ship could be destroyed by high-altitude bombing - at least, that is,  if it was stationary and unable to defend itself.

In 1934 the US Army Air Corps issued a specification for a multi-engined anti-shipping aircraft. A two-motor design was expected,  but Boeing came up with a design for a four-engined aircraft able to carry the same bomb load faster and higher. This aircraft had Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines (each producing 750 horsepower),  a crew of 8,  and internal stowage for eight 600-lb bombs.  Designated the '299' it first flew on 28 July 1935.

The first of the service-test batch of 13 YB-17s was delivered in January 1937,   powered by the Wright Cyclone engine.   All subsequent models were equipped with turbocharged engines giving  improved high-altitude performance. 

The first production model  -  the B-17B of June 1939 - had a different nose configuration, and a larger rudder and flaps.   The B-17C had more guns,  better armour, and self-sealing fuel tanks. 

Twenty of the B-17C were supplied to the UK.  90 Squadron of Bomber Command used them in a few high-level bombing missions over German-occupied Europe.  It was,  however,  found that the Norden bomb-sight tended to malfunction,  the Browning machine-guns to freeze at high altitude and that German fighters would attack from astern in a defensive blind spot.

The improved B17-D bore the brunt of the heavy bomber's early fighting in the Pacific.  Extensive combat experience led to the B-17E,  with powered ventral ("ball"), dorsal and tail turrets, a huge fin for high-level bombing accuracy, and a great increase in armour and other equipment.

The B-17E was the initial weapon of the the US Eighth Air Force,  and on 17 August 1942 opened the gruelling two-and-a-half year daylight bombing campaign against German industry.  However, the E was quickly displaced by the B-17F,  which had a clear plexiglas nose,  paddle-bladed props, and provision for underwing racks.   3,405 of the B-17F were built.

At the end of 1942 came the final bomber version - the B-17G.  This variant was equipped with a chin turret and flush-mounted staggered waist guns, giving a formidable armament of thirteen 0.5" Browning machine-guns.   When the bombers succeeded in maintaining tight formation the massed Brownings presented a daunting - and very dangerous - obstacle to attacking fighters. 

A total 8,680 of the B-17G were built,  the Seattle plant alone turning out 16 per day, and 
final delivery of the B-17 was in April 1945,  by which time 12,731 had been produced.

Data
(for B-17G)

Origin
Boeing Airplane Company,  Seattle  (also built by Vega Aircraft Corporation,Burbank and by Douglas Aircraft Company, Tulsa)
Type
High-altitude heavy bomber with crew of 6 to 10
Engines
Four 1,200 hpWright R-1820-97 Cyclone 9-cylinder radials with exhaust-driven turbochargers 
Dimensions
Wingspan: 103' 9" (31.6 metres)  Length:  74' 9" (22.8 metres)
Performance
Maximum Speed:  317 mph    Cruising Speed:  183 mph
Bomb Load
Normal Internal Load 6,000 lb (2,724 kg),  but maximum load of 12,800 lb (5,800 kg)
Defensive Armament
Total of thirteen 0.5-inch Browning machine guns 
  ( Twin guns in chin, ventral, dorsal and tail positions,  single guns in two nose positions, 
two waist positions, and radio compartment)

 B-17G - profile drawing 

The B-17 Fortress in the Pacific War  

  Combat Aircraft of the Pacific War 


Battles of the Pacific War

Guadalcanal

The Battle of the Philippine Sea 

  The Battle for Leyte Gulf