B-17 Flying Fortress Explained
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2023
- The B-17 Flying Fortress is perhaps one of the most iconic planes of World War Two. Its fearsome reputation to withstand heavy enemy attacks and still have the ability to remain airborne, is something out of a movie. In this video, we look at the ins and outs of the B-17 Flying Fortress to better understand its beginnings and how it fared during the Second World War.
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What do you think about the B-17 Flying Fortress? Do you think it was one of the best bombers of WWII?
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My Grandfather was a top gunner of one of these in Italy. He flew out of Amendola Airfield. I had a chance to crawl through one a few years ago. He flew in many missions so I’ve always been fond of the plane. He passed away at 94 in 2016.
Yeah I really hope they chose the shortest people cause the crawl sucks. Even when I was skinny and in shape being 6’ it’s like niggtmare inducing when I see inside positions of tanks and planes from WW2,… I wonder how shorter on average they were (American citizens) back in the 30s and 40s…
Thanks for sharing.
Always glad to learn about a piece of real history like your grandad. Thanks for letting us know him too.
He had a good run 👍
The B-17 will always be my favorite aircraft because my Dad was a top turret gunner on one before getting shot down on the 5th mission and being a POW.
Such an amazing aircraft.
I had no family in WW2 from what I know but I don’t need that to state that this is my fave aircraft. Idk how a person can’t be in awe of these flying fortresses
So he was a Flight Engineer? That was the job that doubled up as top current gunner, wasn't it?
Yes the top turret gunner was also the flight engineer.
The flight engineer pretty much knew all the systems on the plane, preflighting the plane etc.
I've got my dad's certificate from Boeing flight engineer school dated 12/26/1942.@@theradgegadgie6352
Wow, 12,000 B-17s x 10 crew, means at least 120,000 men served on these bombers during the war. Considering replacements for lost crew members, the actual number is undoubtedly much higher. Greatest generation, thank you brave men.
My late father flew in those out of high wycombe england ww2. He was a staff sergeant. He was in photo recon. He had a camera mounted in the b17's belly. They would fly over enemy held territory and take photos. After they were developed several planes would be sent to bomb those areas. After that my dad went back to photo the results to see if the bombing raid was successful. He was part of the 8th.air force.
As a kid in the 90s, i remember watching documentaries with my dad on the history channel back when they played good content. I was always fascinated by this plane and the p51. To me it really symbolizes that ingenuity and drive to liberate europe and defeat the germans no matter the cost.
Flying without escort, long range, armed to the tits with machine guns. Its such an american solution to a difficult problem.
I got to see one of these up close during the Aviation Nation at Nellis AFB in 2004. There is no armor inside the plane, it all aluminum skin all the way around. It's "Beer Can Armor". FLAK and bullets would go right through those planes like nothing. There is a good museum in Tuscon Arizona called the Pima Air and Space Museum dedicated to the B-17 Bomber staffed by few surviving WWII B-17 crew members and I got to talk to them. I left there with tears in my eyes as they tell me how combat was in the skies over Europe.
Remarkable!
I always preferred the B24 Liberator, probably because was given a model as a kid, a very informative video I remember seeing the Sally B flying many years ago. Thank's.
The first pilots to know how tough the B-17 was were the Japanese when they attacked the Phillippines.The Japanese ace Saburo Sakai was witness of such a strength.
Its purpose was not clear from the outset, it was originally conceived as a long-range scout and coastal defense bomber. But when the need arose, it lent itself very well to the role of strategic bomber
Nice video 👏
Good job!
Terrific summary...I really appreciate the film and pictures you used, and your delivery is flawless. However, with the risk of making your excellent short video a lot longer, but definitely not with that intent, I feel like a little bit more should be in the script for the B-17. It definitely was one of the best bombers of WW2, and it definitely made a big contribution to the war, and I already mentioned something I thought maybe should have been added about the Norden bombsight...but perhaps there should have been some mention that the B-24 had better range, speed and payload and flew about 60 percent of the heavy bomber missions in Europe and Africa to the B-17's roughly 40 percent...and that while 12700 B-17 aircraft of all variants were produced, over 18100 B-24 aircraft were built. It would not be true to say the B-24 was "better" than the B-17...except in certain roles where the B-24 excelled...but it would be true to say that the B-24 was much more of a workhorse to the Allies than the B-17 was.
Anyway...it was a great video, and I just thought a couple of more sentences added to the script with a bit more info would just make it that much better.
The B-24 was the more-used US bomber, as you say, but for some reason doesn't get recognized as the workhorse of the war. Boeing had a better marketing department than Consolidated, perhaps. ;)
@@TallDude73 I think a big part of it was the way the B-17 could get back with so much damage...it made for spectacular photos for the newspapers when they got back to base. Another big part of it was that the B-17 was so widely publicized even before the war, with the very famous goodwill flight of B-17s to South America in 1938, and that same year the B-17 intercept of the Italian liner Rex over 1000km out into the Atlantic...the B-17 was just way ahead on good press going into the war that the B-24 never could catch up.
My old friend Paul Pomerantz and men like him were tail gunners. Without them, we’d be dead. God blessed them with unspeakable courage. We owe them a debt we can never repay.
The B-17 is my favorite American heavy bomber from WW2. The B-25 Mitchell is my favorite American bomber from WW2.
The thickness of the aluminum shell is about that of a credit card; a 20 mm cannon or regular round from an Me 109 or Folkwulf 190 was just lethal. The men who flew these aircraft were patriotic and ran on pure guts and patriotism. They're heroes that kids today can't understand.
The B-17 was the most mass produced bomber of WW2. Thousands were made for the USAAF between 1938 and 1945 seeing use across both theatres especially in Europe against the German war machine
Actually, the B 24 was produced in considerably higher numbers.
@@bradleyanderson247 They also saw heavy use in the Pacific theatre, Many were shot down by Japanese zeroes
I miss information about the reverse of the medal, e.g. the horrendous losses while "flying above the reach of anti aircraft", the defiencies of the bomb sight, etc.
I feel like there could/should have been a little bit more details given about the shortcomings of the Norden bombsight. Its claims for accuracy were almost entirely based on how it performed in the environment of testing grounds in dry and calm air of the vast Western US, but its real world performance was far more dismal. Perhaps an extra sentence noting how its actual abilities never came anywhere near being able to hit that pickle barrel, nor the building it was in, nor the block it was on...and barely managed to be able to hit the correct post code.
Yeah from my understanding it was quite inaccurate in theater.
@@narutobroken Very much so...the US concluded after the war that only 20 percent of all the bombs dropped in the "precision" bombing campaigns landed within 1000 feet of the aim point, though accuracy did improve over the course of the war.
I like both b17 and b 29 the are amazing and alike but super,does not mean better then b 17
I’m not convinced that it had wing “hard points” for external ordinance.
B-17 vs Lancaster Payloads and Armor (unlisted) Gregs Air and Auto
ua-cam.com/video/tIQj2qfpXSg/v-deo.html&lc=UgyqEM1O_qNRScyeM7t4AaABAg
Hardpoints could be attached between the fuselage and inner pair of engines
BEEEE SEVUNTEEEEN BAAAAWWWWWMEER
I love the defensive armament with 13 machine guns on the B-17, but compared to the Lancaster the bomb load capacity is a bit disappointing.
Boeing sure doesn’t make them like they used to.
Sad that the 'Red Tail' squadron, that escorted many of these bombers, was deleted from history, until about 20 years ago.
They were criminals , puppy thein pants, in Finland they arrived.
Not bad, though prefer its successor the B-29.
B-29 was great, but surely the B-17s ability to take huge amounts of damage and still fly was amazing!
@@PremierHistory true
Well the b 29 did drop the atomic bomb but the b 17 its my favorite WW2 Bomber
The B17 had very very high losses in Europe - more than 47% were lost. At some raids the 8th Air Force lost more than 30% of their planes. For the crew that meant that surviving more than 5 raids was already very lucky and they had to do 25. Many young brave man were killed. The 8th Air Force had to stop operations in Europe twice because of the losses.The plane was slow, couldn't fly very far and had a small bomb load . The English DH Mosquito could transport the same weight of bombs , could fly higher , was almost three times as fast and flew with a crew of two instead of ten. It costed 1/4 of a B17. And they had a very low loss rate. In 1937 the B17 was modern - In 1942 when it came to Europe in huge amounts it was already outdated and in 1943/1944 it was obsolete. In 1944 it still flew with the same wright engines it had in 1937. They were never upgraded. The B17 only survived thanks to the P51 and the P47
This Bomber Plane was one of my favorite things for my team and to fly and operate in CoD Vanguard/Warzone...It was fun as hell..It no longer exists in CoD so..I no longer play it..Boring money grabbing game
The B17 was okay but it was an expensive aircraft in cost of man power, ,materials and running costs only to deliver what the British Mosquito could deliver with only 2 men flying it and only a fraction of the materials used to build and run the Mosquito and the B17 is not in the same league as the Arvo Lancaster being able to carry over three and a half times what the B17 could carry and about half the man power.
Lanc's with radar had a crew of eight.
B-17 vs Lancaster Payloads and Armor (unlisted)
Gregs Air and Auto
ua-cam.com/video/tIQj2qfpXSg/v-deo.html&lc=UgyqEM1O_qNRScyeM7t4AaABAg
Total of 32 Lanc's were heavily modified to carry one 12,000 lb Tallboy OR one 22,000 lb Grand Slam. You can read it on the BAE Lancaster page.
I found some interesting information in a document that can be found by Searching;
Operational history of Lancaster 1B R5868
This Lanc flew 136 operational sorties in two years and ten months (less than one a week) and dropped "466 tons (assume long) approx" or 3.42 long tons or 7,675 pounds on average. I did not deduct missions in which bombs were jettisoned due to engine failure or the entire load was flares or mission was called off in flight. I will leave that to someone dedicated to perpetuating the myth all Lanc's carried 14,000 pounds of bombs on every mission. On pages one and two (July and August 1942) the entire load was 3,360 pounds of bombs. On page one two raids were in daylight, the next daylight raid would be in July 44. On page two a bomb load is 2,000 pounds plus "6 x 4 flares". "(USA)" appears nine times with bomb type. Some of the notes are interesting. Recommendation by two pilots the aircraft be withdrawn from bombing, one friendly fire incident, "bomb doors damaged by bombs" and one midair collision with another Lanc over the target. Being "the angry Yank" I was amused by the listing of a USAAF general as "Passenger" (instead of observer) as if they were going to drop him off somewhere.
DH98 Mosquito B. Mk IX
54 built
1,680 hp Merlin 72 engines - otherwise as B. Mk IV. 54 built. Could carry 2,000 lb internally, plus one 500 lb bomb or a drop tank under each wing. Some modified with bulged bomb bay doors (from 1944) for 4,000 lb bomb.
BAE Mosquito page
"Precision" Munitions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_bomb#/media/File:RAF_Bomber_Command_HU95286.jpg
1,229 Mosquitos were fitted with Lend Lease Packard Merlins. See BAE Mosquito page.
3,697 light and 1,420 medium bombers including 807 B25's were Lend Leased to Britain.
90 per cent of avgas used by Allied forces came from the USA.
In 1945 the USA wrote off over 20 Billion USD of Britain's' LL debt.
My maternal grandfather was a tailgunner in one of these. My paternal grandfather was a literal Nazi...
You wanna know what I think about the B-17? I am turgid about the B-17. Is that weird?
yep
Just the nickname was good enough that it would have to be an absolute dog not to have a good rep.
A lot of these bomber crews were on better awake drugs than the kids on the streets have ever seen..
More guns than bombs the plane never made any sence to me.
6,098 enemy aircraft shot down by 8th AF heavies.
Against 20 Russians trying to shoot you down, or even 20 Spitfires, it can be exciting, even fun. But to curve in towards 40 Fortresses and all your past sins flash before your eyes. And when you yourself have reached this state of mind, it becomes that much more difficult to have to drive every pilot of the Geschwader, right down to the youngest and lowliest NCO, to do the same.
Hans Philipp in a letter to Hannes Trautloft, 4 October 1943
Died 8 October 1943
Honour to all the crew's, but maybe look at the video " the b17 was crap"
What do you think about the B-17 Flying Fortress? Do you think it was one of the best bombers of WWII?
Welcome back! If you are new here make sure to hit subscribe to expand your knowledge on Military History and join the growing Premier History Community!