Life Inside The B-17 Flying Fortress

The B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most famous planes ever built. This American four-engine heavy bomber plane started its development in the 1930s and was a US heavy bomber used during World War II.

Origins

Boeing created the first prototype as early as 1935. By the time the US entered the conflict in 1941, there was already a small yet growing fleet of aircraft.

The name Flying Fortress came from a reporter who in 1935 exclaimed that the prototype looked like a Flying Fortress after seeing the multiple machine guns on the plane.

Variants and Performance

The B-17 would have different variants such as the B-17C/D, the B-17F, and the B-17G. The B-17G is considered to be the definitive variant of the Flying Fortress with over 8,600 manufactured before production ended.

The B-17G was propelled by 4x Wright Cyclone R-1820 9-cylinder engines with each one capable of producing 1,200 hp. Its top speed was 300 mph with an average cruising speed of around 170 to 200 mph. The surface ceiling was 35,000 ft. The B-17 was a long-range bomber and had a large 2,800-gallon fuel tank which gave it a range of around 2,000 miles.

The B-17 in Combat

The B-17 served in virtually every theater of the war. However, despite its reliability and high performance, bombing missions, especially over Nazi-occupied Germany were particularly dangerous.

B-17s would usually fly in box formations- groupings of 9 to 12 bombers in close formation whose machine guns could cover one another. It earned the reputation as a robust aircraft that could endure significant punishment. It could take on heavy damage, and could still fly home.

Despite this, the B-17 crew suffered appalling casualty rates. During the conflict, with 12,700 bombers built, over 4,700 of them were lost. In 1943, the life expectancy for a Flying Fortress was on average 11 missions- short of the 25 needed to complete a tour.

Eventually, though, the bombing missions took their toll on the Germans, putting their war machine to a standstill. The lessons learned from these campaigns eventually led to the development of the B-29 Flying Fortress, rendering the B-17 obsolete.

After the War

When the war ended, surviving B-17s were still used until the 1950s for reconnaissance, training, and as cargo planes. Today, of the thousands that were produced, only a number remain, and most can be seen in museums, with only a handful remaining airworthy.