", "Army Bomber Flies 2,300 Miles In 9 Hours, or 252 Miles an Hour; New All-Metal Monoplane Sets a World Record on Non-Stop Flight From Seattle to Dayton, Ohio. [150][151] One B-17 of KG200, bearing the Luftwaffe's KG 200 Geschwaderkennung (combat wing code) markings A3+FB, was interned by Spain when it landed at Valencia airfield, 27 June 1944, remaining there for the rest of the war. National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 2870 / Local Identifier 18-C-406-2 - AIR WAR IN EUROPE - War Department. These included B-17G 44-85531, registered as N809Z. Between 1 March and 4 August 1937, 12 of the 13 Y1B-17s were delivered to the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field in Virginia for operational development and flight tests. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous "Huey." [105] German fighters needed to respond, and the North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters (equipped with improved drop tanks to extend their range) accompanying the American heavies all the way to and from the targets engaged them. [16] On 20 August 1935, the prototype flew from Seattle to Wright Field in nine hours and three minutes with an average cruising speed of 252 miles per hour (406km/h), much faster than the competition. [30] One suggestion adopted was the use of a preflight checklist to avoid accidents such as that which befell the Model 299. 60 Of the 291 attacking Fortresses, 60 were shot down over Germany, five crashed on approach to Britain, and 12 more were scrapped due to damage - a loss of 77 B-17s. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.041, B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 398th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, in-flight above cloud level in Europe, 1944-45. Fewer than 10 are airworthy . ", "890th Bryanskiy Bomber Aviation Regiment", "The Surprising Story of Japan's B-17 Fleet", "Warbird Registry Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress", "US Coast Guard Aviation History: Boeing PB-1G 'Flying Fortress'. Bigger WWII bombers like e.g. Nonetheless, this deed made him a celebrated war hero. The B-17 was designed by the Boeing Aircraft Company in response to a 1934 Army Air Corps specification that called for a four-engined bomber at a time when two engines were the norm. Assembly Ships", "Polka Dot Warriors > Vintage Wings of Canada", "Excerpts from B-17 Pilot Training Manual (The Story of the B-17). [98], Operation Pointblank opened with attacks on targets in Western Europe. One of these Taiwan-based B-17s was flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines in mid-September, assigned for covert missions into Tibet. During a bombing mission on July 5, 1943, Warner shot down 7 German fighters, for which he was given the Distinguished Service Cross. [110] The escort fighters reduced the loss rate to below 7%, with a total of 247 B-17s lost in 3,500 sorties while taking part in the Big Week raids. Wiki User. B-17's Shot Down During Raid - YouTube Browne, Robert W. "The Rugged Fortress: Life-Saving B-17 Remembered.". Best Answer. Answer (1 of 12): Yes but the kill ratio generally favored attacking fighters. [10] The B-17's armament consisted of five .30 caliber (7.62mm) machine guns, with a payload up to 4,800lb (2,200kg) of bombs on two racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit. Footage from Twelve O' Clock High was also used, along with three restored B-17s, in the 1962 film The War Lover. B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II - ThoughtCo [76] The British heavy bombers, the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax, dropped 608,612 long tons (681,645 short tons) and 224,207 long tons (251,112 short tons)[77] respectively. General Ira C. Eaker and the Eighth Air Force placed highest priority on attacks on the German aircraft industry, especially fighter assembly plants, engine factories, and ball-bearing manufacturers. This type replaced the vulnerable twin-engine Zerstrer heavy fighters which could not survive interception by P-51 Mustangs flying well ahead of the combat boxes in an air supremacy role starting very early in 1944 to clear any Luftwaffe defensive fighters from the skies. It was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload. As sufficient Consolidated Liberators finally became available, Coastal Command withdrew the Fortress from the Azores, transferring the type to the meteorological reconnaissance role. [138][139][140] Wally Hoffman, a B-17 pilot with the Eighth Air Force during World WarII, said, "The plane can be cut and slashed almost to pieces by enemy fire and bring its crew home. Unlike the fighter pilots, individual bomber gunners did not receive official credit for any of their shootdowns. Later versions carried four or even six MG 151/20 cannon and twin 13mm machine guns. American bomber numbers continued to build in Europe and attacks (and losses) began to build up. One B-17 broke up in the air, and its crew was forced to take to their parachutes. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: One Turning and One Burning. It is part of the USAAC World War II Memorial Flight and makes dozens of appearances across the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. Quote: "At the peak of production, Boeing was rolling out as many as 363 B-17s a month, averaging between 14 and 16 Forts a day, the most incredible production rate for large aircraft in aviation history." The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, each producing 750hp (600kW) at 7,000ft (2,100m). Though initially surviving the impact, Hill died within a few hours, and Tower on 19 November. The Fortress came under fire from Japanese fighter aircraft, though the crew was unharmed with the exception of one member who suffered an abrasion on his hand. Borth 1945, pp. Of the 12,731 B-17s built, about 4,735 were lost during the war. This production rate was, however, surpassed by that of the, This is a commonly misreported error. The electrical systems were less vulnerable to damage than the B-24's hydraulics, and the B-17 was easier to fly than a B-24 when missing an engine. The first raid on 17 August 1943 did not result in critical damage to the factories, with the 230 attacking B-17s being intercepted by an estimated 300 Luftwaffe fighters. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, each producing 750 hp (600 kW) at 7,000 ft (2,100 m). On 3 March 1943, 13 B-17s flying at 7,000ft (2,000m) bombed the convoy, forcing the convoy to disperse and reducing the concentration of their anti-aircraft defenses. The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of the United States' involvement in World War II. Wixley, Ken. Wagner, Ray, "American Combat Planes of the 20th Century", Reno, Nevada, 2004, Jack Bacon & Company, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 16:26. On 8 August 1934, the USAAC tendered a proposal for a multiengine bomber to replace the Martin B-10. 7071, 83, 92, 256, 26869. A number of B-17Gs, redesignated B-17Hs and later SB-17Gs, were used in the Pacific during the final year of the war to carry and drop lifeboats to stranded bomber crews who had been shot down or crashed at sea. Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle wrote about his preference for equipping the Eighth with B-17s, citing the logistical advantage in keeping field forces down to a minimum number of aircraft types with their individual servicing and spares. Serial number 44-85784 is the last airworthy B-17 in the United Kingdom and is based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. Moreover, German fighter aircraft later developed the tactic of high-speed strafing passes rather than engaging with individual aircraft to inflict damage with minimum risk. Lieutenant General James Doolittle, commander of the 8th, had ordered the second Schweinfurt mission to be cancelled as the weather deteriorated, but the lead units had already entered hostile air space and continued with the mission. How many B-17s were shot down during World War 2? - Answers [79][80] On 24 July three B-17s of 90 Squadron took part in a raid on the German capital ship Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen anchored in Brest from 30,000ft (9,100 m), with the objective of drawing German fighters away from 18 Handley Page Hampdens attacking at lower altitudes, and in time for 79 Vickers Wellingtons to attack later with the German fighters refuelling. B-17 Is Shot Down (1943) - YouTube In a 1943 Consolidated Aircraft poll of 2,500 men in cities where Consolidated advertisements had been run in newspapers, 73% had heard of the B-24 and 90% knew of the B-17. Japanese activity forced them to divert from Hickam Field to Bellows Field. For other uses, see, "Flying Fortress" redirects here. [91], The USAAF began building up its air forces in Europe using B-17Es soon after entering the war. [87], The air corps renamed United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941 used the B-17 and other bombers to bomb from high altitudes with the aid of the then-secret Norden bombsight, known as the "Blue Ox",[88][89] which was an optical electromechanical gyrostabilized analog computer. Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. [50] The B-17C changed from three bulged, oval-shaped gun blisters to two flush, oval-shaped gun window openings, and on the lower fuselage, a single "bathtub" gun gondola housing,[51] which resembled the similarly configured and located Bodenlafette/"Bola" ventral defensive emplacement on the German Heinkel He 111P-series medium bomber. However, the use of this rigid formation meant that individual aircraft could not engage in evasive maneuvers: they had to fly constantly in a straight line, which made them vulnerable to German flak. [154], During the Allied bomber offensive, U.S. and British bombers sometimes flew into Swiss airspace, either because they were damaged or, on rare occasions, accidentally bombing Swiss cities. [28][31][note 2] In one of their first missions, three B-17s, directed by lead navigator Lieutenant Curtis LeMay, were sent by General Andrews to "intercept" and photograph the Italian ocean liner Rex 610 miles (980km) off the Atlantic coast. Date: American aircraft struck targets in Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943. . Meantime 60 B-17's were lost to all causes (including flak). [178] During the war, the largest offensive bombing force, the Eighth Air Force, had an open preference for the B-17. On 28 May 1962, N809Z, piloted by Connie Seigrist and Douglas Price, flew Major James Smith, USAF and Lieutenant Leonard A. LeSchack, USNR to the abandoned Soviet arctic ice station NP 8, as Operation Coldfeet. As the Americans flew further into Europe and Germany, the missions became deadlier. The 19th Bombardment Group had deployed to Clark Field in the Philippines a few weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the first of a planned heavy bomber buildup in the Pacific. The B-17s were primarily involved in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign against German targets ranging from U-boat pens, docks, warehouses, and airfields to industrial targets such as aircraft factories. Memphis Belle (aircraft) - Wikipedia Ten of the 12 Fortresses survived the attack. Tora! The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. AFA Statement on Loss of Historic B-17: Painful Reminder of the The bomber was intended from the outset to attack strategic targets by precision daylight bombing, penetrating deep into enemy . [40] The Y1B-17A had a maximum speed of 311 miles per hour (501km/h), at its best operational altitude, compared to 239 miles per hour (385km/h) for the Y1B-17. [84], As use by Bomber Command had been curtailed, the RAF transferred its remaining FortressI aircraft to Coastal Command for use as a long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The problem was there was no easy way to hit Germany, as a cross-channel invasion of Europe was still years away. Mayday! Gr. Losses to flak continued to take a high toll of heavy bombers through 1944, but the war in Europe was being won by the Allies. How many B-17s were shot down? - Wise-Answer Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Yasuho Izawa. He finished the war with 9 enemy planes destroyed. [citation needed], The B-17 was noted for its ability to absorb battle damage, still reach its target and bring its crew home safely. Operational History. Additional armament included an additional dorsal turret in the radio room, a remotely operated and fired Bendix-built "chin turret" directly below the bombardier's accommodation, and twin .50in (12.7mm) guns in each of the waist positions. Captured B-17 Bombers in World War II - warhistoryonline By 1944, a further upgrade to Rheinmetall-Borsig's 30mm (1.2in) MK 108 cannons mounted either in the wing, or in underwing, conformal mount gun pods, was made for the Sturmbock Focke-Wulfs as either the /R2 or /R8 field modification kits, enabling aircraft to bring a bomber down with just a few hits.[103]. [134] To address this problem, the United States developed the bomb-group formation, which evolved into the staggered combat box formation in which all the B-17s could safely cover any others in their formation with their machine guns. This made a formation of bombers a dangerous target to engage by enemy fighters. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.022, B-17 Flying Fortresses in formation over Europe, 1944-45. This aircraft, now restored to its original B-17G configuration, was on display in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon until it was sold to the Collings Foundation in 2015. [99], Since the airfield bombings were not appreciably reducing German fighter strength, additional B-17 groups were formed, and Eaker ordered major missions deeper into Germany against important industrial targets. It should have been a peaceful Sunday morning in Hawaii. The current total of surviving B-17 bombers located in the United States stands at 40: Nine (9) B-17 planes are airworthy, such as "Texas Raiders", "Sentimental Journey" and "Aluminum Overcast". [20] While the air corps was still enthusiastic about the aircraft's potential, army officials were daunted by its cost;[24] Douglas quoted a unit price of $58,200 (equivalent to $916,000 in 2021) based on a production order of 220 aircraft, compared with $99,620 (equivalent to $1,568,000 in 2021 ) from Boeing. ", "Question How many bomber flight crews completed their 25 missions to go home?". That aircraft was the Boeing B-17, better known as the Flying Fortress. [41], Opposition to the air corps' ambitions for the acquisition of more B-17s faded, and in late 1937, 10 more aircraft designated B-17B were ordered to equip two bombardment groups, one on each U.S. After Dallas airshow crash, how many B-17s are still flying? Artists who served on the bomber units also created paintings and drawings depicting the combat conditions in World War II. ", "Second-Generation Norden Bombsight Vault", "Aviation Photography: B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-17, for all its armor and firepower, was simply unable to continue to fly unescorted against swarms of German fighter aircraft and their sophisticated air defense system. This B-17F-27-BO (41-24585; PU-B) was crash-landed near Melun, France by a crew from the 303d Bombardment Group on December 12, 1942 and repaired by Luftwaffe ground staff. [168], Thirty-two B-17Gs[169] were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W, the suffix -W indicating an airborne early warning role. The XB-38 was an engine testbed for Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engines, should the Wright engines normally used on the B-17 become unavailable. "[141] Martin Caidin reported one instance in which a B-17 suffered a midair collision with a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, losing an engine and suffering serious damage to both the starboard horizontal stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer, and being knocked out of formation by the impact. Eighty years ago, the Red Army managed to stop, contain, and ultimately defeat the largest German army on the Eastern Front. [166] Perhaps the most famous B-17, the Memphis Belle, has been restored with the B-17D The Swoose under way to her World War II wartime appearance by the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. coast. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: 'I Am the Captain of My Soul'". To enhance performance at slower speeds, the B-17B was altered to include larger rudders and flaps. The adoption of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer-derived Werfer-Granate 21 (Wfr. [103] Early versions of the Fw 190, one of the best German interceptor fighters, were equipped with two 20mm (0.79in) MG FF cannons, which carried only 500 rounds when belt-fed (normally using 60-round drum magazines in earlier installations), and later with the better Mauser MG 151/20 cannons, which had a longer effective range than the MG FF weapon. Its main use was in Europe, where its shorter range and smaller bombload relative to other aircraft did not hamper it as much as in the Pacific Theater. However, B-17s were operating at heights too great for most A6M Zero fighters to reach. [103] However, due to the slow 715mph velocity and characteristic ballistic drop of the fired rocket (despite the usual mounting of the launcher at about 15 upward orientation), and the small number of fighters fitted with the weapons, the Wfr. ", "B-17 Flying Fortress to join CF - the Collings Foundation", "414th Squadron Planes and Crews circa 1943", "Memphis Belle bomber newly restored and unveiled at US Air Force museum", "Going from lucky in love to lucky to be alive in 1943", "The Swoose comes home to roost at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force", "A Higher Call: autographed by JG 27 Bf-109 ace Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown of the B-17 "Ye Olde Pub", "Airpower Classics: B-17 Flying Fortress. [74] In July 1942, the first USAAF B-17s were sent to England to join the Eighth Air Force. [103] Additionally, 122 bombers were damaged and needed repairs before their next flights. The RAF entered World War II with no heavy bomber of its own in service; the biggest available were long-range medium bombers such as the Vickers Wellington, which could carry up to 4,500 pounds (2,000kg) of bombs. They were also used to provide search and rescue support for B-29 raids against Japan. The first Eighth Air Force units arrived in High Wycombe, England, on 12 May 1942, to form the 97th Bomb Group. These modifications resulted in a 20% increase in aircraft weight. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Tale of Two Texans.". [122][124] Actual Japanese fighter losses for the day were seven destroyed and three damaged. The Germans shot down 36 aircraft with the loss of 200 men, and coupled with a raid earlier in the day against Regensburg, a total of 60 B-17s were lost that day. [19][20], On 30 October 1935, a test flight determining the rate of climb and service ceiling was planned. [25] Army Chief of Staff Malin Craig cancelled the order for 65 YB-17s, and ordered 133 of the twin-engined Douglas B-18 Bolo, instead.[19][20]. [100], A second attempt on Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943 later came to be known as "Black Thursday". Post accident interviews with Tower and Putt determined the control surface gust lock had not been released. These turbo-superchargers were incorporated into the B-17B. With its usual nose-mounted armament of four MK 108 cannons, and with some examples later equipped with the R4M rocket, launched from underwing racks, it could fire from outside the range of the bombers' .50in (12.7mm) defensive guns and bring an aircraft down with one hit,[147] as both the MK 108's shells and the R4M's warheads were filled with the "shattering" force of the strongly brisant Hexogen military explosive. The U.S. produced an amazing 276,000 aircraft during World War II, with 16 new B-17s per day rolling out of the factories per day by April 1944. [citation needed] It was subsequently used in various films and in the 1960s television show 12 O'Clock High before being retired to the Planes of Fame aviation museum in Chino, California. AFA Statement on Loss of Historic B-17: Painful Reminder of the Sacrifices of WWII Airmen The tragic crash of a historic B-17 Oct. 2 cost the nation an enduring symbol of the sacrifices and heroism displayed by American Airmen in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. [175] Six bombers of the 2nd Bombardment Group took off from Langley Field on 15 February 1938 as part of a goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. They could also pose as ground controllers themselves with the intention of steering nightfighters away from the bomber streams. The bombers were assumed either lost by various means or scrapped late in the war for their vital war materials. the B-17 was a fourengine heavy bomber aircraft used by the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Posted on . [36] Experiments on this aircraft led to the use of a quartet of General Electric turbo-superchargers, which later became standard on the B-17 line. Although the conversion was not complete until mid-1943, B-17 combat operations in the Pacific theater came to an end after a little over a year. How many b17s were shot down? The Eighth Air Force vs. The Luftwaffe - The National WWII Museum As each of these wounded airplanes returned, the legend of the B-17 grew. The Me 262, however, had moderate success against the B-17 late in the war. Did the gunners aboard B-17 bombers in WWII manage to shoot down enemy [15], Boeing was quick to see the value of the name and had it trademarked for use. [104], Such high losses of aircrews could not be sustained, and the USAAF, recognizing the vulnerability of heavy bombers to interceptors when operating alone, suspended daylight bomber raids deep into Germany until the development of an escort fighter that could protect the bombers all the way from the United Kingdom to Germany and back. Clearly, something had to be done because the bomber was not getting through. How many B-17 Crews died? No traces of the 3 captured Flying Fortresses were ever found in Japan by Allied occupation forces. "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. [144], After examining wrecked B-17s and B-24s, Luftwaffe officers discovered that on average it took about 20 hits with 20 mm shells fired from the rear to bring them down. "Books of The Times; How Both Sides' Artists Saw World War II" (review). Also, the Y1B-17A's new service ceiling was more than 2 miles (3.2km) higher at 38,000 feet (12,000m), compared to the Y1B-17's 27,800 feet (8,500m). Designating the aircraft Fortress Mk I, the aircraft performed poorly during high-altitude raids in the summer of 1941. How many helicopters were shot down in Vietnam? [111], By September 1944, 27 of the 42 bomb groups of the 8th Air Force and six of the 21 groups of the 15th Air Force used B-17s. [90] The device was able to determine, from variables put in by the bombardier, the point at which the aircraft's bombs should be released to hit the target. [172] N809Z was used to perform a Skyhook pick up in the James Bond movie Thunderball in 1965. She was featured in a USAAF documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. Crashed Model 299. As the production line developed, Boeing engineers continued to improve upon the basic design. Kelly was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II. All of these modifications made the YB-40 well over 10,000lb (4,500kg) heavier than a fully loaded B-17F. Most of the escorts turned back or missed the rendezvous, and as a result, 60 B-17s were destroyed. They were brave. [105] The 8th Air Force alone lost 176 bombers in October 1943,[106] and was to suffer similar casualties on 11 January 1944 on missions to Oschersleben, Halberstadt, and Brunswick. The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. The B-17's greatest success in the Pacific was in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, in which aircraft of this type were responsible for damaging and sinking several Japanese transport ships. It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. The operation did not work as expected, with 90 Squadron's Fortresses being unopposed. The Soviets restored 23 to flying condition and concentrated them in the 890th bomber regiment of the 45th Bomber Aviation Division,[153] but they never saw combat. [118] The 4x Hornet Radial Engines could produce 750 HP at 2100 meters. [57] The B-17E was an extensive revision of the Model 299 design: The fuselage was extended by 10ft (3.0m); a much larger rear fuselage, vertical tailfin, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer were added; a gunner's position was added in the new tail;[note 4] the nose (especially the bombardier's framed, 10-panel nose glazing) remained relatively the same as the earlier B through D versions had; a Sperry electrically powered manned dorsal gun turret just behind the cockpit was added; a similarly powered (also built by Sperry) manned ventral ball turret just aft of the bomb bay replaced the relatively hard-to-use, Sperry model 645705-D[60] remotely operated ventral turret on the earliest examples of the E variant. The loss was not total but Boeing's hopes for a substantial bomber contract were dashed. Copilot was Lieutenant Donald Putt, while Boeing chief test pilot Leslie R. Tower was behind the pilots in an advisory role. [18] His opinions were shared by the air corps procurement officers, and even before the competition had finished, they suggested buying 65 B-17s. An overwhelming majority of them were women and children. A sobering statistic: Out of 1,419 Loaches built, 842 were destroyed in Vietnam, most shot down and many others succumbing to crashes resulting from low-level flying.

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