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Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys
- Thread starter Downeaster
- Start date
B-17 could fly over 30,000 ft with a bombload. To say it's cold up there is an understatement. It's hard to imagine operating a gun in those temperatures at an open window.
Their fortitude was almost superhuman. They stood at those windows for 6-8 hrs on a typical mission. In the 8th AF they had to complete 25 combat missions to complete a tour and go home. The average number of missions it took to get shot down and/or wounded in the early days of daylight bombing was around 10 missions. In just the bomber squadrons, over 50,000 of 'em never made it home. Big brass ones for sure.
buzzword
XS650 Addict
Yeah, it's fiction. But there's a tinge of reality in it. Heller was a B-25 bombardier in WWII. I'm sure that influenced his writing. One of my favorites too.
Hi Gary,
seems that when the first B17 squadron to arrive in the UK was setting up an RAF liason officer arrived in his Mosquito to see how they were getting on.
"I say, Commander, what are these huge aircraft?"
Those are Flying Fortresses, All aluminum, crew of 11, will carry 2 tons of bombs to Germany at 200 knots; what's that thing you flew in on?
That's a DeHavilland Mosquito, made of plywood, crew of 2, will carry 2 tons of bombs to Germany at 400 knots.
Then get it off my runway before my guys see it, because they'll all want one.
What affect does the formation of a sonic boom have on aircraft performance? Just talking out my bum here - If sonic boom formation can be eliminated does this mean a lower power consumption from the engines and hence a greater range?
I may not be able to appreciate the altitude part of that statement, but I can sure imagine the cold and trying to operate a machine gun. Hands frozen in the cupped position, unable to move fingers to pull the trigger or press the trigger depending on weapon. Using body weight to either pull or push the trigger to operate.
Not my pictures below, I am very intimate with the job.
Good times...
Anything but unsung over here, it certainly got its fair share of publicity and corny movies it was the star of.
Most well-known over here for orchestrating the bombing of Dresden, if I remember right. At least he suffered a somewhat diminished reputation from then on.
No different from what LeMay did in Japan... that is, weaken the enemy's will to fight and shorten the war, regardless of bomber losses. Ones considered a hero, the other....
war is hell.
Agreed Fred. You coulda' dropped the "those times" modifier though.
Well Fred, I live in Missouri. In some of the bars and town halls around me, not only could you say it, you'd likely be cheered, I'm sad to say.
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I think our fathers were as happy to kill Germans as they were to kill Japanese. In fact Germans are still vilified while the Japanese aren't.
