5 Things You Never Knew About the B-17 Flying Fortress 

My junior year high school English teacher was an American WWII POW. Apparently, he had a rough time being a guest of Adolph Hitler. We as immature idiots, often times would get him to speak about his prison camp days just to avoid class work. He was an amazing dude, like many of his generation. Wish I would have paid attention to his stories. Rest in Peace, Mr. B.

I had a High School science teacher who was a Seabee in the Pacific. He was old-school, so we still had to do the work, but he'd tell some wild stories. Great guy. Glenn Arter, USN.

All part of growing up, unfortunately. "We get too soon old. And too late smart"

At least you matured. Many people stop maturing at that age and remain liberal democrats.

One of my high school teacher's was a tunnel rat in Vietnam and he never talked about it but to say that it was his job. Lots of respect for him and anyone who served in anyway and anytime!

The roof of the plant was decorated to look like residential city streets, so it would not be recognized by enemy bombers flying over.

You mother and millions others were the secret weapons of WW2. The war was won by the time the atomic bomb was created. Rosie the riveter won WWII. Just imaging Albert Speer used slave labor to build his war machine. Slave labor can do nasty things to V2 components. Perhaps your mother helped build my Uncles plane that came from Seattle. You can view his story on RU-vid. Just search “3 Days In May 1943”. Look for image of a B17 with American flag background. Thanks for you story about you mother. God bless her.

@@richardbaranzini8805 that's pretty damn cool.

My uncle was too young to serve in the Armed Forces, so he dropped out of high school and worked at the same Boeing plant making Fortresses. I can't look at one without wondering if he helped build it.

The can do ladies were the savior of our airplane production that played a very important of winning the war.

Very cool story. Tail gunners were amazing people to perform that job.

Did you consider having it printed/published ? I would like a copy .

My dad was also in the Schwienfurt raid. The 351st Bomb Group. The ol' triangle J.

@@shakundala there is a book Kriege Memories , one of the prisoners created while in 17b . He negotiated for a camera & film with/the German guards to keep a ledger and drawings, etc. My cousin had a copy and loaned it to someone. I am gonna get on Amazon and get one . He told one story about the mean guards that would sic the dogs on men in their barracks and get a big laugh at the men scrambling to get away . These barracks were segregated by nationality. The guards did this to the Russians. A couple of minutes later, the only thing that came out of the barracks were the dog collars.

"Focke-Wulf", like "Foock-Wolf", not "Fokker-Wulf", "Focke" has nothing to do with "Fokker".

Old Rogue, your Dad was one of the American badasses in the European theater. Thank God for men like him. People in France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Hungary -- and yes, even Germany -- should write thank you notes to you and your family every year to thank you for your Dad's service.

Nice story

We'll be able to thank people like your father personally when we're able to thank our Savior personally. As best I can I thank Him now and thank you for telling this incredible story.

My dad was in the 15th stationed in Foggia too. He was ground crew fireman for crash rescue. Too often there was nobody left to save. That haunted him. I am glad your dad made it.

Do you mean Switzerland instead of Sweden?

Joe Kennedy was in the U.S. Navy. The Navy had a parallel program to the U.S. Army Air Force's Project Aphrodite. It was codename Anvil and that program was what Joe Kennedy was involved with. He was flying a U.S. Navy Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bomber packed full of explosives when the plane exploded prematurely killing Kennedy and his co-pilot. The main reason Project Aphrodite was cancelled in January 1945 was because of a scary incident where a crew bailed out of their B-17 they were flying, but the remote control onboard had failed and was non responsive. The unmanned B-17 packed full of high explosives began circling around several villages and other military installations in England causing a major scare. Several of these villages and military installations were evacuated. After several hours of circling the English countryside, the B-17 finally ran out of fuel and fortunately crashed into a farmers field, leaving behind a deep crater. This incident ended Project Aphrodite.

Interesting, wasn't aware of the locked control surfaces - and if that wasn't bad enough, flash forward to 1943 and the horrific crash of the second prototype B-29 that caught fire just minutes after taking off. The burning plane flew over downtown Seattle before crashing and exploding into a meat packing plant - killing all 11 on the plane, 20 workers from the plant, and a firefighter engaged in fighting the inferno. The whole affair was covered up by the press until after the war for national security reasons. So, you know, if Boeing should ever offer you a seat on a test flight, might want to think long and hard before accepting.

That's right. It was another important incident in aviation history. Because of that simple mistake causing the crash... the Pre Flight check list and... check lists in general became standard practice! Something every pilot does to this day!

I lived a short distance from where Kennedy's aircraft blew up. It's still possible to find small pieces of the aircraft. The village that I live in had a B-24 crash on it and a new road and building development is named after the aircraft, Belle of the East. There is also a memorial above the graves of two young U.S Naval Aviators near where I live: they were working with the RAF to learn night-fighter airborne interception techniques. They were unfortunately killed in a blue on blue when their IFF equipment in their Mosquito failed and they were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Their graves are beautifully looked after by the local villagers and I always put flowers on their graves on the Fourth of July and on our Armistice Day which is the 11th of November. I hope that this is of some interest.

@@grendelgrendelsson5493 I'm guessing from your account that IFF is probably a method for recognizing friend from foe? If so, to my mind that is so much more tragic. I definitely find it humbling, interesting, and remarkable that you and your neighborhood continue to honor these young airmen all these years later. I grew up very near a large cemetery that had various sections set aside for war casualties, going back at least to the US Civil War. My parents would take us out once a year to clean up and lay fresh flowers on the graves. Nice to know that others do the same.

Hey Gary - great stuff and yes to your father and all service men and women … Thank you for your service 🇺🇸🇺🇸.. my father was also in the US Army Air Corp as a B17 Navigator… unfortunately he died at 57 yrs old when I was a young 18 knowitall kid- and I miss him everyday of my life. I really didn’t get to know him and of his war experiences. But I have all his flight records/ missions and info from my oldest brother.who is a V Nam vet and talked a lot with my dad. What we would give for 1 more day with our dads -right ? Takecare 👍🇺🇸

Be thankful for what they gave for all of us. My father in law was a tail gunner who flew more than 56 mission until being shot down over France. He said he could not go home until all his buddies were safe and accounted. True hero for a Country Boy Who Made Good.

@@Br5494ever Yes we all miss our dads so much, all the more when you get older and wiser. My dad ( I am English ) was in the desert war with the British 8th army and told us all many war stories. Like yourself, I really miss my mum and dad and wish I could talk to them again now that I am older and realise far more about life than I did when they were alive.

@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ "Praise the Lord...and, pass the Ammunition

Interesting coincidence. My father was radio operator/waist gunner on a B17 called Jezebel. While flying over New York City during the World series he was playing the World series over the radio for the crew. His pilot, a LT Wheeler, pulled out of formation and buzzed Yankee Stadium stopping the game. Mayor Laguardia (sp) was livid and wanted their butts however as it turned out to be a top notch publicity stunt highly increasing the sale of war bonds they were let off with just a reprimand as dad told it and the old news clippings he had confirmed.They went on to England and flew 26 missions over Germany.

My great uncle was a ball turret gunner and lived to be 93 after they were shot down over France and he over a year escaped the Germans. Clayborn Wilson

Man you guys who had family who were ball turret gunners, it took a special man to man that station, it was a suicide pact if the plane had to land and the landing gear wouldn't deploy (I think there was a movie made about such an incident). My dad was a tail gunner on a B-17, which had the same small stature requirement as the ball turret position. Kudos and salutes to all those brave men who served in WWII.

@@timothybruneau4173 Some serious cajones were required to do that role. I wouldn't fancy it.

🐮

Those gunners could only hit their targets about 30% of time, so this was NOT unusual.

​@fredrichenning1367 if you ever hunted Dove or Quail with a shotgun you can appreciate how difficult it would be to hit an airplane traveling around 200 mph with a single bullet.

My father was switched from pilot training to guns because he got the best score on the gunnery tests. He hunted jack rabbits with a .22 and I never saw him miss a running jack.

Just like "Indiana Jones" father shot off the rudder on the plane, and he said to Indy: "They got us son!" 🤪

My Dad was a radio operator and waist gunner on a B17 in the 91st bomb group based in England. He flew 28 missions, got Air medal with Oak Leaf Clusters and I have his paperwork for his Distinguished Flying Cross. His bomb group had a rough road to hoe, lost 85%

Lost 85% of their original al crews and 100% of the replacements. He refused to ever speak about it. I rec'd his paperwork with some photos whe. He passed. God Bless him forever.

@@lynnephelps7984 I'm sure it was an awful part of his life & a part he did not want to relive.

What a brave man thank you for sharing!

My dad was a tail gunner on a B-17 as well. When I was young, I asked him once "dad, did you kill anybody in the war?" to which he answered "I hope not". Although he never told us if he had any kills, I have his journals from the war, but I've read them and all I remember is in one of them, he wrote "we took a lot of flak today" and also of losing one of his buddies. My dad was also lucky to come home alive.

My dad was also a tail gunner on a B-17, 13th US Army Air Force in 1945 just as WWII was ending. He was also small enough to be a backup ball turret gunner - a much hated gunner position.

Much respect

@@joeyager8479 Respect to your dad, my dad was also a tail gunner (above entry). Yep the ball turret was not an enviable spot, those men were beyond brave.

I have a defective altimeter that was replaced in my uncles B17 in England. Nice souvenir of these young men bravery

I wish you guys would make copies and sell the copies I would buy one immediately

Think about getting that log /scrap book scanned and the information donated to a history museum as a primary source for future generations.

I myself doubt that Dresden air attack. In reality German war machine had been effortless, because U.S. 8th Air Force had bombed German fuel refineries to bits. All those new Tiger tanks, Me 262 jet fighters, lorries, other aircraft were wholly useless without necessary fuel. It had been extraordinary success with all the B-17 units and men, and women who build these bombers. Thank for them and hats off, dudes!

What memories are in that logbook. What a documentary that would be.

I did too with shorts on and in a B-29.Boy was it TINY and a 29 large as in No Thanks you'll never get out in a Heated suit w Flak jacket.Brave Men at 19..

RIP Nine-O-Nine

In 2008 I was lucky to video and tour 9-0-9, in Manchester, NH. I also videoed it warming up engines (quite the wind blast) then taking off. Returning from work the evening before I saw its unmistakable B17 shape flying toward me low over the trees along the road I lived on. (On one of its passenger flights). Then 909 turned to fly over the cornfield by my house.

yeah, noticed that too when I got a chance to walk around inside the Memphis Belle...[the movie Belle]...when it was being worked-on at the local airport...since they had gained a bit of a rep repairing and restoring one that had crashed there at an air show a bit earlier and had often done it with improvised parts...you could actually push the skin in and out with your fingers...not much protection against a 20mm....

My old boss and mentor from Jr. & High School was Major Carl Clark, who flew the 909 after first being restored. He was a B-17 pilot flying out of Bassingborne, England during WWII. He flew in a couple of Bomb Groups and was a Pathfinder in his last group. Check out Carl Clark and The Amazing Landing. I worked for him for years and never knew he was a Pilot as he never talked about it. Once he began flying the 909 he was open to discussing his missions. RIP Carl Clark, you were an institution to youth of Idabel, Oklahoma at the Rocket Roller Rink.

My Dad’s group of 3 was also captured by a farmer with a pitchfork! They were all carrying Colt .45s, but they didn’t want to kill a civilian, so the surrendered to him.

I can see how that would be very disturbing!!

Think about the guys who repaired Shermans, they saw the same thing.

I remember as a child reading the poem, Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, it actually gave me nightmares.

He was a amazing pilot

my Dad .....He was a decorated World War II Army Air Corps Veteran, serving in the 97th Bombardment Group as a Staff Sergeant. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters for flying 51 missions as a tailgunner on B-17s over Europe.

A lot of B-17s made it back on 2 engines... ...but rarely when those engines are on the same side. So yeah, that was quite a feat of flying your father pulled off.

Brad he was a amazing man and pilot thank you for his service

God bless him!!! Something similar happened to "Rosie's Riveters"...both port side engines out. They somehow made it to The Channel, when they spotted a fighter ahead. Fearing the worst, the crew braced for an attack...the fighter came in gradually, very carefully....it was a P-47 Thunderbolt sent to shepherd the cripples home! Now accompanied by this little friend, the crew was able to throw out their .50s, and lighten up....Robert Rosenthal brought them home!!!

Fascinating!!

Yep its completely true the Fw190s had a 8-10mm armored plate on the belly to protect the fuel tank and pilot as well as the engine and its cowling. almost all planes had a bullet proof glass plate in the front of the cockpit and an armored seat/headrest and later models of the BF190 had armor around the fuel tank but not from the bottom

Adolf Galand once remarked that making a frontal attack on a B17 was like "making love to a burning porcupine."

I love hearing stories of American and German pilots getting together after the war and exchanging stories.

@@mikew.8894 Wasnt he in charge of the ME 262's? If I remember right, he wanted to use the ME 262 to shoot down the B17, but his nuttty boss wanted to use them as offense bombers.

it wasnt a central lock, it was a control surface lock for the rudder and elevators. consequently the aircraft climbed too steeply, stalled and crashed on the airfield.

Major Poyer P. Hill was the pilot that made that huge mistake. The air force named Hill Airforce base in Ogden Utah in his honor.

@@thurin84 central lock, control lock, pad lock, I think we got the idea and he was pretty much accurate in passing on the gist of what happened. But thanks for really nailing it down.

@@larrycooper9487 it makes a difference. having the control surfaces locked caused a specific type of crash. ie stall. its didnt fly into a mountain. it didnt have mechanical issues. but hey, who needs facts. amiright?

This is why those red strips saying remove before flight were implemented.

That's lit bro

Very cool. Grandfather flew two tours as an upper ball turret gunner. Got shot down once over the Mediterranean.

My father was also a B-17 pilot. For most of his early missions, he feared a piece of flak would come up thru his legs and kill him. Which almost happened halfway thru his tour when a piece of flak did just what he feared, flying up between his legs and ricocheting around the cabin. When it fell back down between his feet and stopped, he felt it was a "sign" not to be afraid anymore. After all, what were the odds this would ever happen again? He'd "dodged a bullet" and flew unafraid the rest of his missions. Keeping this piece of flak as a good luck charm the rest of his life. Now mine as well!

He talked about one mission where having been getting shot at by flak and he noticed he was feeling kinda cold. He looked down and a piece of flak had come through the plane and stuck in his leg. He was cold because is severed the cord on his suit. So nerved up he hadn't even noticed he was hit. He then picked his frozen blood up and threw it out, so he wouldn't have to mop the plane upon return lol. He had some stories.

Donate it to a veterans museum someday.

I didn't know that! It makes some sense though, as the paint would at least partially fill the dimples caused by riveting, thus reducing the drag. Do you have a citation, by any chance?

We had with Spitfires they was designed built using flush rivets but apart from cost took longer to build than using normal rivets so after trials as fully non flush caused all sorts of issues with not only speed but manoeuvrability also due to drag . But in the end worked out a compromise! Low pressure areas used normal and high pressure Flush rivets without a too big an effect on performance was also done with other planes also.

@@oldrogue4247 very recently there was a video made about The matter that cited actual USAAF test results, iirc. I believe you can find The video on RU-vid And see The citations The video uploader used

@@anttitheinternetguy3213 Thanx man. I saw it, or one very much like it in the past few days!

Perhaps the paint allowed the boundary layer of air to not "stick" to the plane like the smooth aluminum did.

Re: "the hydraulics were out and the landing gear was damaged" I read an account by a WWII AAF mechanic that everything on the B17 was electric and on the B24 it was hydraulic.

@@johnclawed If your asking me what a 7 yr. old remembers now at the age of 62, you are not going to get exact quotes. Nor have I ever been in a B-17, read it’s schematics, nor have any specialized knowledge of its construction, modifications or operational details.

@@notebene9791 I'm sorry it sounded like that. I didn't mean to shoot you down, as it were. 30 years ago I used a bulletin board where some great first hand accounts were posted. There was a merchant mariner who posted a 10-page memoir of the Murmansk run, and there was the mechanic I quoted. I wish I'd saved those posts and others, so I just wanted to preserve that bit of trivia here, since this is all about the B17, and I thought you might find it interesting too.

Was his name Sean Astin by any chance?

@@goblue0020 I wish I remembered their names. I've never seen a forum that good ever since.

B17's flew in combat box formation. Any German Luftwaffe fighter plane flew on that space was going to be hit by 50 caliber bullets one way or another!

The Germans still were able to shoot down about 4,700 B-17s throughout the war.

my father was a radio op,,,2nd bomb group,,,also knew german ,,he would monitor the luftwaffe fighter and flak gun nets incoming,,,,a good many of the controllers were women who would give the radar guided flak guns the FIRE command,,several seconds to 30K altitude,,

On my bucket list for sure

WWII weekend is by far the best airshow in the country. I go whenever I can!

Got my bucket list ride three weeks ago in a P51. Worth every dollar!!!!

I left a reply to plee587 about the 909 and my experience at the Eighth Air force Re-union in Pittsburgh during the mid 90's . It's a hellava good story , even if I do say so myself .

They'd have to raise the turret, orient it correctly, open the hatch, climb out and only then could get to their parachute.

Even before the advent of the chin turret head on attacks on B17's weren't as effective as people think, there were Luftwaffe units that were trying it as a new procedure but the problem was the closing speed between the two aircraft was so great that they only had several very short seconds to line up a shot, only the best pilots at gunnery could score hits with them usually being ineffective anyway, the effectiveness of the head on attacks have been greatly exaggerated over the years. Last month I read one of the best accounts of what it was like attacking a B17 formation, he said "In the early days of the war when I flew in the east and would get into dogfights with the Russian's it was kind of fun, sometimes you'd shoot them down and sometimes they'd shoot you down, but after I was transferred to the west and the first time I turned into a B17 box every sin I ever committed in my life flashed right before my eyes".

Adolph Galland once compared attacking a bomber box to trying to bite a porcupine in the butt. He was never one to mince words.😄

@@dukecraig2402 Excessive closing speeds was also the "Achilles heel" of both the Me-163 Komet AND the Me-262 Schwalbe jet fighter. Neither could get off more than a few rounds against the B-17 formations per pass.

@@Kpar512 Yea I've heard that was an issue with them to forcing some of the pilots to try things like porpoiseing when approaching a bomber to get more firing time on them. Just last week I read about the head on attacks against the bombers and how it was actually controversial in the Luftwaffe with some air commander's not adopting the technique for their units because of the fear of collisions vs the limited effects it had. Think about it, straight on you don't have much of a target, just the diameter of the fuselage along with the thickness of the wings and the frontal area of the engine's, considering the unlikely chances of hitting something because of the brief moments you have due to the closing speed against the chances of a collision I understood after reading the article it's point that the effectiveness of it's been a bit exaggerated over the years.

@@dukecraig2402 Well said, Duke. It is clear that you have given this some thought. I might also note the old naval strategy (battleship era) of "Crossing the T" in which the battlewagons tried to cross in front of a line of opposing ships so that your guys would be able to bring ALL their guns to bear, while the enemy could only use their forward guns (but had a MUCH BIGGER target to aim at). Opposite strategies in different circumstances, of course, but it kind of illustrates your point even more.

Vlad that is like a scene right out of war movie! Your Dad is one of the heroes of the 8th Air Force in which everyone was a hero. The Mighty Eighth was like no other unit in WWII.

Hmmm... my dad also was a B-17 command pilot. He flew 25 missions in the 94th Bomb Group during the summer and early fall of 1943. The theory that the fields of "interlocking" fire would get the bombers to their target intact was not a lie. It was doctrine developed by the AAF in the 1930s when massed heavy bombers were first envisioned as strategy. Of course, there was no way to test it until 1942 when, with the advent of modern fighters like the Me-109, it was shown not to work, but it was not a lie. It was accepted doctrine that AAF planners truly believe to be true. I'm a graduate of the USAF's Air War College where this history was taught in detail. And after the Luftwaffe was rendered an ineffective fighting force in February, 1944, the ensuing missions of the 8th AF were not exactly "milk runs." For the remaining 14 months of the Combined Bomber Offensive, the Germans had 2 million soldiers manning their Flakkorps firing the dreaded 88mm guns. The nemesis of the bombers at that point became not German fighters but flak "so thick you could walk home on it." Survival of American airmen became a little more likely, but only enough that the tour of duty was increased from 25 missions to 35. Even during 1944-5, combat losses of the 8th remained high enough that these limited tours were still necessary in order to give the air crews enough hope of surviving the war that morale could be maintained.

@@Buddy308 All my father knew was that someone told him false information. I would still consider telling someone something is a fact, when you do not know it to be so, is still shady. Whether they knew it was false or not did not signify to the crews. As to flak, it simply never scared the aircrews anywhere near as much as the fighters. As to the Air Force War College, what you say could be correct, or absolute tripe since most of the military brass on both sides of the war falsified many of the records. All I know is what my father told me, and that was once they had 'little friends' to the target things significantly improved from their perspective. However, they would not have been informed of actual losses. "Milk run", in the end, is not a defined term so what is slightly better to one person might be significantly better to another.

It's better by far, to replace engines than humans!

Vlad: My father, a bombardier, was also in the 452nd, based at Deaphon Green near Norwich, until he lost an eye over Germany on 9/25/45. I visited the base in the late 1970's. The runways and some of their huts were still there. It was eerie.

You shouldn't ever forget!

Do you remember what Air Base your uncle was stationed at in England?

@@johnebell535 I'm sure he told me at one point but it's been so long as he passed away almost 27 years ago.

You won’t find stories like that about the B-24. They couldn’t take a whole lot of damage like that and stay in the air. It didn’t take much to knock one out of the air.

...and the brit crew members knew that

@@ssnerd583 Bloody stupid comment

I call BS. Would take GALLONS and a bit of buildup to cause this, im certain the hydraulics werent that weak to not overcome a few pints of frozen pee

@@ssnerd583.The successes of Bomber Command were purchased at terrible cost. Of every 100 airmen who joined Bomber Command, 45 were killed, 6 were seriously wounded, 8 became Prisoners of War, and only 41 escaped unscathed (at least physically). Of the 120,000 who served, 55,573 were killed including over 10,000 Canadians. Of those who were flying at the beginning of the war, only ten percent survived. So, what are you trying to say?

Interesting detail. Heard about guns freezing, but not about the bomb bay doors. I think first batch to RAF were Cs (a pic I have does not seem to have the cowl flaps introduced by the D).

Funny! Never thought of it that way.

We have one here in AZ at the Commemorative Air Force Museum. You can’t always go in it but I have and agree, very small inside. The B-17 has been my favorite aircraft of all time since I first saw one in a picture when I was about 7 years old.

@@aaronpearson2389 They are beautiful. I am not a great piston engine aircraft fan, but the B-17 is one of my favorites of the type. I had the pleasure of touring the one that was involved in the mid air collision last month. I saw it in May. It made me very sad for the loss of both the aircraft and the crew.

i had the opportunity to go up in the Collins Foundation's B17, the 909 (R.I.P.) It was the smallest aircraft i'd ever flown in and the smoothest flight i ever experienced.

@@mikew.8894 Yeah we think of bombers as being big, spacious fuselage and some are but this was much smaller than I could have imagined. On the other side of that, I remember seeing the B-36 at the Air Force Museum and remember being totally shocked at how large it was. If it were not for the bulkheads, you could get the whole B17 fuselage inside with room to spare.

@@aaronpearson2389 During the week of Thanksgiving last fall, 2023, I was visiting family in Phoenix and we went to the Commemorative Air Force Museum and we had a great time. I walked through the B-17 and it is very small inside. I plan on visiting again this coming Thanksgiving when I go back to Phoenix.

i had a photo of my daughter on board,,in my fathers radio op seat,,

I had a great uncle who was also a tail-gunner. He refused to talk about any of his experiences.

I had an uncle who served on Tinian Island and my father was in the battle of Okinawa.

I flew on the Texas Raider at an air show in New Orleans in 2018. It was only a 20 minute hop but it was a fantastic experience. I was very saddened at her loss.

I noticed the video did not mention that one of the pilots killed in the Aphrodite campaign was Joseph Kennedy Jr. He was the one that Joe Sr. was grooming to be president, and after his death Joe Sr. was forced to switch over to #2 son, JFK.

@@RubyBandUSA Joe Jr was murdered too

Strange question was the headmaster of Orford school at the time Mr Aldous?

@@jonaldous6720 Hello Mate, I waited to speak to my Dad. Mr Aldous was headmaster when my younger sister was there...1985/89....ish ? (we could not remember how old my sister is !). My dad said that Mr Aldous was "...yeah..a very nice chap and did a good job as I remember". Cheers mate.

Is the Jolly Sailor still in Orford? I remember the chap behind the bar had this magnificent white beard and looked for all the world like Father Christmas. I served at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge from '82 to '85. I returned to England to live and was just up the beach from you in Aldeburgh. One of the jobs I had was as night watchman at the BBC station on Orfordness. I was on Orfordness the night the hurricane hit. Remember, the one that weatherman Michael Fish said would never happen? Wonder if he still had a job after that. I drove down to the Quay on the ness side of the river, and there wasn't a boat left, just masts sticking up out of the water. Dickey Banftoft, I might be getting that surname wrong, ran the landing craft that brought the BBC crew over from Orford. The morning after the hurricane, I had to take them all to the station via Landrover, down the beach from Aldeburgh. I'm back in the states now, but cherish my years in Suffolk. All the best.

The B-29 helped to refign that when the DC-6 was to become an air transport

I am a pilot and I will support this statement.

I read the same in “The Checklist Manifesto”. A good management book, by the way,

Here is a RU-vid video on old 666 …. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6Im086TCu3I.html

Read the book. Those guys were true grit American Patriots! "Mike" Kelly

Yes, great story. History channel covered that in their "long odds" series.

Especially one in particular, Old 666. Probably the greatest story of survival. It can be found on youtube also.

The F6F Hellcat shot down more Japanese aircraft than any other plane. Just an FYI.

Don't you mean FWIIW?

@@harrylessenger4872 Harry, I do not dispute what you say, I was relating what I had read in TWO separate autobiographies of WWII Japanese pilots, one in the IJN, the other in the Japanese Army. I recall one of the books was called "The Emperor's Eagle", but I confess I do not remember the name of the other book- it has been a long time. The Japanese pilots had GREAT respect for the B-17!

@@Kpar512 I believe you Kirk, the point I was making is that you neglected to mention the most successful U.S. Navy fighter of WWll in the Pacific Theater, after naming the planes that you did. The Mariana Turkey Shoot is a prime example. p.s. My Father was a B-17 pilot flying out of Braintree, England and was wounded during a bombing run over Hamburg.

In 2012, I did a walk around a B-17 at a local airshow. It was the first time I had seen one in person. A beautiful bird. I have been inside a Lancaster and can imagine how claustrophobic in can be in a B-17. My uncle was a tail gunner in a Lancaster. He told me how difficult it was for tail gunners to get the rest of the crew. Crawling over the bomb bay housing was difficult with the plane on the ground. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been with the plane flying.

that space going up to the cockpit can't be much more than a foot wide...too tight for a fatty like me....

i always hated that the confederate air force knuckled under to the p.c. ers and changed their name. like anyone would actually think that the confederate states of america had an air force (besides the observation balloons) the omly part of a b-17 i thought was claustrophobic was the cockpit

@@frankpienkosky5688 Same here, Frank. These guys were a skinny bunch, weren't they? 🙂

Should go have a look inside a Lancaster! out of our three main bombers.Halifax.Stirling.Lancasters was worst one to have to bailout of with many crews perishing as not able to get out of door near rear.

B-24 crews would brag that they got home faster. The B-17 crews would reply that it was true, but that they got home more often.

@@andrulV2 🤜🏼💥🤛🏼

Actually the chin turret was added to the last few B17Fs, often mistaken with B17Gs ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_Harrison_Smith I had to look him up !!! What an effort he did in the B17 to keep it flying !!!

My Father was a B-17 pilot also, he took 5 pieces of shrapnel in his left knee during a bombing run over Hamburg and spent the rest of the war in an English hospital.

Hangar Queen

After the war, Frank Kurtz had a daughter, named her Swoosie.

Do you remember which plane she was? I flew in the Aluminum Overcast years ago.

@@proudamerican183 Me too!

@@oldrogue4247 Mine was in Vacaville California. At the old Nut Tree airport. U?

@@proudamerican183 Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I had bought a ticket for my Dad some years before, but at the last minute, he decided against it. I asked the EAA - owners and operators of Aluminum Overcast - if there was any chance of a refund, since it was pretty expensive; at least $300+. The said no, but that I could use the ticket at any time in the future. All I had to do was to make a reservation in advance, so a few years later, that is what I did.

@@oldrogue4247 Nice.

got to be pretty agile to swing yourself up into that plane from under its belly...looked pretty cool though...

I never realized that, but you're right!

That's a really cool tidbit. Took me a second to visualize how that would work but it makes sense!

One of the other commentators explained that in detail.

Aside from the genuine fact that oxygen is not an "inflammable (sic) gas" this isn't a fact.

Diana Powe: You failed chemistry then! I'm embarrassed for you. Apparently your grasp of English is somewhat dubious as well.

Oxygen is NOT flammable. It supports combustion. Throw a lit cigarette into a can full of 100% oxygen and the cigarette will practically explode like a fire ball. With the Apollo 1 space craft they used 100% oxygen at 4 psi. When a spark ignited something flammable, the oxygen supported the combustion so much that the entire interior went up in a flash fire. HYDROGEN is highly flammable which is why the Hindenberg burned so well. The oxygen in the air around it supported the combustion.

@@daveintheblackhills282 Indeed. My mistake. However leaking oxygen from the crew oxygen pipe running beneath the upper gun turret supported catastrophic explosions in B17 aircraft during flight. There is a detailed video on RU-vid explaining the fault. Hydrogen does require oxygen in order to burn. During WW1 British aircraft could riddle a Zeppelin with bullets with no significant effect to the buoyancy of the airship, holes being patched.. Hence the incendiary bullet was developed. However, guns loaded only with such rounds were still not causing the airships to burn. It was then realized that insufficient oxygen was reaching hydrogen in the gas bags through the holes made by the incendiary rounds. Eventually a successful tactic of riddling the Zeppelin gas bags with standard bullets and then attacking with incendiary rounds was developed. The leaking hydrogen having sufficiently mixed with oxygen to allow combustion by the time of a second strafing with incendiary rounds.

Inflammable mean not part of the 3 pillars of fire. Also means not flamable....Not flaminable....

Those engines are the sound of freedom.

I was fortunate enough to fly as a passenger in the nose of "Sentimental Journey" this past August. It was an amazing experience.

. I was just referring to the explosive laden R/C planes , not the aircraft type . Kennedy's plane is now believed to have detonated due to ground based radio signals triggered when he armed the explosives ( he was still over England when this happened ) .

@Joel Cohn …. Kennedy had been flying B-24 maritime patrol bombers for the Navy.

Not correct - he was flying a Liberator (B24)…. !

Joseph Sr. wanted Joseph Jr to run for President. But since Joseph Jr was dead, he had his son John run instead.

So joe was the badass and john was the talker

I am a Liberator guy too!

@@hardcorehistory9165 Have you only considered the ETO?

@@hardcorehistory9165 42% and 48% leave out 10%?? Are you ignoring the War in the Pacific, African campaign and Italian occupied areas? Just truly curious. Thanks

@@hardcorehistory9165 perfect

That's true about Joseph Kennedy Jr but he wasn't in a B17 Aphrodite nor was he actually a part of Aphrodite, instead he was in the Navy's version of the program called Anvil and the aircraft they used were the Navy version of the B24 called the PB4Y-1.

I agree. I also don't think that enemy tactics in dealing with a plane counts as a little known fact about the plane itself. Also watching all four engines start up at once was kind of funny,

@@charlesharris9692 When I saw all 4 engine's starting at once the first thing I thought is that the bomb bay must be full of batteries.

Most of these "five things you didn't know" videos are click bait. Joe Kennedy's demise demonstrates that often we know more than the video producer...

@@dukecraig2402 ...they used inertial starters.......

299 was Boeing 's designation for the B-17 the 299Z, the last variant was a 5 engine version. The 5th engine position in the nose was for mounting Turboprop test engines.