Inside the B-17 Flying Fortress 

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I'm 77 years old now. My dad was a B-17 pilot in WW II and was shot down over Holtland, Germany on July 26, 1943. Five of the crew were killed and five survived. My dad spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III (the site of the Great Escape) and Stalag VII A where he was liberated in April 1945 by the advanced units of Patton's 3rd Army. He was wounded by shrapnel from a 20mm explosive shell from a German FW-190. He very rarely said anything about his experiences in WW II. Total time was perhaps a minute or two until he died. Everything I learned about him in WW II was by my own research of US and German documents in my later life, and it took many years to piece everything together. For example it tool a long time going through the German records to learn that it was Senior Lieutenant Karl Decker piloting an FW-190 who shot my dad down after my dad's B-17 had been hit by flak and fell behind the formation on the way back from a successful bombing run on the Hanover Rubber Works, Hanover, Germany. Oddly, one of the very few things my dad mentioned about his time in WW II was that a German patrol that was sent to take him prisoner saved him from angry farmers that wanted to kill him. It was hard as a kid and a young adult to imagine what war was really like. My dad said that the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" came close to what it was like and the novel "Maybe I'm Dead" was a realistic depiction of what POW life was like. Well, I got my chance to imagine what war was like. In 1967 I joined the Marine Corps to avoid being drafted into the Army. I graduated from OCS an was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Then after 6 months of officer training, I arrived in Vietnam on December 15, 1968 and took command of an infantry platoon. I came home in December 1969 and I can definitely say I know for a fact what war is like. It's extreme physical and mental stress, death, horrible wounds, chaos, destruction, and survival when it didn't seem possible. A special thanks to all of the Marines who served in my platoon including the magnificent Navy Corpsmen and all the Marines, Navy, and Air Force supporting operations that saved our butts more than a few times. There is so much I can say about combat. First, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you are dead or wounded. Second, there were unimaginable tragedies and there were miracles on the battlefield. One day I had 34 Marines in my platoon (very much under strength) and when the sun set that day, only 4 of us were still alive and unwounded. That was the worst day of my life. On another day, we were in an intense firefight when were caught in the open by North Vietnamese soldiers. They had us dead to rights. I had to make a decision to try to fall back or to conduct an aggressive frontal attack. I only had a few seconds and I decided on an aggressive frontal attack. But I had no radio contact with my squad leaders and so I had to run up and down the line of assault shouting commands to coordinate the assault. If you've never been in a firefight, bullets travel faster than the speed of sound and so when they pass close by, you can hear a loud "snap" which is a small sonic boom. It's not an exaggeration that during that assault it soundly like a string of firecrackers going off around me. When my platoon reached the tree line, it was hand to hand for a very brief time with some of my Marines. It didn't last more than 30-60 seconds before the enemy quickly withdrew. After the battle, I asked my platoon sergeant to get a count of our dead and wounded. A few minutes later he returned and said, "Sir, you ain't gonna believe this, but we only have one Marine with minor wound to his hand from an enemy bayonet and he doesn't want to be evacuated." That was a miracle. And here is the really odd thing. I really can't describe this in a way you might understand, but I had this feeling while I was in Vietnam that there was something watching over me. I never had any fear in Vietnam except for two situations. It would take too long to describe them, but one was during a night ambush we established when I thought the enemy would discover us and they had way more soldiers than I did Marines. The other was when we were in a company defensive position in a valley at night and we were hit with our own 155 mm artillery after a Recon unit in the mountains above us mistook us for the enemy. If you have never been caught in barrage of artillery, it is the most terrifying experience you can comprehend. The shrapnel is mowing down saplings and small trees. There is the screams of the wounded but no one can get to them. Those were two moments where I didn't have the feeling anyone was watching over me. So what's my point? Well when I in my 60's I had a chance to pay for a ride on a B-17. I wanted to know kind of what my dad may have felt and saw. Obviously, there was no flak or German fighters, but I did have my experience of three years in combat. My first impression was just how small or really tiny the B-17 was and just how difficult it was to try to get from the rear to the front of it. And how hard it was to actually try to bail out when you may have only a few seconds or minutes while the plane began to spiral out of control causing centrifugal spin trapping the crew inside. Perhaps the worst position was the ball turret gunner who could not have a parachute. In order to exit the ball turret position, the turret had to be repositioned in order for the gunner to get out, and then he had to find a parachute to attach and then find a way to bail out. If the electrical systems were shot up, there was no way he could get out of the turret and bail out. I took two flights in the B-17 called the 909 in different years. Tragically, a year or two ago the 909 crashed during an emergency landing and was destroyed killing passengers and crew but with a couple of survivors. I'm glad I had the two experiences before maintenance problems caused a crash and deaths. RIP for the souls who perished. This video brought back so many memories of my dad and B-17's. I served 21 yeas in the Marines with two more years in combat. I shouldn't be alive today.

9:02 the bombardier reacting to the blast of flak and then rapidly blinking to lock in is CRAZY level of detail into your animation

Seeing this after having finished the Masters of Air is just awesome.

David I have no idea what it takes to make these but I’ve been a WW2 history buff for a long long time and these videos are truly one of a kind thank you so much for the effort to bring this side of the war to light.

Just realized that this is yarnhub’s other channel😭

About 25 years ago, I had to clean out the house of an unassuming old man with dementia/Alzheimer's. After the war he was a hardware store owner until he retired and sold it. Anyway, there were multiple Army Air core manuals on gunnery for the 17 that he had in his basement, since he was a gunnery instructor after the war. I still have his crew jacket that he wore. I would donate it to a museum, but the unit no longer exists. I know the group, squadron, and tail number. His name is Paul A. Perkins . He owned the hardware store in Bonner Springs, Kansas. I even have pictures of the crew in front of the plane. I have 21 years service in the USMC and ARMY, he had a lot more balls than me.

It must take a staggering amount of effort to create one of these vids. Thank you it is greatly appreciated by many.

19:15 Pilot: Good job Crosby ❤

Engine model shows a seven-cylinder pattern instead of the actual nine. Voiceover refers to guns both as "fifty cal" and "point five zero"- these are the same thing, viewers might be confused. Kudos for pointing out that waist gunner positions were staggered on the next model (G). Mentioning that head-on attacks were preferred by the Luftwaffe could lead into mentioning the addition of a chin turret on the next model as well.

Awesome video! The animations are top notch. I love how you transition between a clean aircraft in the void, explaining it's inner workings. And a dramatic reenactment of the crew flying on a mission. Seriously, the mission segments alone could be it's own short film. Amazing job.

When I was younger back in the early 2000s I remember playing a Nintendo DS game called B-17 Flying Fortress that let you play as all the gunner positions. Listening to the background callouts of “Bandits! 6 0-clock High!” and “Fighters coming around fast!” I knew it was the audio used in that game. Really takes me back to my childhood.

I love these kind of videos. You learn so much about these WW2 machines you didn't know about yet in such a nicely animated way. Keep it up.

Das ist ein hervorragendes Video zu diesem Thema. Ich möchte dafür an den Autor einen besonderen Dank aussprechen. Dieses hervorragende Flugzeug wird nicht umsonst“Fliegende Festung“ genannt und die deutschen Jagdpiloten hatten großen Respekt vor dem Flugzeug und der Tapferkeit der Besatzungen. Die Bauweise des Bombers war konstruktiv ein gelungener Wurf zumal insbesondere an das überleben und Sicherheit der Besatzung gedacht wurde. Das drückt die Philosophie der US-Strategen aus das Leben ihrer Truppen möglichst zu schützen was in allen Truppenteilen zu finden ist. Danke für dieses sachliche Video.

I love these videos so much. I wish you guys had the chance of releasing more of them, but I also understand that the quality of the videos takes time for your research. Thank you for everything you do.

One of the most Indepth videos that I've ever seen on a Flying Fortres - Nice!!!

Fantastic series and effort. Obviously, the possibilities for this kind of presentation are almost endless. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is literally true here. Just wonderful.👍

Magnificent work! Thanks a lot. I appreciate metric units, which let me watching with no pause for recalc.

Excellent, excellent video. Incredible detail and specificity. I got a chance to ride in a B-17 and use the Norden bombsight over my city -- a truly memorable and eerie experience. Thanks for this, I'm sure I'll watch it again.

The amount of detail in your models is mind-blowing. Excellent work, as usual.

Excellent modeling and video! brief and very complete, precise and clear to explain the operation, the essence of the different systems that integrated it, and the context of use of this mythical WW2 aircraft. Greetings from Argentina.

Thank you for all the weekly uploads on your main channel and the amazing videos here.

Its amazing how modern weapons evolved from a 4 engine 10 crew plane carrying 8000 pounds of ordnance to a twin engine jet plane with 1/2 crews carrying the same ordnance weight with much more self protection capabilities

I'll be honest. Just watching how thin the wing skin is has totally blown me away!

Hi David (Same name as mine), those renders are incredibly well made, i wanna just point out that the engine used for the render is from a Wright Cyclone R-2600-23 (or some variant), which have a double row of cylinders, while the info you described was from the Wright Cyclone R-1280-97, which is accurate, but is a single row of 9 cylinders, minding that a B-17 was able and running these kind of engines during the war, double-row engines were not used in B-17's (Only from B-29's).

There were four (4) Officers on a B17. The Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator and the Bombiader. Probably a slip in research but something that should be noted.

My great grandpa was a tail gunner on a B-17 from 1942 to the end of the war and even had a couple encounters with some 262s during the war i still have his mission logs and medals and i was lucky enough to meet a very nice man who was a waist gunner and talk to him for a bit so this kind of stuff is very very interesting to me

i spotted an error and its the video being too short, this format is incredibly nice and informative to watch and cant get enough!!

Bro thank god I've been waiting for this video for so long. You make such good content!

An excellent description of the mythic B 17, thank you!

My absolute favorite WW2 plane. The Monogram 1/48 scale model is my favorite kit. May have to make another one after viewing this. Well done!

Currently reading "a wing and a prayer" by Harry Crosby, about the 8th air force and the 100th air group, the "square D" loved hearing his name as the navigator! Great book btw!

Excellent video really informative. Best Blue Paw video yet. Keep it up

Exelente video! Muchas gracias, a espera de más videos!

My dad was stationed at Deopham Green in England during WW2. He worked on B-17's as a sheet metal repair specialist.. He told my lot's of story's of airplanes coming back with big chunks missing.. I have an altimeter from a B-17 my dad got from some kind of surplus store after the war..

Great vid David! Love the masters of the air inspiration too!

Awesome video, thank you for your work!

una belleza de video , MUCHAS MUCHAS MUCHAS GRACIAS!! DISFRUTÉ MUCHO VIENDOLO.

love the coverage of the cheek and nose guns, looking forward to the ball turret vid, you could fill a vid on just the evolution of flexible mounts, chin turret, blister mounts, etc.......................top notch job, thanx

Superbe reportage avec de nombreux détails.merci👍

My Dad was a navigator flying from Greenland in one of these, between 1942 - 1945. During Anzac day marches his company was very small. The bravery and sacrifices should never be forgotten.

You guys need more follower !!! Amazing detailed video ...😊

its difficult to not get happy seeing new video plus this amazing voice ❤

Amazing animation and incredibly informative, so much information!

A truly beautiful presentation mate. Well done indeed 👌

Underrated youtube channel, thanks for sharing 👍👍👍

Incredible video about an incredible airplane! The men are the heart and soul of the plane, thankfully, they had one that was built to give them the best chance possible of getting home. Unfortunately, pressing their luck by having to do this 25 times put the odds of survival pretty far away.

As an independent documentary this is up there or even better than a BBC documentary. Just superb. 10/10…….i was gripped all the way through from start to finish. The self sealing tank explanation, brilliant. Can’t wait for the Ball Gunner video. As someone else mentioned, a huge amount of work. Total respect.

A Luftwaffe ace once told me attacking a B-17 combat box was like standing in a bathtub & looking up at the shower-head, while trying to avoid getting wet.

Thats very interesting about the B-17 Flying Fortress nice bomber war plane. Thanks blue paw print.

That was a great video thank you so much. 😊

Great description and explanation.

Kudos to the amazing top-notch video game quality of the animation and FX. Simply astonishing, love the B17 their role was highlighted at the Master of air tv show on Apple TV, war heroes like the Willi or the Studebaker. Keep up this great work man. 👏

outstanding video, thank you

Excellent video - A video showing the Lancaster would be amazing

Потрясающая детализация. Обожаю Б-17

Amazing video, please make more of it with tanks, olher aircrafts !!

Great video! Would love a video on the British Lancaster next.

Utterly brilliant as usual

Ryt on it the moment it gets posted. Let me feast my eyes

I noticed you guys animated some masters of the air scenes! Very nice animations!!

Yippee a dedicated video for the ball turret!!!

Fantastic video !

Great vid I love this channel

Excelente y asombroso trabajo. Saludos desde Buenos Aires, República Argentina.

Wow what a great video 🎉.. apart from the engine error that's already been pointed out. The Tail Number was 124485 for the Belle, so not sure where the extra 2 came from.. but that's just me nit picking 😂. IMO the most iconic and probably the most beautiful aircraft ever made ❤

Man, I've learned so many things I didn't think of, such as full bomb load can't reach any targets.... I found myself so stupid of not thinking of these before!!

Found you with your Corsair video. These are superbly done. New subscriber for sure. You probably get a ton of requests but would love to see PT-109(or 105. Didn't forget you Dick)broken down. Now to enjoy one of the greatest styled aircraft in history.

Excellent animation and explanation in an optimal video duration. Congratulations! Since I was a child (sixties decade, I have been an admirer of the B17. Greetings from Mexico. Excelente animación y explicación en un óptimo tiempo de duración del video ¡Felicitaciones! Desde niño (década de los sesentas son admirador de los B17. Saludos desde México.

Thank you for giving me these details. I'll be building my B17-F now

Would have been a very good occasion to show improved armor protection against flak, covering the engines and floor of the bomber, as this animation only shows the B-17F variant as protected only from rear threats. For reference, there is the August 1944 study titled: "Combat losses and damage in the 8th. Air Force". A channel called "US WWII Bombers" has an excellent video if you want to check.

an other great video, thx blue paw, hope you make one on french tanks or aircraft !

Fantastic video, always enjoy your content. One point on narration, the M2 Browning machine guns are referred to multiple times as "point five zero caliber," the way to say this is simply "fifty caliber," which is true for almost all firearms using the caliber system, i.e. ".30" would be "thirty caliber." For some, like the .30-06 round fired by the M1 Garand, you would say "thirty aught six," instead of "point thirty dash zero six," etc. For firearms that use a millimeter system, you don't mention the decimal, and usually not the millimeter either. For example, the 5.56mm round fired by the M16, you would refer to as "five five six." A lot of rounds follow these sort of spoken conventions, which may be unintuitive if you're unfamiliar with firearms or have only read about them and haven't heard them spoken before. Once again, really great video, please keep them coming!

Amazing video! This is awesome!! Greetings from Mexico.

GREAT VIDEO .THANK YOU DEEPLY. I SHOULD SEND MY DONATION AT ANY MOMENTE . GREAT WORK YOUR INFO . WAS FRIENDLY AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND , VERY ATTRACTIVE FORMAT . THE SOFT VOICE , PAUSE TONES HELPED TREMENDOUSLY

I love that the animation as examples or something are the clips of the video titled "when only one B-17 came home"!

AMAZING VIDEO!!!❤❤❤ Props to the Yarnhub team!

Thank You David !!! 👍😄

O U T S T A N D I N G ! Very, very impressed by the terrific, beautiful graphics & visuals that depict fantastic detail and realism. Simply superb. Best descriptive information on the venerable B-17 I have ever seen. Excellent use of technology. Narration is also exemplary. Major kudos. Many thanks for this exceptional quality video BPP!

I am building a model of Ye Olde Pub and your information has been invaluable in my research , particularly interior and structure , as I am building battle damage ! thanks for sharing , best wishes from Wales .

Excelente trabajo!!! Está buenísimo!! Lo felicito por la excelencia! Me encantaría que realice el estudio del Mustang P-51. Desde ya muchas gracias! Y saludos cordiales desde Argentina!

Beautiful animation

Gracias por compartir esta apreciable información!

This is an excellent explanatory video.💯 I think it would have been even more immersive if, at the part with the starting checklist, we could hear the sound of the four engines instead of music.🎧 I will continue to support your work from now on.💌

Good job. Congratulations. Thanks. Here Brazil.

This is the model I am most looking forward to. Sure enough, there is no subscription error. I want to see B-24 in the future!!

the transition to the sponsor was so clean

Very cool video the images were pretty darn lifelike. Their eye blinking was, to me anyway, unsettling, oh well.

Spitfire when? The most popular spitfires in my opinion are the spitfire VC and XVI

Love this plane man

Amazing graphics

Love it keep it up ❤:)

These videos are absolutely amazing! I can only imagine the time and effort it would take to create something like this! Which software do you use? When are you going to do a CL-415?!

10/10 con la explicación entendí al B17,.... Muchos sistemas y Pobre Navegante con su enorme tarea

He sido un amante de la historia de la segunda guerra mundial...entender la mecánica interna de las diferentes aeronaves y sus diferentes funcionalidades, explica para que es que estaban diseñadas...además que son el referente de la aviación moderna...excelente video y muy buena la explicación general en español...gracias y saludos !!!

Nicely done and well presented …. Believe the commentary crossed the Pilot & Copilot L&R

I don't know if I'm the only one, but the spanish voice sounds like Gustavo Fring trying to speak spanish hahaha.

AMAZING! DO A LOT. ITS GREAT JOB!

Idk how I never caught your name considering I’ve been a fan for awhile but thanks David, You fucking rock.

Sou fã do B17, que cheguei a ver em voo sobre a cidade de Manaus, em operações da FAB, no final dos anos 50.