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Unread 06-24-2009, 01:24 AM
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Default B-17 Story

As told in the June edition of Shrapnel Games' June newsletter "Frag!"

"Development on what would be later referred to as the B-17 Flying Fortress began on June 18th, 1934 by the Boeing Airplane Company. The first prototype flew in a little over a year later on July 29th, 1935.

As laid out by the US Army Air Corps the main purpose of the aircraft was to defend the United States against an invasion, not as a strategic bomber (which was not yet USAAC doctrine). This would change though by 1939 when it went into actual service, in part due to doctrinal change and in part to opposition from the US Navy. It seemed that the USAAC had found the B-17 to be so impressive that they wanted as many as Boeing could turn out, again primarily to defend against amphibious invasion. This angered the Navy, who looked at this as encroaching on the Navy's responsibilities of defending the homeland. To placate the USN production was scaled back.

At the same time the USAAC began to evolve the B-17s original role from that of a defensive bomber to that of a strategic bomber. With its speed, altitude, and armament the thought was that B-17s operating in large groups would be immune from interceptors. This was of course proven false once combat operations began.

Throughout the war B-17s were constantly being upgraded and modified, producing a wide variety of models. Included models were:


XB-17: The model 299 prototype, carried a civilian designation until 1936.
Y1B-17, Y1B-17A: Model 299Bs, ordered primarily for design testing in service.

B-17B: First B-17s, now named Flying Fortress from a reporter's remark, thirty nine were produced.

B-17C, B-17D: The C was introduced in 1940, several made their way to the RAF. The D model revised the electrical system, added a crew member and engine cowling flaps.

B-17E, B-17F, and B-17G: The most numerous of the Flying Fortresses, thousands of these were produced and beginning with the F model were often made by sub-contractors (Douglas and Lockheed-Vega). Many, many changes were made from the C and D models, including altering the tail surfaces, adding more weapons, extra fuel capacity, and much more.
XB-38: Added liquid cooled Allison V-1710 engines, flown in 1943 as a test aircraft but the test aircraft was lost in a mid-flight fire. Further test aircraft were cancelled.

XB-40, YB-40, TB-40: Bomber escort versions which were loaded with even more guns and lots of ammo at the expense of fuel and a payload. Unfortunately it was found that all the extra weight reduced the speed which on the inbound leg of the flight didn't matter since the other bombers were weighted down with bombs, but on the return leg they could not keep up.

XC-108, YC-108, XC-108A, XC-108B: Transport versions. The XC-108 served General MacArthur as his personal transport aircraft.
F-9, F-9A, F-9B, F-9C (RB-17G): All long range recon aircraft fitted with cameras. The CIA operated a RB-17G in Southeast Asia all the way up to 1957.

BQ-7: The Germans weren't the only ones that used guided missiles in the war. In 1944 several B-17s were converted to radio controlled missiles. They were filled with 20,000 pounds of explosives and flown initially by a two man crew. Once safely airborne the crew would parachute out and another B-17 would control the flying bomb by radio control. Fifteen of these flying bomb B-17s were used against German targets between August 1944 and January 1945.

It should also be noted that the Germans operated several captured B-17s, sometimes using them to infiltrate agents, other times as a decoy in an attempt to down aircraft assuming that they were flying with a friendly.

The Royal Air Force actually were the first ones to use B-17s in combat operations. In March 1940, before any official Lend-Lease act was in place, the United States provided Great Britain with 20 B-17Cs in exchange for information on how they performed in combat.

Named the Fortress Mark I by the RAF, the B-17s arrived in early 1941 and formed the No. 90 squadron based at West Raynham but moving to Polebrook once combat operations began. The first actual combat operation took place on July 8th, 1941 when three Mk Is attacked Wilhelmshaven.

Operations with the B-17 continued against German targets until September when the RAF decided that the B-17 wasn't just up for the job. The problem was the difference between USAAC and RAF tactics. The USAAC wanted the bombers used in large formations while the RAF were making single plane raids.

The RAF then moved its B-17s to operations in Egypt and Northern Ireland (in a ASW role). Coastal Command found great use for the B-17s, and throughout the early war used the B-17 as an effective anti-submarine platform. Squadrons 220, 206, and 59 of Number 15 Group were responsible for sinking thirteen U-Boats, though in 1943 Sunderlands and B-24s began to take on the anti-sub roles.

The RAF also used the B-17 as a recon and air sea rescue platform, weather platform, and later as radar countermeasure/anti-V2 jammer aircraft. The jamming aircraft were used by the Number 100 Special Duties Group, formed in 1943. The No. 100 Group consisted of six squadrons of various aircraft. Besides the B-17 they flew Mosquitos, Beaufighters, Defiants, and Wellingtons.

After the war several B-17s continued on as transport, target drones, and air sea rescue (by the Coast Guard). The last B-17 in military service (that wasn't a target drone) was a Coast Guard rescue plane that flew its last mission on October 14th, 1959."
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Unread 06-24-2009, 09:43 AM
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Thanks...very informative...I may be building one soon, and the lesser known variants are always interesting to try and research to adapt an existing kit to. The BQ-7 sounds intriguing!
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Unread 06-24-2009, 03:16 PM
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The D models and earlier were very different from later versions, especially and visually in the tail and nose.
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