They were designated Do 200 and were used in reconnaissance operations. Ww2dbaseSome B-17 bombers crash-landed or were forced down on German soil, and about 40 of them were put into service by the German Luftwaffe. On, as part of the aerial operation against the German city of Dresden, 311 B-17 bombers dropped 771 tons of bombs, contributing to the killing of 25,000 people committed by both American and British bombers. Many accused the Western Allies of conducting terror bombing during WW2, and many of the alleged terror bombing missions were conducted with B-17 bombers. Initially an alarming number of B-17 bombers were lost, but as the war went on, the depleting capabilities of German air defense made the bombing campaigns more effective. Beginning in 1943, they began a carpet bombing campaign against German industrial targets. ![]() Ww2dbaseDuring WW2, 26 B-17 bomber groups served in Britain and 6 groups served in Italy. Finally, the four remaining crew member, all non-commissioned officers, manned the ball turret, left waist gun, right waist gun, and the tail gun although these bombers were durable, to call them "fortresses" was a exaggeration, thus the gunners served an important role in the defense of these actually vulnerable bombers. The radio operation, a non-commissioned officer, handled communications and served as the first aid giver when necessary. The flight engineer, a non-commissioned officer, was trained in the basic mechanics of the entire aircraft, and manned the top turret when attacked. The navigator, another officer, kept the aircraft path during the flight and manned the cheek guns when attacked. The bombardier was also an officer, manning the chin turret during flight but taking control of the entire bomber during the actual bomb run, even flying the aircraft at that time, via the connection between his Norden bomb sight and the auto-pilot system. The commanding officer was the piot, and the executive officer was the co-pilot these two officers received equal training, and their difference in status was largely only due to the luck of the draw. Ww2dbaseA typical crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber consisted of 10 men. Many stories were told where major sections of the bombers, such as the tail fin, nearly destroyed but the crews still made their ways home safely. These bombers, after many rounds of improvements, were now known for their durability. Before the advent of long-range fighter escorts, B-17 bombers flew in box formations so that their machine guns could provide overlapping fields of fire to protect each other, though at a sacrifice of rigidity of flight paths, which led to increased dangers from ground-based anti-aircraft guns. Ww2dbaseThe American direct involvement in war increased production of B-17 bombers dramatically in fact, they are often considered the first mass-produced modern aircraft. With the newly devised Norden Bombsight, this mission was much more successful than the British experience earlier in the European War. The first 18 B-17E bombers arrived to equip the US 8th Air Force units in mid-1942, and flew their first mission against French rail yards on. Ww2dbaseThe United States entered the war in Dec 1941, and from the start she began building up air forces in Europe. While these early B-17 bombers were being relegated to reconnaissance and patrol roles, the experiences shared by the British crews helped Boeing tweak the design of later models mainly, the British crews expressed the need for these bombers to carry larger bomb loads and better aiming equipment. Their first operation was against the German Kriegsmarine's port facilities at Wilhelmshaven, Germany on, and their performance left much to be desired as bombs missed their targets and machine guns froze at the high altitude. In early 1940, 20 B-17 bombers were transferred to the RAF, which redesignated them as Fortress I bombers. Some of the early production bombers went to the British Royal Air Force which began the European War without heavy bombers. Between that time and the opening of the Pacific War in 1941, fewer than 200 B-17 bombers entered service with the USAAC. Through a legal loophole, the USAAC ordered 13 B-17 bombers for testing on. The evaluation, though tainted with a fatal accident, impressed some top brass regardless. It was designed as a response to the United States Army Air Corps' 1934 demand for a multi-engined bomber, but Boeing had over-done it: the four-engined bomber was so expensive that the US Army instead went with the two-engined Douglas B-18 Bolo design. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells' Boeing Model 299, flown by test pilot Les Tower. ![]() Ww2dbaseThe Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were first seen on as E.
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