The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most visually striking examples of the power of the U.S. Air Force during World War II, and it still had a lot of life left in it. It was a tough, heavily-armed and, in most cases, a young crewed aircraft in which the bravery of the crew has become a part of the myth, and thereby it was a reputation that was passed on from one generation to another. The narrative that it relates to the glorious nickname and the deeds of war is, however, a very complicated one – a narrative that speaks of the design compromises, money-consuming combination of strategies, large-scale losses, and the incredible survival of those who were flying it.
The airplane was a bit of a throwback even on its maiden flight of the prototype in 1935. The United States Army Air Corps had planned the B-17 to be a real heavy bomber with a very long range, but it was not all that. Some insiders even went so far as to say that the newer Consolidated B-24 Liberator was better than the B-17, as it could have carried more bombs on its more efficient wing. Nevertheless, the pilots of B-17 liked it because of its stable control and the possibility of reaching higher altitudes in which most of the aircraft of that time couldn’t – these were the characteristics that made it have some devoted fans, especially among those who had just moved from biplanes.
The aircraft owes it as much to the timing as to the engineering for its rise to prominence. When the war clouds started to form over the continent of Europe, the American President Roosevelt strongly advocated for a huge increase in the American air force. This entailed bombers being built at a rate which had never been witnessed in the past, and when the United States officially entered the war, the mighty bomber was already out of the assembly line, thus ready to command the strategic bombing campaign of the country.
This plan was based on an idea of the Air Corps Tactical School, which was very daring: bombing during the day and with high accuracy. The assumption was that precise destruction of enemy factories and crippling of their war capability could be achieved by large numbers of well-armed bombers flying in very close formations during the day. While it was a magnificent idea on paper, its implementation turned out to be very expensive and deadly.
The first combat action of the B-17 was when it was with the Royal Air Force in 1941. A few B-17Cs were tested by the RAF on long-range raids from Britain, which, however, almost immediately went off track. The flights were plagued by mechanical failures, bombs were even stuck, and the accuracy was low. The experiment was soon abandoned by the RAF, which continued using other aircraft based on its night-bombing strategy, which were better suited.
Similar experiences were made by the American crews who got the same hard lessons very soon. At first, the missions over France were going well enough, but the situation became more perilous as the bombers penetrated deeper into Germany. Even though the defensive guns were many and of high caliber, the formations were exposed once the escort fighters turned ba,ck for they had run out of fuel. The Luftwaffe squadrons attacked with lethal wrath, and the myth of the ‘self-defending bomber’ was very soon unraveled.
The pivotal moment was in 1943. A combined attack on Regensburg and Schweinfurt in August resulted in 60 bombers of 376 being lost and many more damaged. Another strike on Schweinfurt, which is afterward called “Black Thursday”, saw 60 B-17s out of 229 lost in one single day, with more than 600 men being either killed or missing. The losses were to a degree of unsustainability, thus forcing the commanders to stop operations for a while and reconsider their plan.
Engineers tried all sorts of crazy methods, such as changing B-17s into ‘escort bombers’ like the YB-40 that were fully loaded with additional guns. However, the model was big and inefficient. The coming of the P-51 Mustang is what really brought the breakthrough instead. Due to its long range, the Mustang could escort bombers all the way to the targets and back, thus giving the Allies the upper hand, finally allowing them to continue with their daylight bombing without suffering heavy losses.
Nevertheless, being in dangerous situations was not the only thing that caused the death of the crews. The Air Forces of the Army grew so rapidly that quite a number of the young men had only just completed their training when they were sent abroad. Thousands of fatal accidents happened because of mechanical breakdowns, bad weather, and pilot error. For some, the war was over before they had even seen the enemy.
In the course of the B-17’s endurance, it acquired a toughness reputation from which it could not dissociate. TSStoriesere cicirculating ofhe Wanderers that had been severely damaged but still managed to make it back across the English Channel with large holes in their fuselages, some of them with only one engine operating when they had landed. While both B-24 and B-17 could be hit and brought down by a lucky strike, the image of the battered Fortress still hanging on to life became part of its legend.
In fact, B-17 had gone beyond the function of a mere aircraft by the end of the war. Symbols of sacrifice, the B-17 had the durability and the conviction that stubbornness could get over even the harshest setbacks. Its tale, however, is also not only about bravery. It is, moreover, a reminder of the clash between the overly ambitious airpower doctrines and the harshness of modern war. The lessons that came out of its missions – regarding technology, tactics, and human endurance – have been influencing aviation long after the last Flying Fortress had gone out of the skies.