Subject: Bomber Series--Boeing B-17 Fortress (8 of 27)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 8 Aug 94 16:44:25 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The B-17E was the first version of the Fortress to be produced in large 
numbers.  It was originally designed to correct some of the 
deficiencies in the earlier Fortresses that had been brought to light 
as a result of combat reports coming in from Europe.  The 
modifications which resulted in the B-17E were destined to turn an 
airplane which had been a relative failure into an outstanding 
success.  

It is often written that the B-17E was the result of initial combat 
experience with the B-17C and D during the first months of combat in 
1942 in the Pacific against the Japanese.  Other sources report that 
the B-17E had its origin in the negative experience that the RAF had 
with the Fortress I (B-17C) over Europe in the summer of 1941.  
Neither view is correct, since the B-17E was first ordered on August 
30, 1940, and the first prototype took to the air on its maiden flight 
on September 5, 1941.  

The crews of early Fortresses (primarily B-17C and D) were well aware 
of the existence of a rather severe blind spot immediately to the 
rear, making it almost impossible to direct defensive firepower 
against an enemy fighter approaching from that direction.  Early USAAC 
Fortress pilots had been forced to devise some rather ingenious 
maneuvering techniques to get around this problem--when attacked from 
the rear they would jink the aircraft back and forth, making it 
possible for the left and then the right waist gunners alternatively 
to get in fleeting shots at the attacker.  However, in the tight 
formations that became de rigeur during missions over Germany during 
1943-44, such maneuvering would have been downright dangerous.  

In search of a better solution, the B-17E introduced a completely new 
rear fuselage with a manually-operated turret housing two 0.50-inch 
machine guns fitted in the extreme tail.  In order to accommodate the 
tail gun, the fuselage of the B-17E was a full six feet longer than 
that of the D.  

A Bendix electrically-powered turret containing two 0.50-inch machine 
guns was installed on the upper fuselage immediately behind the flight 
deck.  This turret was usually operated by the flight engineer.  The 
oval waist positions were replaced by rectangular apertures with 
removable windows.  A single 0.50-inch machine gun could be mounted 
behind each of these windows.  

A power-operated belly turret replaced the ventral "bathtub" housing 
of the B-17D.  This turret was remotely-controlled by a system of 
mirror periscopic sights from a Plexiglas bubble below the waist 
hatches.  

In order to achieve better stability during the bomb run, the span of 
the horizontal tailplane was increased, the vertical tail was greatly 
increased in area, and a long dorsal fin was fitted in front of the 
tail.  

The first B-17E flew on September 5, 1941.  It immediately superseded 
the B-17D on the production line, and as fast as they could leave the 
production line, they were issued to operational units.  

The demands of American rearmament were such that far many more B-17s 
were required than which Boeing alone could supply, and the Army Air 
Forces encouraged the organization of a manufacturing pool in which 
Boeing, the Vega division of Lockheed, and Douglas would all 
participate in the building of the B-17E.  The pool became rather 
irreverently known as "B.V.D", after a popular line of underwear which 
had become a household name in America.  Production of the B-17E at 
the main Boeing plant at Seattle was to be augmented by another Boeing 
plant at Wichita, Kansas.  The Douglas plant at Santa Monica, 
California was to be joined in B-17E production by a new Douglas plant 
at Long Beach, California which had been built specifically for 
Fortress production.  However, before the plan could reach fruition, 
the B-17F was ready for production, and the F was the first version to 
built jointly by all three companies.  No B-17Es were actually built 
by either Lockheed or Douglas 

The B-17E was first delivered to combat units of the 7th Bombardment 
Group in November of 1941.  By November 30, 1941, 42 B-17Es had been 
delivered.  Some B-17Es were actually at Pearl Harbor during the 
attack.  

The increased weight and drag of the protruding turrets made the B-17E 
somewhat slower than the previous B-17D, although its ability to 
defend itself was greatly improved.  

The periscope sight for the remotely-controlled dorsal turret proved 
difficult to use in practice, and starting with the 113th B-17E, the 
remotely-controlled turret was replaced by a Sperry ball turret, 
inside of which a gunner sat all curled up in the foetal position, 
swiveling the entire turret as he aimed the two guns.  With his left 
eye peering through a sight, he controlled the movement of the guns by 
hand and foot pedals.  There was precious little space inside the 
turret--ball turret gunners had to be very small men.  

The gunner entered the ball turret via a door at its rear, which also 
served as an emergency exit in case of trouble.  The gunner could 
enter the turret from inside the plane by having the turret rotated 
until the door opening faced the interior of the plane.  However, 
since this required that the ball turret be positioned so that the 
guns were pointed downward, this meant that the turret could not be 
entered from inside the plane while it was on the ground.  It was 
possible for the gunner to enter the turret from outside the plane 
while it was on the ground by having it rotated so that its door faced 
outside the plane.  However, once he did this, he would have to stay 
inside the turret during the takeoff.  Since the turret was only 15 
inches off the ground, it would take a bold soul to ride inside the 
belly turret during take off or landing, and most ball turret gunners 
chose to enter the turret while the plane was in the air.  

The B-17E normally carried a crew of ten--pilot, copilot, bombardier, 
navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, tail gunner, belly gunner, 
and two waist gunners.  The nose gun was operated by either the 
navigator or the bombardier when they were not occupied by their 
primary duties, and the dorsal turret was normally operated by the 
flight engineer.  

The temperature in the tail section when the side ports were open was 
quite frigid at high altitudes, especially in the wintertime.  Plug-in 
points for electrically- heated flight suits were a must.  Perhaps the 
coldest spot of all was the tail gunner's position, since a hurricane 
of drafts always seemed to converge on this spot.  

The B-17E could be entered from three separate doors--a nose hatch 
located on the lower left, the main door located just in front of the 
right horizontal stabilizer, and the tail gunner's escape hatch 
situated just underneath the right elevator.  Many movies depict the 
crew entering the Fortress via the nose hatch by swinging themselves 
upward into the plane.  However, this mode of entrance was generally 
only for show, and was most often used only in Hollywood movies such 
as *Twelve O'clock High*.  Since aircrew were almost always heavily 
encumbered with flight suits and parachutes, they generally opted for 
a less dramatic but less athletically-demanding entrance via the main 
door in the rear.  

The last B-17E rolled off the production line at Boeing on May 28, 
1942.  A total of 512 were built before it was immediately superseded 
on the production line by the B-17F.  

Only one B-17E survives today.  It is 41-2595, which had been converted
in 1944 to a transport under the designation XC-108A.  After the
war, this plane was consigned to a junkyard where it sat forlornly
in pieces for many years.  In 1985,  the bits and pieces of 41-2595
were recovered by an aviation antique enthusiast and moved to
Galt Airport in Illinois, where they await reassembly and restoration.

Serials of B-17E:

41-2393/2669		Boeing B-17E Fortress
41-9011/9245		Boeing B-17E Fortress

Specification of B-17E: 

Four Wright R-1820-65 Cyclone radials rated at 1200 hp for takeoff and 
1000 hp at 25,000 feet.  Maximum speed 318 mph at 25,000 feet.  
cruising speed 195-223 mph.  Landing speed 70 mph Service ceiling 
36,600 feet.  Normal range 2000 miles with 4000 pounds of bombs.  
Maximum range 3300 miles.  Initial climb rate 1430 feet per minute.  
An altitude of 5000 feet could be attained in 7 minutes.  Dimensions: 
wingspan 103 feet 9 3/8 inches, length 73 feet 10 inches, height 19 
feet 2 inches, wing area 1420 square feet.  Weights: 32,350 pounds 
empty, 40,260 pounds gross, 53,000 pounds maximum.  Normal fuel load 
was 2490 US gallons, but extra fuel tanks could be installed which 
raised total fuel capacity to 3612 US gallons.  Maximum bomb load was 
26 100-pound bombs, or 16 300-pound bombs, or 12 500-pound bombs, or 8 
1000-pound bombs, or 4 2000-pound bombs.  Specified defensive One 
0.30-inch machine gun which could be mounted on any one of six 
ball-and-socket mounts in the extreme nose.  One Sperry No. 645473E 
power turret in the dorsal position with two 0.50 Browning M2 machine 
guns with 500 rounds per gun.  One Sperry No. 654849-J power turret 
in ventral position with two 0.50-inch Browning machine guns with 500 
rounds per gun.  One 0.50-inch Browning M2 machine gun is each of the 
two waist windows, 400 rounds per gun.  Two 0.50-inch M2 Browinging 
machine guns in the tail position, with 500 rounds per gun. 

Sources;
 
  Flying Fortress, Edward Jablonski, Doubleday, 1965.

  Famous Bombers of the Second World War, Volume One, William
  Green, Doubleday, 1959.

  Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute
  Press, 1989.

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
  and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

  Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval
  Institute Press, 1987.

  Boeing B-17E and F Flying Fortress, Charles D. Thompson,
  Profile Publications, 1966.

  American Combat Planes, Ray Wagner, Third Edition, Doubleday, 1982.

  Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Military Press, 1989.

  Final Cut--The Postwar B-17 Flying Fortress: The Survivors,
  Scott A. Thompson, Pictorial Histories Publishing Corp, 1993.

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