Boeing B-17 Research Paper

The Boeing B-17 is often regarded as the most important heavy bomber of the American Air Force and the Allies in World War II. Carrying out almost 300,000 attacks and dropping over 640,000 tons of bombs, it was concluded without doubt that the B-17 was a keystone part in the Allied victory over the Axis powers. By the war’s end, the B-17 had become a staple war machine weapon that controlled both the Pacific and European Theaters of War.

The legendary status that the B-17 holds started with a little competition. On August 8th, 1934, the U.S. Army Air Corps decided that they needed a multi-engined bomber to replace the previous, aging heavy bomber. The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama,

There were three competitors: the Boeing Model 299 (Prototype B-17, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin Model 146. The Model 299 featured four, 750 horsepower engines and the prototype possessed five 0.30 inch machine guns. When the prototype plane had its first flight on July 28th, 1935, a reporter called it the ¨flying fortress” because of the several machine guns and heavy armor. Boeing saw the value of the name and claimed it through copyright. In the early press conferences, Boeing claimed that the Model 299 was the first plane to be able to continue its flight even if one of its engines failed. This was later confirmed. It became even more incredible when it was announced that the prototype Model 299 traveled the Seattle to Ohio route in nine hours and three minutes at an average speed of 252 miles per hour, the fastest of all the planes. At the fly-off, the four-engine Boeing's performance was superior to those of the twin-engine DB-1 and Model 146. The Air Force believed that the long-range capabilities of four-engine large aircraft were more effective than shorter-ranged, twin-engined aircraft, and that the Model 299 was better suited to their needs. Even

In Europe, B-17s were mainly involved with British and American air forces assaulting the Germans through a series of strategic aerial attacks. The most notable attack was on August 17th, 1943 where B-17s attacked numerous bullet factories in central Germany. This was a very important target as 52% of all of Germany’s ammunition was produced there. Other targets included bombings against German targets ranging from U-boats, docks, warehouses and airfields to industrial targets such as aircraft factories. In the Pacific, B-17s mainly stayed on air bases on islands. They held roles from defending aircraft carriers to transporting soldiers to battles and were actually armed very well to destroy vulnerable and lightly armed fighter planes. They also, but rarely led attacks on islands such as Japanese Formosa (current day Taiwan). The Japanese regarded the B-17 as a tough and well-armed opponent and one that was particularly difficult to shoot down. It could absorb an incredible amount of battle damage and still would remain flying. It became an unpleasant surprise for Japanese pilots, who had become accustomed to attacking the B-17 from the rear, when they discovered that a tail gunner of the B-17E was added for even stronger