11/12/2022 0 Comments B24 bomber crew![]() The proposal-known as Project A-specified only that the airplane would be a “multi-engine” bomber. The ultimate goal was finally achieved with the advent of the long-range B-36, though that airplane did not enter service until several years after the war. Project A: The “Multi-Engine” BomberĪs a compromise, the Army elected to put forth a proposal for a less ambitious project and set forth the design requirements that eventually led to both the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator, as well as the more powerful Boeing B-29 Superfortress. However, both types were underpowered and the Army realized that the power plants then available were not adequate to power the type of airplane they really wanted. Senior Air Corps strategists wanted a long-range bomber with a 5,000-mile range, a concept that led to the design and development of the B-15 and then to the even more ambitious B-19. The original intent of the Army Air Corps was to develop a land-based, long-range heavy bomber that would have relegated the B-17 to the category of a medium bomber. Billy Mitchell and was a widely held view among the officers of the Army Air Corps, though future events would later prove it to have been unfounded. This was the argument put forth by those who supported Brig. The combat records of both aircraft do exist, and they indicate that the views put forth by B-17 advocates may indeed fall well within the category of wishful thinking.īoth the B-17 and the B-24 came out of an early 1930s philosophy that long-range bombers could be used to defend the continental United States against a foreign enemy by finding and sinking an invasion fleet while it was still several hundred miles from American shores. He flew a couple of missions in B-17s and another in a B-26, but never flew a mission in a B-24, though he did spend some time with the 44th Bomb Group. Rooney has never really said why he believes this. #B24 BOMBER CREW TV#Children and grandchildren of B-17 veterans point to comments made by former Stars & Stripes reporter and modern TV personality Andy Rooney, to the effect that if he had to go into combat, he would have preferred to be in a B-17. Similarly, vets experienced with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator say the same thing about their airplane. Former B-17 crew members who survived a combat tour stress that because the Old Fort brought them home, it has to be the best. They point to photographs of B-17s that returned to base with large holes put there by flak or fighters. Many B-17 aficionados rely on emotion to attempt to strengthen their position. Few writers have ever used statistics or aircraft performance to prove their point, but have relied primarily on what they have learned from advocates who are on one side or the other of the argument. Since the war, the argument that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was the better bomber of the two has often been perpetuated by aviation authors and historians whose personal knowledge of airplanes and aviation in general consists only of what they have read or been told. The Origin of (and Controversy Behind) the B-17 and B-24 It was among the Eighth Air Force B-17 and B-24 crews that the arguments were strongest, and it is among those veterans that they have continued, as a general public consensus has developed that the B-17 was the best bomber ever built. This is particularly true of veterans who flew in England where B-17s predominated within the Eighth Air Force, and where large numbers of war correspondents reported on the air war over Germany as it was being fought by the crews of the Flying Fortresses in the summer of 1943. One of the most frequently discussed arguments to come out of World War II is which was the “better” bomber, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator? The argument began in bars and service clubs, where crew members from the two types met while off duty during the war, and has continued ever since. ![]()
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