B-17 Flying Fortress
In August of 1934 the USAF was in need of a new bomber to put into its arsenal.
They contacted the Boeing Aircraft Company to fill this need. The specifications
provided by the USAF included an aircraft that could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs
a distance of 2,000 miles at speeds of 240 mph. On July 28, 1935 the B-17 Flying
Fortress took its first flight. The aircraft, with its nine-man crew, had a
maximum speed of 317 mph (510 km) and had a range of 3,000 miles (4,800 km).
It was 73 ft 10 in (9.83 m) long with a wingspan of 103 ft (31.62 m). The aircraft
was armed with 10 machine-guns and could carry 17,600 lb (7.985 kg) of bombs.
The B-17 was the most advanced bomber in the world when it entered service in
June of 1939.On August 17, 1942 it began making its first bombing raids over
the European countryside. The B-17 took care of the daytime raids over Nazi
Germany whereas the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax concentrated on
night raids. During the course of the war the B-17 was constantly being improved.
For greater stability at greater altitudes they completely altered the entire
rear section. The armaments of the bomber were also increased to two mechanically
operated gun turrets. The B-17G version had an increased range of 3,400 miles
(5,200 km) and carried a crew of ten. During the course of the war a total of
12,731 B-17's were produced. Of that number the RAF received 200 of them to
serve in the Bomber Command over Germany.
The B-29 Superfortress
In 1933 the Boeing Aircraft Company began to work on a new strategic bomber
for the USAF. The specifications provided by the USAF included an aircraft that
could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs a distance of 5,000 miles. The B-29 Superfortress
flew for the first time on September 21, 1942. The aircraft, with its ten-man
crew, had a maximum speed of 358 mph (576 km) and had a range of 4,100 miles
(4,800 km). It was 99 ft (30.18 m) long with a wingspan of 141 ft 3 in (43.05
m). The aircraft was armed with one 20 mm cannon, 10 machine-guns and could
carry 20,000 lb (9,0909 kg) of bombs. A total of nearly 4,000 were built but
only half of them were operational before the end of the war. In 1945 the B-29
was making heavy bombing raids over Japan. Since many of the houses in Japan
were made of wood it was easy for the bombers to create Firestorms. On March
9th and 10th 1945 a raid on Tokyo devastated the city. This attack was followed
by many more attacks on other cities. By the summer of 1945 the USAAF was ready
to mount its final strategic bombing campaign. On 6th August 1945, a B29 bomber
piloted by colonel Paul W. Tibbets flying at 330 mph (528 km) at an altitude
of more than 30,000 ft (9,630) dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima. Japan continued
to fight and a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. On 10th
August the Japanese surrendered and the Second World War was over.
The B-25A Mitchell
In 1938 the North American Aviation Company began working on a new bomber for
the USAF named the B-25A Mitchell. It got its name from one of the leading USA
Air Service men of WWI, William Mitchell. The first of these aircraft were delivered
to the United States Air Force in 1941. It had a maximum speed of 315 mph (507
km) and had a range of 1,350 miles (2,170 km). It was 54 ft 1 in (16.48 m) long
with a wingspan of 67 ft 7 in (20.60 m). The aircraft was armed with 5 machine-guns
and could carry 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) of bombs. Like all the other aircraft the
B-25 was constantly being modified and in 1944 the final version was released,
the B-25J. During the Second World War the B-25 was probably the best midsize
bomber that we had in service. The aircraft was also employed in the Red Army
Air Force (RAAF) as well as the RAF. During the course of the war the B-25 completed
over 63,177 missions and dropped over 84,980 tons of bombs over Nazi Germany.
The B-25 was also used in the Pacific extensively, especially for the Doolitle
Raid.
