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Post by cowboy40 on Feb 2, 2019 20:46:26 GMT -7
During World War II, The US Army's Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces suffered some of the highest casulty rates of the war. The primary offensive weapons of the air forces were heavy bombers.  Consolidated B-24J Liberator  Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Which one would you have wanted to be in? Knowing that you had a slim chance of finishing our 54 missions which was the quota in the last year of the war? |
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Post by kaisernathan1701 on Feb 2, 2019 20:57:48 GMT -7
B-17 seems slick and maneuverable
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Post by cowboy40 on Feb 2, 2019 21:01:05 GMT -7
B-17 seems slick and maneuverable Actually, the B-24 was a newer design capable of carrying a larger bomb load for a longer range at higher cruising speeds. Both machines were very capable of dong the job well. |
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Post by starcruiser on Feb 3, 2019 9:21:20 GMT -7
Yea but - the B-17 was a bird that could take incredible punishment and still you home more often than not...
Of course, by the later part of the war - things were getting weird. While the Luftwaffe was stretched thin, it did have some wild aircraft to intercept bombers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 6:53:10 GMT -7
More men died in the 8th Air Force in WWII than the entire US Marine Corps.
B-24's could take a lot of punishment. I know a guy who was a waist gunner in Liberators and he has told me some cool stuff (and kinda horrific stuff). The B-17 was a tougher bird though.
I gotta go with the B-24.
1. I used to hunt at an airfield that was used to service new Liberators on their way to Europe.
2. I used to work at the airport where Ford built them outside of Detroit.
3. I work for the company that bought Consolidated, and have been to the Fort Worth factory where Consolidated built them.
Really though, I am more of a Martin Marauder kind of guy.
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Post by cowboy40 on Feb 8, 2019 9:52:00 GMT -7
More men died in the 8th Air Force in WWII than the entire US Marine Corps. B-24's could take a lot of punishment. I know a guy who was a waist gunner in Liberators and he has told me some cool stuff (and kinda horrific stuff). The B-17 was a tougher bird though. I gotta go with the B-24. 1. I used to hunt at an airfield that was used to service new Liberators on their way to Europe. 2. I used to work at the airport where Ford built them outside of Detroit. 3. I work for the company that bought Consolidated, and have been to the Fort Worth factory where Consolidated built them. Really though, I am more of a Martin Marauder kind of guy. For a medium it would have to been the Mitchell for me....love that twin tail bird!!!!...hey the Ninth would have been a great Air Force to serve with....They operated both the B-25 and B-26 as tactical bombers. The Twelveth also operated them!!!! btw: someone asked me why i am spelling out the names of the air forces used under the control of the Army Air Force (not United States Army Air Force or USAAF): it is because they were equivalent to a field army from Army Ground Force. On reports and on maps of the time...these commands used spelling instead Arabic numerals like you would find say used for the 1st Pursuit Group, or 45th Infantry Division. Now Army Corps designated with Roman numerals, such as III Corps Technicly you are using a wrong term when you call the units of Army Air Force, USAAF. The term was never used by the them. Army Air Force (AAF) was the term to be used when talking about air force operations. It was one of three component commands of the US Army of World War II. The other two were Army Ground Force (AGF) and Army Service Force (ASF), that was formerly known as Service of Supply before the 1940 division into the component commands. Air units were assigned to the Army Air Force, while the personal belonged to the Army Air Corps. Prier to the component system the Units were also called Army Air Corps. I guess as a historian, it bothers me for some reason, when I hear it called USAAF instead of what it was really named Army Air Force, a component command in the US Army HQ. of the United States Army. |
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