Sunday, July 10, 2005
Steve's Video Of The Day: Boeing B-17; "Aluminum Overcast"!
On May 22, 2005, I posted Steve's Video Of The Day: How To Fly The "B-17"!! Now, watch how the "B-17 flies"!! What a gorgeous airplane, named "Aluminum Overcast"! I can just imagine the audial and visual spectacle during the war years, when the B-17 Squadrons were departing England to punish the "Nazis"! Anyways, the B-17 holds a special place in my heart, and I love those Wright 1820 CI radials! Check out the .50 cal. Brownings, and the Norden Bombsight! What a grand old girl!!
VIDEO -Boeing B-17; "Aluminum Overcast"!
The Boeing B-17G "Flying Fortress"
DESIGNED BY:
Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington
BUILT UNDER LICENSE BY:
Vega Aircraft Company (now Lockheed)
MODEL:
B-17G Flying Fortress
ARMY AIR CORPS SERIAL NUMBER:
#44-85740
DELIVERY DATE:
May 18, 1945
REQUIRED CREW:
Ten -Pilot, Co-pilot, Navigator, Bombardier, Flight Engineer (top turret gunner), Radio Operator, 2 Waist Gunners, Tail Gunner and Ball Turret Gunner
POWER:
The B-17G is powered by four 1,200-horsepower Wright Cyclone Model R-1820-97 engines. These engines are nine cylinder, radial, air-cooled type with a 16:9 gear ratio. The propellers are three-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers, 11 feet, 7 inches in diameter.
WEIGHTS:
Basic Empty Weight 34,000 lbs.
Gross Weight (Wartime) 65,500 lbs.
FUEL CAPACITY:
1,700 gallons
RANGE:
1,850 miles. Range could be extended when equipped with "Tokyo Tanks" which provided a total capacity of 3,630 gallons.
WING SPAN:
103 feet, 9 inches
LENGTH:
74 feet, 4 inches
HEIGHT:
19 feet, 1 inch
SERVICE CEILING:
35,600 feet
ARMAMENT:
Thirteen Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine guns. Fire rate approximately 13 rounds per second. No gun on a B-17 carried more than one minute's supply of ammunition.
BOMB LOAD:
Depending on types of bombs, maximum normal load could go to 8,000 lbs. If B-17 was fitted with special external racks, maximum normal short-range bomb load could go as high as 17,600 lbs.
NUMBER BUILT:
12,732. Production peaked at 16 airplanes a day in April 1944. Today there are about a dozen B-17's still flying.
SPEEDS:
Maximum 300 mph. at 30,000 ft.
Maximum continuous 263 mph. at 25,000 ft.
Cruising speed 170 mph.
Landing 74 mph.
Rate of Climb 37 minutes to 20,000 ft.
COLORS:
398th Bomb Group
ALUMINUM OVERCAST is owned and operated by EAA and is based at EAA's AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
VIDEO -Boeing B-17; "Aluminum Overcast"!
The Boeing B-17G "Flying Fortress"
DESIGNED BY:
Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington
BUILT UNDER LICENSE BY:
Vega Aircraft Company (now Lockheed)
MODEL:
B-17G Flying Fortress
ARMY AIR CORPS SERIAL NUMBER:
#44-85740
DELIVERY DATE:
May 18, 1945
REQUIRED CREW:
Ten -Pilot, Co-pilot, Navigator, Bombardier, Flight Engineer (top turret gunner), Radio Operator, 2 Waist Gunners, Tail Gunner and Ball Turret Gunner
POWER:
The B-17G is powered by four 1,200-horsepower Wright Cyclone Model R-1820-97 engines. These engines are nine cylinder, radial, air-cooled type with a 16:9 gear ratio. The propellers are three-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers, 11 feet, 7 inches in diameter.
WEIGHTS:
Basic Empty Weight 34,000 lbs.
Gross Weight (Wartime) 65,500 lbs.
FUEL CAPACITY:
1,700 gallons
RANGE:
1,850 miles. Range could be extended when equipped with "Tokyo Tanks" which provided a total capacity of 3,630 gallons.
WING SPAN:
103 feet, 9 inches
LENGTH:
74 feet, 4 inches
HEIGHT:
19 feet, 1 inch
SERVICE CEILING:
35,600 feet
ARMAMENT:
Thirteen Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine guns. Fire rate approximately 13 rounds per second. No gun on a B-17 carried more than one minute's supply of ammunition.
BOMB LOAD:
Depending on types of bombs, maximum normal load could go to 8,000 lbs. If B-17 was fitted with special external racks, maximum normal short-range bomb load could go as high as 17,600 lbs.
NUMBER BUILT:
12,732. Production peaked at 16 airplanes a day in April 1944. Today there are about a dozen B-17's still flying.
SPEEDS:
Maximum 300 mph. at 30,000 ft.
Maximum continuous 263 mph. at 25,000 ft.
Cruising speed 170 mph.
Landing 74 mph.
Rate of Climb 37 minutes to 20,000 ft.
COLORS:
398th Bomb Group
ALUMINUM OVERCAST is owned and operated by EAA and is based at EAA's AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
