To the few to whom so many owe so much!

[BobWaitz]

[oilnsteel]

I had a friend (God rest your soul, George) who was an aircraft mechanic in the mighty Eighth Air Force, 401st bomb group. He told me they would take trucks down to the docks
and only select the engines whose crates said Studebaker. "They were the best"

JT

[6hk71400]

I am asking all the military aircraft experts on B-17's but I don't ever remember seeing a gun turret ball placed in the front of the aircraft. Is this an early version of the Flying Fortress?

Bob Miles
The Greatest Generation

[studegary]

I worked for a guy whose B-17 was shot down and he was a POW until the end of the war.

[Corbinstein0]

early version, no tail gun either.

[skyway]

I’m thinking “artistic license.”
As I recall the chin turret (yes, looking a bit different than the one shown) first appeared on the G or H models. It was added after they determined that German fighters favored less heavily defended frontal attacks.

[Topper2011]

Has anyone been here?

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195966/boeing-b-17f-memphis-belle/

[plee4139]

When I visited the museum I also went to a big warehouse and the guide pointed to a big steel door and said tha this was where they tested the B-17 engines and that when it failed, well, I don't remember the words he used to describe the sound it made, but let's just use the good old "KA-BOOM!" and let that suffice.