[303rd-Talk] Fw: The origin of the B-17

[Bill Twomey]

Great  info  -  especially  for  those  of  us  in  the  generation that's  trying  to  piece  the   puzzle  together...
 
Bill Twomey



> From: fory at galesburg.net> To: 303rd-talk at 303rdBG.com> Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:45:52 -0600> Subject: [303rd-Talk] Fw: The origin of the B-17> > > > > (More about the B-17 can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/2vm6p5)> > >> > > Interesting piece of aviation history.> > >> > > On October 30, 1935, at Wright Air Field in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S.> > > Army Air Corps held a flight competition for airplane manufacturers> > > vying to build it s next-generation long-range bomber. It wasn't> > > supposed to be much of a competition. In early evaluations, the> > > Boeing Corporation's gleaming aluminum-alloy Model 299 had trounced> > > the designs of Martin and Douglas. Boeing's plane could carry five> > > times as many bombs as the Army had requested; it could fly faster> > > than previous bombers, and almost twice as far. A Seattle newspaperman> > > who had glimpsed the plane called it the "flying fortress," and the> > > name stuck. The flight "competition," according to the military> > > historian Phillip Meilinger, was regarded as a mere formality. The> > > Army planned to order at least sixty-five of the aircraft.> > >> > > A small crowd of Army brass and manufacturing executives watched as> > > the Model 299 test plane taxied onto the runway. It was sleek and> > > impressive, with a hundred-and-three-foot wingspan and four engines> > > jutting out from the wings, rather than the usual two. The plane> > > roared down the tarmac, lifted off smoo thly, and climbed sharply to> > > three hundred feet. Then it stalled, turned on one wing, and crashed> > > in a fiery explosion. Two of the five crew members died, including> > > the pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill. (re. Hill AFB, Ogden, UT)> > >> > > An investigation revealed that nothing mechanical had gone wrong. The> > > crash had been due to "pilot error," the report said. Substantially> > > more complex than previous aircraft, the new plane required the pilot> > > to attend to the four engines, a retractable landing gear, new wing> > > flaps, electric trim tabs that needed adjustment to maintain control> > > at different airspeeds, and constant-speed propellers whose pitch had> > > to be regulated with hydraulic controls, among other features. While> > > doing all this, Hill had forgotten to release a new locking mechanism> > > on the elevator and rudder controls. The Boeing model was deemed, as a> > > newspaper put it, "too much airplane for one man to fly." The Army Air> > > Corps declared Douglas's smaller design the winner. Boeing nearly went> > > bankrupt. Still, the Army purchased a few aircraft from Boeing as test> > > planes, and some insiders remained convinced that the aircraft was> > > flyable. So a group of test pilots got together and considered what to> do.> > >> > > They could have required Model 299 pilots to undergo more training.> > > But it was hard to imagine having more experience and expertise than> > > Major Hill, who had been the U.S. Army Air Corps' chief of flight> > > testing. Instead, they came up with an ingeniously simple approach:> > > they created a pilot's checklist, with step-by-step checks for> > > takeoff, flight, landing, and taxiing. Its mere existence indicated> > > how far aeronautics had advanced. In the early years of flight,> > > getting an aircraft into the air might have been nerve-racking, but it> > > was hardly complex. Using a checklist for takeoff would no more have> > > occurred to a pilot than to a driver backing a car out of the garage.> > >> > > But this new plane was too complicated to be left to the memory of> > > any pilot, however expert.> > >> > > With the checklist in hand, the pilots went on to fly the Model 299 a> > > total of 1.8 million miles without one accident. The Army ultimately> > > ordered almost thirteen thousand of the aircraft, which it dubbed the> > > B-17. And, because flying the behemoth was now possible, the Army> > > gained a decisive air advantage in the Second World War which enabled> > > its devastating bombing campaign across Nazi Germany.> > > ===================> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >> >> > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message.> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.> > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.9/1293 - Release Date: 2/22/08> 9:21 AM> >> >> > _______________________________________________> 303rd-Talk mailing list> 303rd-Talk at 303rdBG.com> http://lists.303rdbg.com/mailman/listinfo/303rd-talk