5 Favourite Planes

the crew 60 years later.................

My point was, the Lanc MIGHT have had more character than the B-29, but I know which one I would have rather flow my missions in.

so you'd pick the lanc too then......................

No. I would pick the plane with greater speed, range, ceiling, firepower, payload, durability, and comfort . . . The B-29.

i almost had you though....................

Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades...

And maybe a depth charge...

And nuclear weapons. But come on Lanc, the B-29 was clearly the better bomber.

yes it was, but i'll only admit that if you're man enough to admit that the lancaster had more charactor....................

Than the B-29? Yeah, the Lanc did. But I also think the B-17 had more character than the Lanc.

But I also think the B-17 had more character than the Lanc

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no way!! the lanc had bags more charactor than the B-17..............

Well, I'm not sure how you are defining character, but I believe the B-17 had. It was the prettiest of all the four-engined bombers.

personally i think it was pig ugly and that the lanc was the best looking, second comes the halifax....................

the lancaster kicks ass said:

personally i think it was pig ugly and that the lanc was the best looking, second comes the halifax....................

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Concerning the bombers, personnally I prefer the B-17. Then comes the B-25 and the Lanc. (I know, the B-25 is a twin engined bomber, but I think it looks great.)

Heres a new twist for this topic.. Follow along if u please...

Which Bomber did the German Fighter Pilots Hate the Most??? (Dangerous)

Which Bombers crew served weapons were the most lethal to a Luftwaffe pilot???

Kill Zone Radii???
Calibre???
Amount of lead able to be thrown out???

I dont know enough about bombers to give solid opinion, but I would say the -17 cause of the Ball Turrent...

Put that in your pipe and smoke it...

to your first question either the B-17 or B-24. Most probably the B-17 since it could take more punishment and had a firm belly turret installed. the cine films I have show B-24's being torn apart from the rear while B-17's seemed to disintegrate slower. yeah I know that sounds gross but it's the truth, although I hae some ugly stuff of B-17's having wings/engines rip away from the fuselage.....

back on topic, I think through my many personal interviews of German day pilots defending the Reich that all would say that attacking a bomber box (pulk) from any anagle was a terrible and scarey adventure but it had to be done to bring as many of the Viermots down, and one less bomber meant less bombs on the homeland. passing through and diving through a heavy and tight B-17/B-24 formation was quite lethal especially if you were part of a very small formation of fighters with all .50's aimed at you or so it seemed to the German vets.....

Stats I just found...

The 8th AF incurred lots of losses during the Second World War. The first official mission flown by the 8th Air Force was four A-26 Havocs (borrowed from the British) to an airfield in Holland (in coordination with other British Raids) on July 4th 1942. Three of the four aircraft were shot down. Two by flak and one by a FW-190 over the channel. They went in low and unescorted to surprise the Germans. Sort of worked. One got shot down over the field, one shot down as coming into the field and as mentioned the third as it was trying to get back to England. It was a portent of things to come.

Outside the American Air Museum at Duxford they have glass plates etched with plane symbols with 1 plane equaling 10 aircraft lost. They are 10 feet high and 6 feet wide if I remember and the wall is around 150 feet long. It is set along the entranceway to the museum at Duxford.

These statistics came from the 398th BG newsletter:

Bomb Group/ Station/ Bomber Type/ Missions Flown/ Losses
34th Mendelsham B-17 170 34
44 Shipdham B-24 343 153
91 Bassingbourn B-17 340 197
92 Podington B-17 308 154
93 Hardwick B-24 396 100
94 Bury St. Edmonds B-17 324 153
95 Horham B-17 320 157
96 Snetterton Heath B-17 321 189
100 Thorpe Abbots B-17 306 177
303 Moleworth B-17 364 165
305 Chelveston B-17 337 154
306 Thurieigh B-17 342 171
351 Polebrook B-17 311 124
379 Kimbolton B-17 330 141
381 Ridgewell B-17 296 131
384 Grafton Underwood B-17 314 159
385 Great Ashfield B-17 296 129
388 Knettishall B-17 306 142
389 Hethel B-24 321 116
390 Framlingham B-17 300 144
392 Wendling B-24 285 127
398 Nuthampstead B-17 195 58
401 Deenthrope B-17 256 95
445 Tibenham B-24 282 95
446 Bungay B-24 273 58
447 Rattlesden B-17 257 97
448 Seething B-24 262 101
452 Deopham Green B-17 250 110
453 Old Buckenham B-24 259 58
457 Glatton B-17 237 83
458 Horsham St. Faith B-24 240 47
466 Attlebridge B-24 232 47
467 Rackheath B-24 212 29
486 Sudbury B-17 188 33
487 Lavenham B-17 185 48
489 Halesworth B-24 106 29
490 Eye B-17 158 40
491 Metfield B-24 187 47
492 North Pickenham B-24 64 12
493 Deebach B-17 158 41

Other losses occurred too. Collisions, training accidents and so on. The table below summarizes all losses:

Aircraft Type Number Lost
B-17 4,754
B-24 2,112
P-47 1,043
P-38 451
P-51 2,201
Total 10,561

Thats alot of warm bodies... Dead...

I'm not speciffically sure which bomber the Germans feared more, but the guns on the B-24 were slightly more accurate, especially the tail guns. Th B-24's tailturret over a consierable greater field of fire and the more rigid mounting meant to more accurate shooting.

HMmmmmmm...

Another interesting question is which Gun Position got the most action???

I am under the assumption more fighters attacked from the 6 oclock posistion, or from above...

That's been the case on the flight sims I've played. Alot of the German pilots preferred the safer head-on attack but it wasn't always worth the time it took to set uo.

I would think that fighters want to fly above and from the sun, and use dive speed to come in fast... That would mean that a topside gunner would see alot of action...

Is there a statistic somewhere stating which crewman got injured or killed the most??? Stories that uve read???

Do u see a pattern???