Yeah NY to England is long. However I was reading up on the whole North American Ferry Route. The construction of BLUIE WEST 1 Air base in Greenland was pivotal. Located on the S.W. coast, pilots departing from Presque Isle Airfield in Maine would land @ Bluie to gas up. The next stop was usually Reykjavik or Keflavik in Iceland. From there they'd fly to PRESTWICK FIELD in Scotland, eventually landing @ SNETTERTON HEATH, HALESWORTH, and HORSHAM. AT no point did the B17s and their escorts remain airborne for more than 900 miles at a clip. Seems they could have done some airdrops...