Erich
the old Sage
again as I said previously in this long thread,.....
the tail position
the tail position
Most dangerous position in a B-17
- Thread starter KraziKanuK
- Start date
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the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
i'm with Mr. E on this one............
P38 Pilot
Tech Sergeant
Guys the worst position in the bomber would have to be the ball gunner.
If the bomber were to crash land without its wills the poor guy would be crusshed!!!
Besides, he is exposed to flak at the bottom. He wouldnt know what hit
him! Or if he didnt have his safety strap on he would fall out of the turret!
At least the waist gunners would have a chance. In the movie Memphis Bell,
The guy in the ball turret almost falls out of the bomber. Oh and ig the hatch
were too jam, and you had to bail put, he would go down with the plane.
If the bomber were to crash land without its wills the poor guy would be crusshed!!!
Besides, he is exposed to flak at the bottom. He wouldnt know what hit
him! Or if he didnt have his safety strap on he would fall out of the turret!
At least the waist gunners would have a chance. In the movie Memphis Bell,
The guy in the ball turret almost falls out of the bomber. Oh and ig the hatch
were too jam, and you had to bail put, he would go down with the plane.
Attachments
P38 Pilot
Tech Sergeant
I had a friend (now dead) who served as a tail gunner in Lancs. He told me that he once sat in the same position in a B17 and found that he couldn't reach the controls properly because he had to spread his arms round a chunk of armour plate that prevented almost all moevent, too. He did not, he told me, want to be in there when being attacked by a fighter, because in his opinion just about all the gunner could do was pray or scream.
Beni
Airman
If i can choose a position in a b17 crew, i would choose to be the guy who refuel the plane...becouse I think all the position inside the plane were very dangerous. But must to be fantastic to shoot some fighters from the turrets....I dont know what to do.... 
wmaxt
Staff Sergeant
According to the 8th Air Force web page the best position was the Bombardier then the top turret/Waist gunner. The worst was the Radio/Pilot. The Waist gunner position was twice as bad accounting for the fact there were two. Ball turret,Navigator, Co-Pilot were about the same. It must be noted that this is for the 95th BG and go as follows
Pilot 58kia 11wia
Co- Pilot 56kia 7 wia
Nav 56kia 15wia
Top T 47kia 29wia
Radio 58 kia 14wia
Ball 56kia 21wia
waist 102kia 45wia
tail 57kia 14wia
As you can see it doesn't matter much where you are if your inside the plane.
This site has the stats http://www.taphilo.com/history/8thaf/8aflosses.shtml
wmaxt
Pilot 58kia 11wia
Co- Pilot 56kia 7 wia
Nav 56kia 15wia
Top T 47kia 29wia
Radio 58 kia 14wia
Ball 56kia 21wia
waist 102kia 45wia
tail 57kia 14wia
As you can see it doesn't matter much where you are if your inside the plane.
This site has the stats http://www.taphilo.com/history/8thaf/8aflosses.shtml
wmaxt
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
P38 Pilot said:
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! The Emerson Ball turret was a solid piece of heat treated aluminum forging that could probably be used as a boat anchor. By it's construction, it was naturally armored. On a B-17 the ball was located in the aft fuselage (Stations 6 7) just aft of a major bulkhead. The assembly was supported by a trapeze assembly inside the fuselage. During a crash, the fuselage would either break at that bulkhead or the turret would be pushed into the trapeze assembly. I've seen photos where the -17 made it down resting on the turret! Now does that mean a gunner would survive a crash in a ball turret? Probably not! If the armored glass shattered inward, well, I think I rather be shot with a 20mm.
P38 Pilot
Tech Sergeant
evangilder
"Shooter"
P38 Pilot said:
That still wouldn't offer him much protection. The aluminum top skin doesn't offer much more protection that the plexiglas in the turret.
P38 Pilot
Tech Sergeant
Ok lets sum this up!!!!!! All positions in a B-17 were deadly!!! No matter what the position you would still get killed! German fighter tactics they were training with after the B-17 bombers became a wide threat to the germans was that they would fly in fornt of the planes and shoot the pilots.
Nobody was safe once the pilots were dead!
Nobody was safe once the pilots were dead!
Attachments
You'd probably find going head on was a bit silly, especially when the jets came into play. The closing speed was just too fast to get a decent shot. The tactic was to knock out the tail gunner, then the plane would be easy pickings.
Plus, in a B-17 there's three people that can fly the plane - the pilot, co-pilot and bombardier, and I reckon maybe even the engineer could do enough to get it down on the ground.
Plus, in a B-17 there's three people that can fly the plane - the pilot, co-pilot and bombardier, and I reckon maybe even the engineer could do enough to get it down on the ground.
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
plan_D said:
Many times the FE was trained to land the aircraft. Early in the war a sergent got the Medal of Honor for doing this.
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
did some research, actually I was wrong about the FE getting the medal of honor for landing the plane, but I know FEs did land crippled -17s on occasions.
trackend
Chief Master Sergeant
I think the arse end position on any bomber has to be the worst nearly all the combat videos showing bombers under attack the arse is what the fighter go's for and didnt they pump some shit into them once the tail gunners had it the bomber is a real sitting duck.
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Especially if you were "Tail End Charlie."
the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
p-38 said:
i know this is a late reply, but it'd be even luckier if he hadn't been hit at all
