P51ace 16
Airman
Look the ball turret was the worst place to be those Me's got underneath you and shot 
Most Dangerous Position on a Bomber....?
- Thread starter bronzewhaler82
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cheddar cheese
Major General
The same could be said for any position...
P51ace 16
Airman
Yes but look for the vulnerability reports on a B17
P51ace 16
Airman
see what i mean
cheddar cheese
Major General
I think the tail was far more dangerous...
P51ace 16
Airman
you would only get hit in the tail if you were directly behind because fighter rounds were high velocity
cheddar cheese
Major General
We aint just talking about the B-17 here...at night, German Nachtjagers came up behind the bomber for an attack as a head on attack at night is pretty dumb, youve also gotta remember the Schrage Musik gun set up used by German nf's...
P51ace 16
Airman
OH..... good point
evangilder
"Shooter"
According to the post war analysis done by the USAAF, the ball turret was one of the safer positions to be in. According to the records of the 303rd BG, here is the order of safest to least safe, based on % of men killed in that position:
Position % KIA
Pilot-Copilot 14.20
Radio 12.97
Engineer 12.37
Bombardier 12.06
Navigator 12.06
Tail Gunner 12.06
Ball Turret 11.76
Waist Gun 10.23
Position % KIA
Pilot-Copilot 14.20
Radio 12.97
Engineer 12.37
Bombardier 12.06
Navigator 12.06
Tail Gunner 12.06
Ball Turret 11.76
Waist Gun 10.23
DaveB.inVa
Airman 1st Class
- 225
- Dec 20, 2004
Thanks for that table Evan. I remembered reading somewhere before that the most dangerous position was the pilots position, its really hard to get people to believe that it wasnt the ball turret!
evangilder
"Shooter"
I wasn't sure at first, but the numbers tell the story. Still, I sure wouldn't want to be in the ball turret! The waist gunner is the safest, but it has to also be the coldest position.
the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
in the lanc it was cirtainly the tail.............
mosquitoman
Master Sergeant
I'd have thought the pilot would be the most dangerous place because you would be the last person out because only you could keep the plane straight and level for everybody else
evangilder
"Shooter"
Statistically for the Americans, they were the highest rate. It would depend on the situation for straight and level flight. If the aircraft could, you could set the autopilot to hold it straight and level, but sometimes not.
MP-Willow
Staff Sergeant
Even, that info is just for the 303rd yes? When we look at it what type of missions and what aircraft were they flying? I am sirprised that the tail was not more. I have seen a lot of pictures of German attacks on B-24s at the tail. 
evangilder
"Shooter"
From what I have seen, those numbers were pretty consistent across the board for B-17s. The post-war survey done by the AAF stated that the pilot/co-pilots had the highest KIA rate.
P51ace 16
Airman
allright im back
MP-Willow
Staff Sergeant
Even, that is interesting. I wounder why they had the heigh rate?
I could think that rounds fired at the tail or beam, could travel through the aircrft and stop at the pilots. That is a thought, but I would like to hear from the rest of you
I could think that rounds fired at the tail or beam, could travel through the aircrft and stop at the pilots. That is a thought, but I would like to hear from the rest of you
evangilder
"Shooter"
I can only speculate why, but I would think in a front on attack, a fighter pilot would be prone to aim at the cockpit. Once you have killed the pilot and co-pilot, it's done.
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