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The design was mainly deployed on the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator, as well as the United States Navy's Liberator, the PB4Y-1. The ventral turret was used in tandem in the Convair B-32, successor to the B-24. Ball turrets appeared in the nose and tail as well as the nose of the final series B-24.
The B-17F variant was the primary version used by the Eighth Air Force to face the Germans in 1943, and standardized the manned Sperry ball turret for ventral defense, also replacing the earlier, 10-panel framed bombardier's nose glazing from the B subtype with an enlarged, nearly frameless Plexiglas bombardier's nose enclosure for improved ...
The B-17B (299M) was the first production model of the B-17 and was essentially a B-17A with a slightly larger rudder, larger flaps, a redesigned nose and 1,200 hp (890 kW) R-1820-51 engines. The small, globe-like, machine gun turret used in the Y1B-17's upper nose blister was replaced with a .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun, its barrel run through ...
As for the B-17's name, Zeamer's aircrew referred to 41-2666 only as "666" or "the plane". On 14 June 1943, two days before their final mission together, Zeamer officially named their B-17 Lucy. He had the name painted in script under the three windows on the port side nose, mostly between and underneath the small forward window and larger gun ...
"ventral" – underneath the fuselage, often on US heavy bombers, a Sperry-designed ball turret. "rear" or "tail" – at the very end of the fuselage. "nose" – at the front of the fuselage. "cheek" – on the flanks of the nose, as single-gun flexible defensive mounts for B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers
The B-17 was put on display in place of a long-time exhibit, the former drone-controller DB-17P, "44-83624" (a converted B-17G that did not see combat), which was subsequently sent to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base sans its top turret, which it gave up for the restoration of Shoo Shoo Baby. The reborn veteran is ...
The crew back from their 25th operational mission. All were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.. The Memphis Belle, a Boeing-built B-17F-10-BO, manufacturer's serial number 3170, USAAC Serial No. 41-24485, was added to the USAAF inventory on 15 July 1942, [7] and delivered in September 1942 to the 91st Bombardment Group at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine. [8]
The tail gunner is located below the fin. All B-17s have a retractable tail-wheel landing gear. The B-17G weights 32,720 pounds (14,840 kg) empty. Fully armed and loaded, a B-17 can weigh 65,600 pounds (29,800 kg) Payloads ran between 4,000–5,000 pounds (1,800–2,300 kg), but they could carry up to 17,600 pounds (8,000 kg) for shorter missions.