B-17 FLYING FORTRESS WW2 BG USAAF RAF MIGHTY 8TH AF 15TH MTO PACIFIC BOEING ETO

Description: Shipping B-17 FLYING FORTRESS WW2 BG USAAF RAF MIGHTY 8TH AF 15TH MTO PACIFIC BOEING ETO B-17 FLYING FORTRESS WW2 BG USAAF RAF MIGHTY 8TH AF 15TH MTO PACIFIC BOEING ETO USCG USN HARDBOUND BOOK with DUSTJACKET in ENGLISH by JERRY SCUTTS PACKED WITH DOZENS OF PHOTOS; SCALE TECHNICAL DRAWINGS; PLANS, DETAIL PHOTOS, CAMOUFLAGE SCHEMES AND TACTICAL MARKINGS. BATTLE DAMAGE AND ACCIDENTS FAMOUS COMBAT AIRCRAFT VARIANTS (XB-15, MODEL 299, YB-17 / Y1B-17 PROTOTYPE, YB-17A, B-17B, B-17C, B-17D, B-17E, B-17F, B-17G) GUN TURRET INSTALLATIONS: TOP TURRET, EARLY NOSE ARMAMENT, BALL TURRET, WAIST GUN POSITION, TAIL TURRET, US BROWNING .50 CAL HEAVY MACHINE GUN MAIN LANDING GEAR INSTRUMENT PANEL DESIGN OF THE FLYING FORTRESS ROYAL AIR FORCE RAF FORTRESS TRAINING / OPERATIONS FLYING FORTRESSES IN COMBAT B-17 IMPROVEMENTS B-17 WARPAINT / SPECIAL FULL COLOR SECTION POSTWAR FORTRESSES SIGNIFICANT DATES IN B-17 HISTORY BOEING B-17B FLYING FORTRESS BG USAAC (NOSE DEVELOPMENTS, ENGINE NACELLE CHANGES, TAIL DEVELOPMENT) BOEING B-17C/D (NOSE MACHINE GUN INSTALLATION, ARMAMENT DEVELOPMENT, ENGINE COWL DEVELOPMENT, HICKHAM FIELD HAWAII, ROYAL AIR FORTRESS RAF FORTRESS I) BOEING B-17E (TOP TURRET ILLUSTRATION, BELLY ARMAMENT CHANGES TUB, BENDIX REMOTE CONTROL TURRET, SPERRY BALL TURRET, TAIL ARMAMENT, NAVIGATOR AND WAIST ARMAMNENT, FIRST B-17ES IN MIGHTY 8TH AIR FORCE) BOEING B-17F (BALL TURRET ILLUSTRATION, US BROWNING .50 CAL HEAVY MACHINE GUN, TAIL TURRET POSITION ILLUSTRATION, WING BOMB RACKS, MAIN LANDING GEAR, PROPELLOR DEVELOPMENT, COWL DEVELOPMENT, CHEEK BULGES) BOEING B-17G (WAIST GUN POSITIONS, CHEEK GUNS, STAGGERED WAIST, MICKEY RADOME, CHEYENNE TAIL TURRET) DETAIL ILLUSTRATIONS & PHOTOS (FUSELAGE STRUCTURE, WING INTERNAL STRUCTURE, MAIN SPAR TRUSS, CREW POSITIONS, HEATING SYSTEM, MAIN GEAR AND TIRE DIMENSIONS, INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM, BOMBARDIERS CONTROL PANEL, CENTRAL CONTROL PEDESTAL, LOWER CONTROL PEDESTAL, NORDEN BOMBSIGHT, MAIN INSTRUMENT PANEL, PILOTS LEFT SIDE PANEL, CO-PILOT RIGHT SIDE PANEL, PILOTS SEAT & ARMOR, COCKPIT CEILING CONTROL PANEL, COMMAND RADIO INSTALLATION, RADI OPERATORS TABLE, TRANSMITTERS, LIASION RADIO, BALL TURRET INTERIOR, RADIO COMPARTMENT ARMAMENT, WAIST GUNNER ARMOR, WAIST GUN STOWAGE, TAIL RIB STRUCTURE, TAIL GUNNER COMPARTMENT & ARMOR) 91ST BG BASSINGBOURN, 390TH BG, 303RD BG MOLESWORTH, 11TH BG, 306TH BG, 94TH BG, 100TH BG, 381ST BG RIDGEWELL, 99TH BG MIGHTY 8TH AIR FORCE 12TH AIR FORCE 15TH AF OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN THE SILVER FLEET -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances. The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. From its pre-war inception, the USAAC (later USAAF) touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-range bomber that was able to defend itself, and to return home despite extensive battle damage. It quickly took on mythic proportions, and widely circulated stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as an effective weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. The prototype B-17, designated Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells, and was built at Boeing's own expense. It combined features of the experimental Boeing XB-15 bomber with the Boeing 247 transport aircraft. The B-17's armament consisted of up to 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg) of bombs on two racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit, and initially possessed five 0.30 inches (7.62 mm) machine guns. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 "Hornet" radial engines each producing 750 horsepower. The aircraft went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants. Of the 13 YB-17s ordered for service testing, 12 were used by the 2nd Bomb Group of Langley Field, Virginia, to develop heavy bombing techniques, and the 13th was used for flight testing at the Material Division at Wright Field, Ohio. Experiments on this aircraft led to the use of a turbo-supercharger which would become standard on the B-17 line. A 14th aircraft, the YB-17A, originally destined for ground testing only and upgraded with the turbocharger, was re-designated B-17A after testing had finished. As the production line developed, Boeing engineers continued to improve upon the basic design. To enhance performance at slower speeds, the B-17B was altered to include larger rudder and flaps. The B-17C changed from three bulged, oval shaped machine gun blisters to two flush, oval-shaped machine gun window openings and a single "bathtub" machine gun housing on the lower fuselage, that resembled the similarly-configured and located ventral defensive emplacement on the German Heinkel He 111P-series medium bomber. Models A through D of the B-17 were designed defensively, while the large-tailed B-17E was the first model primarily focused on offensive warfare. The B-17E was an extensive revision of the Model 299 design: The fuselage was extended by 10 ft (3.0 m); a much larger rear fuselage, vertical tail fin, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer were added to the design; a gunner's position was added in the new tail; the nose (especially the bombardier's well-framed nose glazing) remained relatively the same as the earlier -B through -D versions had, but with the addition of a Sperry electrically-powered manned dorsal gun turret just behind the cockpit, and the similarly-powered (also built by Sperry) manned ventral ball turret just aft of the bomb bay - replacing a relatively hard-to-use remotely operated ventral turret on the earliest examples of the -E variant, that had also been used on the earlier marks of the North American B-25 Mitchell - resulted in a 20% increase in aircraft weight. The B-17's turbocharged Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engines were upgraded to increasingly more powerful versions of the same powerplants multiple times throughout its production, and similarly, the number of machine gun emplacement locations were increased to enhance their aircraft's combat effectiveness. The B-17F variants were the primary versions flying for the Eighth Air Force to face the Nazis in 1943, and had standardized the manned Sperry ball turret for ventral defense, along with an enlarged, nearly frameless Plexiglas bombardier's nose enclosure for much improved forward vision. By the time the definitive B-17G appeared, the number of guns had been increased from seven to 13, the designs of the gun stations were finalized, and other adjustments were completed. The B-17G was the final version of the Flying Fortress, incorporating all changes made to its predecessor, the B-17F, adopting the remotely-operated "chin turret" for forward defense from the YB-40 "gunship" version, and in total 8,680 were built, the last one (by Lockheed) on 28 July 1945. Many B-17Gs were converted for other missions such as cargo hauling, engine testing and reconnaissance. Initially designated SB-17G, a number of B-17Gs were also converted for search-and-rescue duties, later to be redesignated B-17H. The B-17 began operations in World War II with the RAF in 1941 (but was not successful), and in the Southwest Pacific with the U.S. Army. The 19th Bombardment Group had deployed to Clark Field in the Philippines a few weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the first of a planned heavy bomber buildup in the Pacific. Half of the group's B-17s were wiped out on 8 December 1941 when they were caught on the ground during refueling and rearming for a planned attack on Japanese airfields on Formosa. The small force of B-17s operated against the Japanese invasion force until they were withdrawn to Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory. In early 1942, the 7th Bombardment Group began arriving in Java with a mixed force of B-17s and LB-30/B-24s. After the defeat in Java, the 19th withdrew to Australia where it continued in combat until it was sent back home by Gen. George C. Kenney when he arrived in Australia in mid-1942. In July 1942, the first USAAF B-17s were sent to England to join Eighth Air Force. Later that year two groups moved to Algeria to join Twelfth Air Force for operations in North Africa. The B-17s were primarily involved in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign against German targets ranging from U-boat pens, docks, warehouses and airfields to industrial targets such as aircraft factories. In the campaign against German aircraft forces in preparation for the invasion of France, B-17 and B-24 raids were directed against German aircraft production while their presence drew the Luftwaffe fighters into battle with Allied fighters. In early 1940 the RAF entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army Air Corps to be provided with 20 B-17Cs, which were given the service name Fortress I. Their first operation, against Wilhelmshaven on 8 July 1941 was unsuccessful; on 24 July, the target was Brest, France, but again the bombers missed completely. By September, after the RAF had lost eight B-17Cs in combat or to accidents and many instances of aborts due to mechanical problems, Bomber Command abandoned daylight bombing raids because of the Fortress I's poor performance. The experience showed both the RAF and USAAF that the B-17C was not ready for combat, and that improved defenses, larger bomb loads and more accurate bombing methods were required. However the USAAF continued using the B-17 as a day bomber, despite misgivings by the RAF that attempts at daylight bombing would be ineffective. As usage by Bomber Command had been curtailed, the RAF transferred its remaining Fortress I aircraft to Coastal Command for use as a long-range maritime patrol aircraft instead. These were later augmented in August 1942 by 19 Fortress Mk II (B-17F) and 45 Fortress Mk IIA (B-17E). A Fortress from No. 206 Squadron RAF sank U-627 on 27 October 1942, the first of 11 U-boat kills credited to RAF Fortress bombers during the war. The RAF's No. 223 Squadron, as part of 100 Group, operated a number of Fortresses equipped with an electronic warfare system known as "Airborne Cigar" (ABC). This was operated by Germanspeaking radio operators who would identify and jam German ground controllers' broadcasts to their nightfighters. They could also pose as ground controllers themselves with the intention of steering nightfighters away from the bomber streams. By September 1944, 27 of the 40 bomb groups of the Eighth Air Force and six of the 21 groups of the Fifteenth Air Force used B-17s. Losses to flak continued to take a high toll of heavy bombers through 1944, but by 27 April 1945 (two days after the last heavy bombing mission in Europe), the rate of aircraft loss was so low that replacement aircraft were no longer arriving and the number of bombers per bomb group was reduced. The Combined Bomber Offensive was effectively complete. Following the end of World War II, the B-17 was quickly phased out of use as a bomber and the Army Air Forces retired most of its fleet. Flight crews ferried the bombers back across the Atlantic to the United States where the majority were sold for scrap and melted down, although significant numbers remained in use in second-line roles such as VIP transports, air-sea rescue and photo-reconnaissance. Strategic Air Command (SAC), established in 1946, used reconnaissance B-17s (at first called F-9 [F for Fotorecon], later RB-17) until 1949. With the disestablishment of the U.S. Army Air Forces and the establishment of an independent U.S. Air Force in 1947, most extant B-17s were transferred to USAF. The USAF Air Rescue Service of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) operated B-17s as so-called "Dumbo" air-sea rescue aircraft. Work on using B-17s to carry airborne lifeboats had begun in 1943, but they entered service in the European theater only in February 1945, also being used to provide search and rescue support for B-29 raids against Japan. About 130 B-17s were converted to the air-sea rescue role, at first designated B-17H and later SB-17G. Some SB-17s had their defensive guns removed, while others retained their guns to allow use close to combat areas. The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s During the last year of World War II and shortly thereafter, the United States Navy acquired 48 ex-USAAF B-17s for patrol and air-sea rescue work. The first two ex-USAAF B-17s, a B-17F (later modified to B-17G standard) and a B-17G were obtained by the Navy for various development programs. At first, these aircraft operated under their original USAAF designations but on 31 July 1945, they were assigned the naval aircraft designation PB-1, a designation which had originally been used in 1925 for the Boeing Model 50 experimental flying boat. Thirty-two B-17Gs were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W, the suffix -W airborne early warning. A large radome for an S-band AN/APS-20 search radar was fitted underneath the fuselage and additional internal fuel tanks were added for longer range, with the provision for additional underwing fuel tanks. Originally, the B-17 was also chosen because of its heavy defensive armament, but this was later deleted. These aircraft were painted dark blue, a standard Navy paint scheme which had been adopted in late 1944. The PB-1W eventually evolved into an early warning aircraft by virtue of its APS-20 search radar. PB-1Ws continued in USN service until 1955, gradually being phased out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2 (known in the USAF as the EC-121, a designation adopted by USN in 1962), a military version of the Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner. In July 1945, 16 B-17s were transferred to the Coast Guard via the Navy; these aircraft were initially assigned U.S. Navy Bureau Numbers (BuNo), but were delivered to the Coast Guard designated as PB-1Gs beginning in July 1946. Coast Guard PB-1Gs were stationed at a number of bases in the U.S. and Newfoundland, with five at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, two at CGAS San Francisco, two at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, one at CGAS Kodiak, Alaska, and one in Washington state. They were used primarily for air-sea rescue, but were also used for iceberg patrol duties and for photo mapping. Air-sea rescue PB-1Gs usually carried a droppable lifeboat underneath the fuselage and the chin turret was often replaced by a radome. The Coast Guard PB-1Gs served throughout the 1950s, the last example not being withdrawn from service until 14 October 1959. Shipping & Handling Back to Top US Shipping(FREE) USPS Media Mail® International ShippingPlease check eBay's Shipping & Payment tab USPS First-Class Mail International (Worldwide) USPS First-Class Mail International (Canada) FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager.Make your listings stand out with FREE Vendio custom templates! FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. Over 100,000,000 served. Get FREE counters from Vendio today!

Price: 23.96 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2024-12-21T02:15:59.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD