The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. A fast and high-flying bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the American four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the German multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. It was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft.
The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. But it was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight component of the Allied strategic bombing campaign over Europe, complementing RAF Bomber Command's night bombers in attacking German industrial, military and civilian targets. Of the roughly 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, over 640 000 tons (42.6%) were dropped from B-17s.
As of November 2022, four aircraft remain airworthy, none flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display, the oldest of which is The Swoose, a B-17D which was flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of the United States' involvement in World War II.
Slider 1: elevator trim
Parking brake doubles as the zoom on the bombsight camera
Cruise power: 70%
Liftoff speed: 140 mph
Final Approach Speed: 120mph w/ full flaps
10 Comments
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7,837 Jfranz16
@LockheedMartins build a craft and get some likes! Then you’ll be able to comment and like other stuff
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7,837 Jfranz16
@kittman I’m glad it’s working for you now. Stay tuned, I’ll be releasing another bomber in a week or so. This one’s a little more… infamous than the B17
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4,265 kittman
@Jfranz16 hey there, I wanted to follow up with you about the weird issue I was having with the plane not getting any faster than 33mph. I just replaced my 2017 iPad Pro with the latest M2 powered iPad Pro and, lo and behold, the problem went away! Actually the game now plays at a constant 60fps with settings set to high. It performs better than I thought it could ever perform on a mobile device. :)
Also, thanks for building the other B-17 from Masters of the Air. I was completely unaware of the show and am now completely hooked. -
0 Thwarp
Oh my! Putting this together was a labor of love and “DETERMINATION”. It’s a very complex build. He used parts in ways I never thought could be used in the ways he used em. Yes, I took it apart for the learning curve (it’s steep).
Incredible build. 👍 -
3,690 HorizonsTechnologies
One of my favorite WW2 planes. Seeing them flying irl is amazing
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7,837 Jfranz16
@kittman @kittman lol the text in vizzy was a left over from when I was programming the turrets on my Iowa Class battleship. When I reused part of it for the throttle control, it became permanent for some weird reason.
I’m not sure what could be causing the plane to not accelerate. I’ve never had this issue. This might be a dumb question but did you leave the parking brake on? I built this on a newer iPad Pro. I grew up going to air shows although have never flown in a B-17. I was devastated by the loss of Texas Raiders as well because I work in aviation and hearing about the loss of life and history really sucked. Thank you for your support!
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4,265 kittman
Gorgeous build my friend. The detail you put into the start sequence? Impressive! I noticed the small two-word text comment you put in the vizzy... sounds like the vizzy was a challenging and/or frustrating process but the results are great! What model iPad did you use to build this? My 2nd gen iPad Pro laughed at me when I tried to load it!
I am having a problem tho... after engine start, the plane will not accelerate any faster than 33mph on the takeoff roll. I've only been able to fly it by teleporting it up to altitude. What am I doing wrong?The B-17 is, by far, my favorite WWII plane of any sort. I had the honor and privilege of flying on the Commemorative Air Force's B-17G "Texas Raiders" a few years ago. It was quite an emotional experience for me. Being able to stand with my head poking out the top in the wind stream, able to see a full 360º is something I'll never forget. While landing I was watching out the side window and we were already over the runway threshold (I could see our shadow on the concrete) when they applied full power and performed a go-around. After the flight I asked the flight crew if that was planned and pretty much in unison they said "OH HELL NO!" (or something along those lines). Apparently a Piper Cub began to enter the runway while we were landing. It scared the hell out of my wife who watched the whole thing unfold from the ground.
Not ashamed to say I cried when I heard it crashed after being involved in that mid-air collision with the P-63 Kingcobra in Dallas last year. Absolutely heartbreaking and a priceless loss of people and planes.
Oh thanks mate