The B-17 has and will always be one of my favorite planes. Next to my computer right now I have an actual Norden Bombsight that my father picked up at a flea market in 1968 for $25.
As an aside, here is some more unrelated WW II trivia... enjoy!
Regards,
SOL
The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940), the highest ranking American killed was LtGen. Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps. So much for allies.
The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded in combat and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying
about his age. (His benefits were later restored by act of Congress).
At the time of Pearl Harbor the top US Navy command was called CINCUS pronounced "sink us"), the shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was named "Amerika." All three were soon changed for PR purposes.
More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While completing the required 30 missions your chance of being
killed was 71%. Not that bombers were helpless! A B-17 carried 4 tons of
bombs and 1.5 tons of machine gun ammo. The US 8th Air Force shot down 6,098 fighter planes, 1
for every 12,700 shots fired.
Germany's power grid was much more vulnerable than realized. One estimate is that if just 1% of the bombs dropped on German industry had
instead been dropped on power plants German industry would have collapsed.
Generally speaking there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance Japanese ace
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.