Allied Planes
The American B-17
The American
B-17 bomber, through various models and manifestations, was the bomber
primarily used in both the European and Pacific theatres. In 1934, the US Army Air Corps
specified a need for a plane to be used in bombing runs against shipping
vessels, hoping for a two-engine plane that could carry the necessary weight to
hold the number of bombs needed to be effective. Instead, Boeing supplied the Army with a 4 engine plane,
seen here, that could take the same number of bombs, but move faster and fly
higher. A total of 7 different
models of the B-17 were made over the course of the war, each a slight
improvement of the previous model.
The B-17G was the most popular, accounting for 8,680 of the 12,731
produced. However, the B-17 had its
problems, most notably, its lack of self-defense. The B-17 was armed with 13 .5 inch machine guns, the idea
being that it could just put up a wall of metal that would keep the Luftwaffe
at bay. Unfortunately, this was
unrealistic, as the German planes were too fast. Without a fast plane to accompany it, the B-17 was a sitting
duck. This led to the development
of theÉ
The P-51 Mustang
The problem with
the conventional fighters shown below was that while they were good for
defending Britain, they had no long range capabilities, as they did not have
the fuel storage to make the long journey into the depths of Germany. This meant the American bombers, who
relied on day bombing runs to drop their bombs accurately, had no defence but
their own machine guns to ward off Luftwaffe fighters. Unable to take evasive action that
would take them off target, the bombers were out of luck until the development
of the long range P-51 Mustang enabled a fighter escort to accompany the
bombers on their day runs. With
the P-51 in the fight, the Allies were finally able to have air superiority
over Germany, winning the air war against the Luftwaffe.
The British Hurricane
The British
Hawker Hurricane was designed in response to the German Messerschmitt. It was built in a method similar to
that used to produce bi-planes, and was ergonomically unmatched for the
pilot. Additionally, it was easy
and inexpensive to produce and repair.
It was a slightly larger and slower than its counterpart the Spitfire,
but was considered more durable and able to withstand more injuries.
The British Spitfire
The British
Spitfire was a unique design by R.J. Mitchell. Mitchell ignored common plane designs of the day, instead
drawing inspiration from the Supermarine seaplane. It was the war’s first all-metal fighter, and had an
aerodynamic shape and oval wings.
It’s sleek design made it easy for pilot’s to fly, though it did have
lower killing statistics than its counterpart the Hurricane.
B-17
image from http://www.angelfire.com/fm/odyssey/3fortress.htm
P-51 image from http://www.angelfire.com/fm/compass/Mustang.htm
Images from http://www.retrosellers.com/features61.htm