German Pilots Couldn’t Believe the B-17’s 16 Guns — Until the “Flying Fortress” Collapsed скачать в хорошем качестве

German Pilots Couldn’t Believe the B-17’s 16 Guns — Until the “Flying Fortress” Collapsed

During World War II, U.S. engineers tried to turn the B-17 Flying Fortress into a “flying destroyer” — loading it with 16 machine guns to protect bomber formations. It sounded genius… until the mission began. On May 29, 1943, Captain James Hartwell took off from RAF Alconbury in a modified YB-40. It carried over 11,000 rounds of ammo and was meant to fight off German fighters all the way to Germany and back. But once the bombers dropped their loads, they climbed faster — and the heavy YB-40s fell behind. The protectors had become targets. The project was scrapped after just ten missions. Yet, out of this failure came a game-changing idea — the Bendix chin turret — later added to all B-17G bombers, saving thousands of lives before the war’s end. Subscribe WW2 Files For More Informational Videos Like This #WW2Files #WW2 #WorldWar2 #B17 #FlyingFortress #WWIIHistory #Aviation