Command BANNED His Frankenstein Bomber - Until Japanese Pilots Reported Abnormal Firepower That Kill скачать в хорошем качестве

Command BANNED His Frankenstein Bomber - Until Japanese Pilots Reported Abnormal Firepower That Kill

#WW2 #WorldWar2 #WWII June 16, 1943 — one B-17 bomber faced seventeen Japanese Zero fighters over the Solomon Islands. The engagement lasted forty minutes. Five enemy fighters destroyed. The bomber survived 187 bullet holes and five cannon impacts. Captain Jay Zeamer landed the wreckage with seven wounds, bringing home reconnaissance photos that saved thousands of Marine lives during the Bougainville invasion. Old 666 was a death trap. The 43rd Bomb Group stationed in Port Moresby called it "the coffin with wings" — a worn-out B-17E that exceeded combat hour limits by thirty percent. Pilots refused to fly it. The oxygen system failed, heating didn't work, control cables felt loose. Standard procedure demanded retirement and scrapping. Captain Jay Zeamer saw opportunity. A misfit pilot bounced between squadrons for discipline issues, Zeamer claimed the abandoned bomber and recruited a crew of similar outcasts: the Eager Beavers. Without authorization, Zeamer transformed Old 666 into something unprecedented in World War 2 aviation. He added six extra .50-caliber machine guns — nineteen total instead of standard thirteen. He installed a bombardier-controlled twin-gun mount in the nose. He added ammunition storage throughout the fuselage. The plane gained 600 pounds beyond maximum takeoff weight. The June 16 mission to photograph Japanese defenses at Bougainville triggered the most intense single-bomber engagement in Pacific Theater history. Seventeen Zeros intercepted Old 666 at 25,000 feet. Standard survival time: two minutes. The battle lasted forty. Japanese pilots reported "abnormal firepower" and "simultaneous fire from more than fifteen positions." Five Zeros disintegrated from concentrated defensive fire across overlapping fields that Zeamer's crew had perfected over months. Second Lieutenant Joe Sarnoski, the bombardier, took a 20mm cannon shell to the abdomen. Bleeding out, he crawled back to his guns and destroyed one more Zero before dying. Zeamer flew 600 miles to base with a shattered leg, torn wrist, and failing vision. Both men received the Medal of Honor — the only time two bomber crew members earned America's highest decoration for the same mission. Army Air Forces faced a choice: punish Zeamer for unauthorized modifications, or admit doctrine was wrong. They chose the latter. Within six months, Boeing's new B-17G featured a factory-installed chin turret — Zeamer's nose gun concept refined for mass production. Thousands of bombers, tens of thousands of airmen survived because one misfit pilot questioned regulations written by people who'd never been shot at by seventeen fighters. #JayZeamer #B17Bomber #AviationHistory