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Flying Fortress bombers were the mainstay of the USAF bomber force during the second world war. Eighth airforce aircraft flew sorties over German occupied Europe from bases in England, while over in the Pacific theatre they were hitting Japanese targets. The design started life from a requirement for an anti-shipping bomber in 1934, the prototype for which flew in mid July 1935. The first major production version was the B-17E in 1941 these introduced the large ventral fin and increased the defensive armament to 13 guns, 512 of this mark were manufactured. Early models included the B-17C, some of which were fired upon by American gunners when they attempted to land at Pearl Harbor of Dec 17th 1941. The Fortress I was powered by four 1,200 hp Wright R-1820-65 engines and was armed with seven 30 caliber guns. Among other models, Boeing built 3400 of the B-17F model and 8685 of the B-17G. At peak production, the Seattle plant rolled out 16 aircraft in 24 hours.
Wing span: 31.6 mt
Lenght: 22.6 mt
Height: 5.80 mt
Weight (Max): 29250 kg
Propulsion: 4x Wright R-1820-97, 1200 hp each
Speed (Max): 462 km/h
Service ceiling: 10680 mt
Armament: 13x cal 50 MG
Bomb load: 8000 kg
Crew: 9
British Avro Lancaster Mk I
Entering service at the beginning of 1942, the Lancaster’s design grew out of a failed predecessor, the Avro Manchester. While its’ airframe offered a stable platform for heavy bombing assignments, the Manchester’s twin engine design was inadequate to the task. By upgrading to four Merlins, the resulting aircraft met the nation’s needs and 7366 Avro Lancasters were built during the war, the most of any British bomber. Armament included eight to ten Browning machine guns for fighter defense (depending on model variant) mounted in the nose, upper dorsal turret and the tail. Experience with a variety of bomb loads eventually led to adoption of the ‘Grand Slam’ 22000-pound bomb, the largest carried by any aircraft in the war. For the dam-busting strike in May 1943, the Lancaster dropped British designer Barnes Wallis’s ‘bouncing bombs’ which skipped on the surface before impact. Wartime Lancaster sorties totaled about 156000 during which roughly 608000 tons of ordnance were dropped on the enemy. As the war in Europe drew to a close, the Lancaster was readied for service against Japan as part of Bomber Command’s ‘Tiger Force’, but the war’s end put a halt to this plan. Apart from its primary bombing tasks, the versatile Lancaster was also used for maritime surveillance, photo reconnaissance missions and, later, as an engine test bed platform. The final airframe was delivered in February, 1946 but the plane flew for many years in civilian guise and as a warplane when sold to other nations.
Wing span: 30.6 mt
Lenght: 20.88 mt
Height: 6 mt
Weight (Max): 30600 kg
Propulsion: 4x Rolls-Royce Merlin XX , 1460 hp each
Speed (Max): 459.2 km/h
Service ceiling: 7350 mt
Armament: 2x 7.7mm MG in ,in nose, ventral and dorsal turrets, 4x 7.7mm MG in tail turret
Bomb load: 14x 450 kg bombs, or 1x 9900 kg Grand Slam bomb
Crew: 7
Russian Petlyakov Pe-2FT Peshka
One of the great paradoxes of aircraft development is that an airplane can sometimes become extremely successful in a combat role for which it was not originally designed. There is the Beaufighter, the Typhoon, the Mosquito, and the Ju-88. To this list, one can add the Petlyakov Pe-2 - originally designed as a two-seat, turbo supercharged, high altitude, long range interceptor - which achieved amazing success as a three-seat, low-altitude, short-to-medium range level and dive bomber. The Pe-2 was built in greater numbers than any Soviet bomber before or since WW II. The first Soviet Air Force regiments began to receive the 'Peshka' (little pet) in the spring of 1941. The aircraft's performance was such that when the Hurricanes of 151 Wing RAF escorted Pe-2s in fighting around Murmansk in the fall of 1941, the British pilots had to firewall their throttles to keep up with the Peshka in high-speed cruise. The definitive Pe-2FT (Frontovoye Trebovaniye - Frontline Request) appeared in 1942. The Pe-2FT was equipped with a turret replacing the earlier handheld dorsal machine gun. Curiously, there is no underwing ordnance, which is surprising since the Pe-2FT normally carried four 250 Kg bombs on external racks.
Wing span: 17.11 mt
Lenght: 12.78 mt
Height: 3.42 mt
Weight (Max): 8520 kg
Propulsion: 2x Klimov VK-105PF Vee, 1260 hp each
Speed (Max): 579 km/h
Service ceiling: 8800 mt
Armament: 2x 7,62 mm MG, 2x 7.62mm MG in the dorsal turret; 1x 7,62 mm or 12,7 mm in ventral zone, 2x 7,62 mm or 12,7 mm in the wings
Bomb load: 4x 250 kg FAB-250 bombs, or 6x 100 kf FAB-100 bombs
Crew: 4
German Junkers Ju 88A-4
The Luftwaffe received the first Ju 88A-0 pre-production planes and Ju 88A-1 production bombers in 1939. The Ju 88A-1 was at the time the best Luftwaffe bomber; it was more modern and had better performance than the Dornier Do 17 or Heinkel He 111 already in service. The Ju 88A-1 was powered by a pair of 1,200 hp Jumo 211B-1 engines, and could reach 450 km/h. It had a crew of four: pilot, bombardier, top gunner/radio-operator and bottom gunner/flight-engineer. Defensive armament was usually one flexible 7.92 mm nose gun, another at the back at the cockpit, and one below the plane at the back of the gondola containing the Lotfe bomb sight. This bomb sight allowed the Ju 88 to do level-bombing, but it also had dive-brakes for dive-bombing. For a short-range attack, its maximum bomb load was 2,400 kg, but the internal bomb bays were usually filled with additional fuel tanks. The Ju 88A-4 was finally delivered early in 1941, with the 1,400 hp Jumo 211F-1 or 211J engines. The A-4 had more armor, and its defensive armament was improved with faster-firing MG81 guns. The defensive armament varied from plane to plane: some had a 13 mm gun, some had a fixed forward-firing gun operated by the pilot.
By mid-1942, the Ju 88A-4 equipped nearly half of German bomber squads.
Wing span: 20 mt
Lenght: 14.4 mt
Height: 4.85 mt
Weight (Max): 14000 kg
Propulsion: 2x Junkers 211J, 1400 hp each
Speed (Max): 475 km/h
Service ceiling: 8200 mt
Armament: 1x 7.9 mm gun (pilot); 3x 7.9 mm, 1x 13 mm gun (gunners)
Bomb load: 3000 kg
Crew: 5
Italian Piaggio P.108B
Piaggio P 108 was othe only four engines weight bomber to be used in WWII. It was derivated from the P 50 II and flew in november 1939 but during some tests the Mussoline's son died for a crash of his plane. Main features were to be monoplane, four engines with a retractable landing gear. The B version was the bomber version and a total of twenty-four examples were built and employed in 1942 in offensive reconnaissance in the Mediterranean area, again with night missions on Gibraltar and Algeria. Other versions were made, like the P 108A, P 108B, P 108T and a civil version called P 108C with pressurized cabin for thirty-two seats ( sixteen for the night employ ).
Wing span: 32 mt
Lenght: 22.3 mt
Height: 6 mt
Weight (Max): 29885 kg
Propulsion: 4x Piaggio P.XII RC35, 1500 hp each
Speed (Max): 430 km/h
Service ceiling: 6000 mt
Armament: 8 x 12,7mm MG
Bomb load: 3500 kg
Crew: 7
Nakajima G8N1 Renzan
Renzan was a four engine heavy bomber that was being developed by Nakajima for the Imperial Navy. Four prototypes were built, and four production models were in the works when the Navy decided to cancel production in June 1945 because there was no need for such a bomber at that date. Although some have said that the Renzan was the Japanese equivalent to the B-29, it was probably closer to the B-17 after which it was roughly modeled.
Wing span: 32.54 mt
Lenght: 22.94 mt
Height: 7.2 mt
Weight (Max): 32150 kg
Propulsion: 4x Nakajima NK9K-L "Homare-24", 2000 hp each
Speed (Max): 593 km/h
Service ceiling: 10200 mt
Armament: 6x 20mm cannons, 4x 12.7mm MG
Bomb load: 4000 kg
Crew: 10
