B-17 Flying Fortress

[bob neill]

Bombay looks mighty good! Didn't the E or F model have external bomb racks? Or did most models have the mounting hard points?

Bob Neill

[Swampfox]

Originally Posted by bob neill

Bombay looks mighty good! Didn't the E or F model have external bomb racks? Or did most models have the mounting hard points?

Bob Neill

I don't think that any production B-17s had external carrying capabilities, however some were field modified to carry explosives and various "V-1" type flying bombs. Also the Aphrodite program used B-17s and carried some externals, I believe.

The B-17H was used as an Air and Sea Search and Rescue craft and carried a good size emergency boat under the fuselage. Very awkward looking setup.

Swampfox

[John Dell]

The external racks were an optional piece of equipment that could be put on or taken off as needed. They were usually used only on short range missions. I have a drawing from a technical manual showing a B-17B with the external rack so the hard points for their attachment was included almost from the start. Here are a couple of photos of 1st Division and 3rd Division 8th Air Force B-17Fs with the external racks fitted.

[Don Boose]

Apologies for a diversion from John’s historical and model narration and Swampfox’s excellent build thread, but I am reminded that the air-sea rescue B-17s were considered as a way to get boats to the 4th U.S. Ranger Company for their amphibious assault on the Hwacheon Dam in Korea in April 1951.

This is how I described it in my book on U.S. Army amphibious operations in the Korean War:

"During the afternoon of 10 April [1951], after the TF Callaway [2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division] attack had been called off, the Rangers prepared demolitions, organized teams, and rehearsed various alternative courses of action. At this point, they did not know whether they would be ordered to capture the dam, sneak in to destroy the machinery, or to seize the high ground east of the dam and then move in to immobilize the sluice gates. [72]

"Meanwhile, a major effort was being made to retrieve the assault boats, life preservers, and other amphibious gear, including the six DUKW amphibious trucks of the 558th [Transportation Amphibious Truck Company], that had been passed on to the 1st Marine Division. Consideration was even given to air-dropping life boats from air-sea rescue B-17s." [73]

Notes:
72. Interviews with Captain Dorsey B. Anderson, Commanding Officer, and First Lieutenant John S. Warren, Executive Officer,4th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne), 13 April 1951, in “After-Action Interviews,” Book 3, Hwachon Dam, interviews by First Lieutenant Martin Blumenson, 3d Historical Detachment, Military History Section, Eighth United States Army Korea (EUSAK), 1951, hereafter Hwachon Dam Interviews (a copy of this document is at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort Leslie J. McNair, Washington, DC.

73. Interviews with Major James H. Webel, 7th Cavalry S3, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Magness Jr., Chemical Officer, IX Corps, 3 May 1951, in Hwachon Dam Interviews.

Donald W. Boose, Jr., Over the Beach: U.S. Army Amphibious Operations in the Korean War, Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2008 (http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/boose.pdf), p. 279.

[Leif Ohlsson]

Thank you, Don, for the opportunity to browse through your book. That is one of the most meticulously documented and annotated academic works I've come across. Honor where honor is due.

Kind regards, Leif

(Off topic, but worth noting.)

[John Dell]

Don, that would have been an interesting scenario. Thanks for sharing. I plan to do some of the life boat carrying B-17s, I have to figure out how to do the fairing where the life boat mounts to the fuselage.

I came across a couple close up photos of the external bomb racks. Those are 1,000lb bombs slung under onto a 303rd Bomb Group B-17. I’m planning to do a set of these racks. That bomb cart would be interesting to do too if I can find some more info on it.

[Swampfox]

I never fail to learn something new on this forum.

Thanks Don n John,

SFX

[thislonelyplanet]

Paper model engineers are an amazing and talented breed. These are going to be highly sought after. VERY nice work for sure. I'd love to have some on my shelf.

[thislonelyplanet]

Originally Posted by John Bowden

12 O'clock High!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Quinn Martin Production.

I NEVER missed it.............. that and Johnny Yuma The Rebel...........

Agreed a thousand percent.. 12 o'clock high is a GREAT watch.

[kubeksus]

Hello,

Will the models be released somewhere? I am especially interested in B-17 C/D.

Kuba