B-17G "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 B-17G-90-DL-44-83690 "Flying Fortress" is a heavy bomber manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. Douglas was one of two companies in addition to Boeing, designated to manufacture B-17s during World War II. General features of the B-17 include its mid-wing monoplane design, aluminum-clad exterior, four radial engines, massive wing structure, and heavy armament. Greenfield, Kent. American Strategy in World War II: A Reconsideration. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1963. B-17G "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 B-17G-95-DL "Flying Fortress" No. 44-83690 is a historic B-17 Flying Fortress Heavy bomber located at the Aviation Museum, Grissom Air Force Base in Pipe
RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II Airmen's memoirs mention flying over target areas below which were like "Dante's Inferno", with acres of red and orange flame punctuated by percussions shock waves as bombs exploded and, while sympathy with anybody on the ground is sometimes expressed, mention is usually made of the prior German Blitz bombing of Coventry and London. Wartime reports and aircrew memoirs make regular mention of intense brightly coloured violent explosions within the bomber stream which often showered clouds of sparks which aircrew referred to as "scarecrows" and believed were a type of pyrotechnic shell designed to scare aircrew. Post-war assessment confirmed that these