Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress The XB-38 Flying Fortress was a single example conversion of a production B-17E Flying Fortress, testing whether the Allison V-1710 V type engine could be substituted for the standard Wright R-1820 radial engine during early World War II. The XB-38 was the result of a modification project undertaken by Boeing and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed) on a B-17 Flying Fortress to fit it with liquid-cooled Allison V-1710-89 Vee engine. It was meant as an improved version of the B-17, and a variant that could be used if air-cooled Wright R-1820 radial engines became scarce. Completing
RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II have those black shoes" and similar comments. Airmen shared accommodation blocks and it was normal to have spare beds or even a half-empty hut after a night operation. A total of 57,205 members of RAF Bomber Command or airmen flying on attachment to RAF Bomber Command were killed or posted missing in World War II. It was not unusual for the heavy bombers to complete their operational sortie and return home with members of their crew dead or dying aboard the aircraft, or with the rear gun turret blown off. Flight Sergeant Jim Rossiter of the Royal Australian Air Force