Novel use for a B-17
Discussion
I posted in the youtube thread but thought it might be of interest over here.
A load of people skydive out of the bomb bay of a B-17, there's some good interior shots as well beforehand, in fact most of the video is of the inside of the plane.
It amazed me that the B-17 has swivel chairs inside it like an office
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKc4cuRSCUw
A load of people skydive out of the bomb bay of a B-17, there's some good interior shots as well beforehand, in fact most of the video is of the inside of the plane.
It amazed me that the B-17 has swivel chairs inside it like an office
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKc4cuRSCUw
It's just down to the different way the aircraft were designed. The Lancaster is a slightly later design than the B-17 and was designed with different types of bombing roles in mind.
In the 1930s, a number of bombers were designed that featured bomb bays that took up the full height of the central fuselage. The other one I can think of is the Heinkel He111.
The Lancaster evolved out of the Manchester. One of the original design criteria for the Manchester was the ability to carry a torpedo. It was expected that the Manchester would replace the Hampden in the anti-shipping role and would carry torpedoes and mines in its bomb bay. Consequently, Chadwick decided that it would be best that then bomb bay was unobstructed and be able to carry ordnance of various lengths and widths.
In the end, the Manchester was a failure but the Lancaster inherited the unobstructed bomb bay - which enabled it to carry bombs that weren't even envisaged when Chadwick originally designed the Manchester.
In the 1930s, a number of bombers were designed that featured bomb bays that took up the full height of the central fuselage. The other one I can think of is the Heinkel He111.
The Lancaster evolved out of the Manchester. One of the original design criteria for the Manchester was the ability to carry a torpedo. It was expected that the Manchester would replace the Hampden in the anti-shipping role and would carry torpedoes and mines in its bomb bay. Consequently, Chadwick decided that it would be best that then bomb bay was unobstructed and be able to carry ordnance of various lengths and widths.
In the end, the Manchester was a failure but the Lancaster inherited the unobstructed bomb bay - which enabled it to carry bombs that weren't even envisaged when Chadwick originally designed the Manchester.
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