A Mighty Fortress

One of the most well-known bombers of all time, the B-17 Flying Fortress became famous for the long daylight bombing raids over Europe in WWII. While it lacked the range and bomb load of its contemporary B-24 Liberator, the B-17 became the more famous of the two due to the many tales of B-17s bringing their crews back home despite heavy damage. With up to thirteen machine guns, the B-17 seemed to be genuine flying “fortress in the sky.”

Ask anyone who has seen one, heard one, or flown one “Is the B-17 the best bomber ever built?” They will likely give you more explanations than you care to hear about this magnificent aircraft. To most warbird enthusiasts, there is just nothing like a B-17 Flying Fortress. As explained by Brent William Perkins in his book Memphis Belle: Biography of a B-17 Flying Fortress, with the classic lines of the early military, the Fort typifies what a heavy aircraft ought to look like. A large sweeping tail and broad wings, along with the angled windshield and distinctive nosepiece make the B-17 stand out among other designs.

Just sitting still, a B-17 gives the appearance of a warrior, while at the same time showing the graceful curves of a Hollywood movie star. Bristling with heavy machine guns in every direction and sitting tail low as if it is ready to leap into the air where, with its broad and deep wings, it finds its home. Dubbed “The Flying Fortress” by Richard Williams, newspaper reporter for the Seattle Times, the bomber was conceived under the Boeing proposal known as the model 299. It was April 1934, and a flyable prototype had to be ready in less than one year.

Ensuring total victory

With the certainty of war on the horizon, military strategists were looking towards airpower to ensure total victory. At the time, there was no bomber in the US arsenal that could meet the coming demands that aerial warfare would require. The US Army Air Corps (the USAF was not born until 1947) needed more range, precision weapons delivery, and combat survivability than the aircraft in the inventories could handle at that time. The call went out. Design a bomber that can fly for ten hours at 25,000 feet, can climb to 10,000 feet in five minutes, and can maintain 7,000 feet with the designed useful load and one engine out.

Boeing had done it. After spending only $275,000.00, the 299 rolled out of the factory on Jul. 17, 1935. The 299 could carry up to 4,800 pounds of weapons in the bomb bay just a little more than a the year after going on the drafting tables. Little did they know that they had designed an aircraft that would set the standards for high altitude bombing through the end of the century.

Only one month and three days after roll out and accumulating some 14 hours and 5 minutes of test time, the 299 took off from Seattle, WA, bound for Wright-Patterson near Dayton, OH. Nine hours and three minutes later it put the rubber on the runway in Ohio. Average ground speed was 233 mph. This flight stole the show from the up and coming Douglas B-18, which was really just a beefed up DC-2. It also overshadowed the much worked over Martin B-10.

B-24 Vs B-17

On Jan. 17, 1937, the Air Corps placed an order for thirteen YB-17s. Production for the plane would run a little more than eight years through August 1945, after some 12,731 Fortresses were built. It is believed that around 10,000 of these actually left the United States for assignments all over the world. Despite the Fort’s uncanny ability to survive major battle damage, roughly 4,500 B-17s were lost in combat flying mainly from the European Theatre of Operations and the unsinkable aircraft carrier known as the United Kingdom. From this island, the mighty Eighth Air Force launched the greatest air armada ever—where the sky roared for a thousand days and the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress marked its place in history.

Is the B-17 the very best bomber ever built’? For years, the argument has continued between the B-17 and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Was the B-24 the better plane? This question has consumed far too many for far too many years. The Liberator carried more, was faster, and could fly higher than the B-17. Although they did fly next to each other in combat, their role was a little different. The Flying Fortress and the Liberator complimented each other and were never meant to be competitors. However, competition was inevitable, as they were both successful bombing platforms.

New bomber designs

The two bombers were simply the result of an exhaustive search by the War Department through aircraft builders for the new bomber designs that were so badly needed. Of the design submissions, the -17 and the -24 were the best. Their designs were simply the result of what was needed at the time. Consider the numbers. B-24 production ran up to 18,188 of the huge twin-tailed leviathans. However, by the end of the war, so many modifications had been made to the B-24 that it could no longer fly further or faster than the B-17.

Wartime Impact – The ability to penetrate hostile airspace, weather enemy threats, carry the correct bomb load, deliver the load successfully, and return home. Defensive Characteristics – From single barrel machine guns through electronic counter measures, stealth, and even speed. What bomber defends itself better than any other? Range – Could the bomber launch, ingress, loiter, deliver, and return? Available Bomb Load – What could carry the most and how many different types of weapons could it haul? Accuracy – The result of the bomb delivery system and the aircraft’s stability and control predictability. Survivability – Evading or withstanding enemy ground-fire and aerial attack. What bomber had the lowest loss to sortie ratio?

B-17: The best bomber ever built

From the time that aerial bombing began through today, these aircraft stand out among the very best ever designed: the German Gotha bombers; the Heinkel 111; the B-17; B-24; Lancaster; Aichi D3A Val; the B-47 Stratojet; the B-52 Stratofortress; the FB-111; the B-58 Hustler; B-1 Lancer; B-2 Spirit and more.

Most agree, given the above criteria, that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is the best bomber ever built. Apparently, the US military felt the same way. The baker one-seven was not fully retired from active service until the late 1960s!

The debate over which was the better plane began early in the War and continues even today. General James Doolittle wrote his studied comparisons, in which he partly stated that in an effort to improve the B-24’s defensive characteristics, performance was compromised at the expense of the added weight of the armor and armament. One very unusual example of the Army Air Corps attempt to improve on the Liberator was to graft the entire front of a B-17G onto a B-24J. The results were terribly unsuitable, and only three tests were flown by this plane. The hybrid bomber could only climb to 18,000 feet and lacked both longitudinal and directional stability.

One note from the study report stated that the installation increased the already excessive basic weight of the B-24J. But the Bombardier and Navigator reported that they favored the increased room in the forward compartment over the traditional B-24 arrangement.

Memphis Belle: Biography of a B-17 Flying Fortress is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo credit: Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire via Wikipedia, UK San Diego Air & Space Museum and Senior Airman Curt Beach/U.S. Air Force

In the waning days of the Cold War, a Soviet MiG-23M flew pilotless across Warsaw Pact and NATO airspace, eventually crashing into a house in Belgium and killing one person.

On July 4, 1989, a MiG-23 departed a Polish airbase for a routine training flight and lost power while ascending on climb-out, or so the pilot thought. Believing the engine had failed, the pilot ejected.

However, this unbelievable flight was far from over, with the jet continuing across Europe, causing F-15s to scramble after the radio-silent intruder ignored NATO airspace and warnings.  What the F-15 pilots discovered was a mysterious ghost plane cruising along at 39,000 ft.

A Frightening Takeoff

On July 4, 1989, Soviet Colonel Nikolai Skuridin climbed into a MiG-23M for an ordinary training flight at Bagicz Air Base near Kołobrzeg, Poland, located on the Baltic coast. The aircraft belonged to the 871st Fighter Aviation Regiment, which operated MiG-23s as part of the still heavy Soviet military presence in Poland, even though the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact were just months away.

Col. Skuridin’s MiG-23M, with the bort number 29 below the cockpit, was a product of the Cold War, codenamed ‘Flogger-B’ by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The aircraft utilized a variable-geometry wing design which featured wings that could be swept back or forward. Despite its late 1960s roots, the aircraft was capable of exceeding Mach 2 powered by a single Tumansky R-29 turbojet engine. It was this engine that would ultimately set the bizarre flight in motion.

Seconds after takeoff, while at very low altitude, Skuridin heard a sudden loud bang. The afterburner shut down and, with the engine RPM dropping rapidly, the MiG began to quickly lose airspeed. Indications were engine failure and Skuridin was given permission to eject from the aircraft.

Skuridin attempted to point his aircraft toward the Baltic in hopes of preventing it from crashing into populated areas, and ejected, landing safely on the ground. Both ground control and the pilot expected the MiG-23 to crash any second now. But it didn’t.

Back to Life

The R-29 engine didn’t completely shut down. In fact, shortly after the pilot ejected, the RPMs began to surge, restoring the thrust. With the pilot and ejection seat gone and the canopy separated, the aircraft was significantly lighter. The renewed engine thrust was enough to arrest its descent, while the automatic flight-control system stabilized the aircraft.

 

The resurrected fighter continued a westerly course while climbing, eventually reaching close to 39,000 ft of altitude. The now empty, unarmed, and stabilized MiG continued on west, cruising along at a leisurely 400 mph toward one of the most heavily monitored airspaces on the planet at the time, with the Soviets not realizing the aircraft was continuing on this flight path.

Soon Polish territory was behind the stray fighter and East Germany on the horizon. Soviet authorities had lost track of the MiG and NATO was unaware of the situation as the aircraft continued on towards NATO airspace.

Threat Detected

NATO radar picked up the MiG as it neared the end of East German airspace and approached West Germany. As it crossed the border, it appeared a Soviet fighter had just blatantly entered NATO airspace without authorization. Soviet intimidation flights were a common incident during the Cold War years, but normally the aircraft came in pairs, and this one flying alone was ignoring radio contact attempts.

In response, the United States Air Force (USAF) scrambled a pair of F-15C Eagles. Stationed at Soesterberg in the Netherlands, the American fighters belonged to the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS). Known as the ‘Wolfhounds’, this unit was part of the U.S. air defense of Western Europe.

Intercepted

USAF Captains J.D. Martin and Bill Murphy caught up with the MiG-23 in their F-15Cs, only to find a strange sight. The aircraft was obviously unarmed, displaying no weapons on the pylons. As they closed in, they were surprised to see the canopy of the MiG was missing along with the pilot and the ejection seat. The aircraft was flying along almost perfectly at 400 mph and 39,000 ft altitude with no human guidance.

The USAF pilots radioed their findings and were given permission to down the aircraft in case the aircraft ran out of fuel, to avoid it crashing into a populated area. However, the problem was that shooting down the MiG with missiles would shower populated areas below with deadly flaming debris.

It was decided to simply accompany it to the English Channel at watch it run out of fuel and splash into the sea. But again, that is not what happened. The RAF (Royal Air Force) placed a Phantom FGR2 on alert should the MiG continue on and find its way into British airspace.

Tragedy Strikes

However, the MiG-23 did not continue on course for the Channel, but instead veered towards Belgium and Northern France. The thirsty Tumansky R-29 turbojet engine finally flamed out and, after an uncrewed flight of over an hour, the unpowered jet was now beginning its inevitable descent towards the earth. The French Air Force went on alert as the aircraft seemed to have the city of Lille in its sights.

At around 10:30 am, the MiG now turned heavy glider was near the city of Kortrijk, continuing on into Belgian airspace and just few miles from the French border, when it finally came down in Bellegem.

Wim Delaere, an 18 year old man, was home alone when the big warplane plowed into his farm house residence. He was killed upon impact. The rest of his family was away from home at the time. The tail section of the MiG, bearing the red star insignia of the Soviet Union, could be seen protruding from the rubble. The absence of a significant weapons load likely limited the potential consequences of the crash, preventing a worse disaster for residents and responders.

This video mistakenly describes the incident as a shoot down, but is valuable as it contains the actual radio chatter of the intercepting F-15 pilots that continues to the crash as well as images of the crash site and crashed aircraft.

Fallout

The fact a stray Soviet military jet had flown over multiple nations without notification from the Soviets to sovereign governments created a diplomatic crisis at a time when the Cold War was already approaching its end. Belgium issued a formal protest and publicly criticized the lack of communication from the Soviets about the phantom flight and the details of the aircraft’s armaments or lack thereof.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev publicly expressed his regrets and the Soviets issued an official apology. Moscow compensated with the equivalent of approximately 25 million Belgian francs, equivalent to about $685,000 at the time. After a Belgian investigation, the Soviets were allowed to retrieve the wreckage of the aircraft ten days after the incident.

A very simple automated flight control system on an empty fighter had exposed the weaknesses of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact. NATO was successful in intercepting the MiG, but seemed powerless to prevent it from crashing into civilian populated areas. The Warsaw Pact lost track of its own aircraft and failed to notify other countries of the possible danger.

A pilotless aircraft seemingly defeated the two most powerful military/defense organizations on earth. Abandoned just after takeoff and lost track of, it managed to streak 625 miles across much of Europe ending up on the other side of the continent even after being intercepted and ended in taking the life of a teenager.

© DoD photo