Flying Display Photo Gallery

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress G-BEDF "Sally B"

B17 Preservation Ltd

The Flying Fortresses used innovative tactics on the highly dangerous daylight bombing missions over Europe. These were devised by Colonel Curtis E. Le-May of the 305th Bombardment Group.

Le-May arranged the huge Fortress formations into tightly-packed combat boxes of about 20 aircraft. A combat box consisted of three groups of six or seven aircraft arranged to mutually protect each other with their heavy defensive armament. This prevented Luftwaffe fighters from picking off isolated bombers. On very large raids three such combat boxes were arranged into a combat wing.

Le-May also devised a system to increase bombing accuracy. He placed his best crews at the head of each combat box. On their signal, the entire box would release their bombs, thus concentrating their destructive power on the target. Accuracy was also improved with the use of the Norden bombsight. This consisted of a telescope and a mechanical calculator linked to the Fortress's autopilot. As the Fortress approached the target, the bombardier effectively flew the aircraft and lined it up accurately.