https://www.facebook.com/CommemorativeA ... &__tn__=-R#OTD in 1941, the B-17 Flying Fortress saw its first combat sortie. A trial raid by three Royal Air Force Fortress I aircraft undertook a mission to bomb the naval barracks at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Of the three aircraft that launched, one had to turn back due to engine trouble. The other two made it to the target, but hit nothing, though they returned safely to base.
The British learned a great many of the lessons that improved the design of the B-17. They attempted the first raids at very high altitudes during daylight, counting on the Fortress' own machine guns to defend her against fighters. They learned bombing accuracy from 30K feet was not what it was made out to be, and that the defensive machine guns actually froze up at the temperatures at that altitude. They would go on to learn in later missions that the machine guns alone were not enough to fend off enemy fighters, and they also found many vulnerabilities of the design that were rectified in later models. Do you know some of them?
73 years ago today, the Yakovlev Yak-23 (NATO code-named: Flora) flew for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFXAdrJoQl0
Also 73 years ago today, the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser flew for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v92U2F9gbUo
72 years ago today, the Ilyushin Il-28 (NATO code-named: Beagle) flew for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwNdeRuAdqQ
37 years ago today:
https://www.facebook.com/avgeekery/post ... &__tn__=-ROn this date in 1983 the 1000th F-16 Fighting Falcon rolled out.
29 years ago today:
https://www.facebook.com/avgeekery/post ... &__tn__=-ROn this date in 1991 options were few for the crew of a Steeljaws Hummer in the Med.
13 years ago today:
https://www.facebook.com/avgeekery/post ... &__tn__=-ROn this date in 2007 Boeing rolled out the 787. Air France sure made theirs look magnifique!