B17 Outbound - 'Heavy Weather'
by Pat Speirs
Title
B17 Outbound - 'Heavy Weather'
Artist
Pat Speirs
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Art Print
Description
B17 Series
Outbound - Heavy Weather
The first crews for the B17 Squadrons of the 8th Air Force started operations well into 1942. Having just completed training, probably at a sunny Texas base, the pilots were faced not only with the stark reality of operational sorties but with the bleakness of winter skies in the East Anglia region of the UK. Considering that the pilots were passed to operational flying with an average of 250 hrs it is not surprising that the accident rate was high.
The image shows a group of B17s struggling out of the autumn murk into a weak wintry sunshine - a far cry from training days in Texas. Some 8 hrs later they would be back trying to find their base in similarly bad weather.
Uploaded
May 31st, 2012
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Viewed 2,904 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/18/2024 at 9:11 AM
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Comments (10)
Pat Speirs
Thanks guys, your interest much appreciated. Gary - the scariest statistic is the few hours they had going in to combat, hardly enough to know that they didn't know anything!! Thanks for the input.
Gary Eason
Hey, terrific - I don't think I'd seen this one. I remember reading a (British) bomber pilot's account of climbing out in an overcast, knowing that other heavies were all around but not knowing where, as the scariest part of the trip. Extraordinary when you think about it.