What is the difference between a b 17 and a b29

Here, half were sent to Europe to fight the Nazis, and the other half were sent to the Western Seaboard, Hawaii and captured Pacific Islands, to fight the Japanese.

Perhaps the most famous mission of the B was in Famously, two Bs, the Enola Gay and Bockscar , were deployed from the island of Tinian and flew to the Japanese heartland. Instead, they were carrying the first atomic bombs, which they would drop on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here, the introduction of jet fighters relegated the piston B to night missions only.

After Korea, the Bs would be slowly phased out. Here, the B would be phased out in favor of the jet-powered B and B Following Korea, the B would be used as an air-to-air refueler, cargo and weather reconnaissance aircraft among other roles. As of the time of writing, there are roughly 20 Bs used as static displays in aviation museums all around the world. Currently, there are only two Bs are still airworthy, Fifi and Doc , both of which serve as warbirds.

Sadly, the number of B and B pilots is diminishing with each passing week. With this, many have sadly passed away from old age. Luckily, I was able to interview a number of B and B pilots about their experiences with both aircraft.

All in all, he said that he preferred the B According to him, the B was far easier to fly than the B, even when it was falling to pieces from the amount of damage, the B was far easier to control than the B was.

However, he did mention that when he flew on the B, there were often more Bs flying, and as such, more fighters to protect them. He did also admit that this was mostly due to the reduced payload of the B As bombers, both the B and B had very large crews. The B required a crew of 10, whilst the B required a crew of Naturally, these crews have their own opinions on both bombers too! On top of interviewing their pilots, I was fortunate to interview several crew members bombardiers, flight engineers, navigators etc.

When I interviewed both of them, I explicitly asked both of them which aircraft they preferred. Their answer was almost immediate: B When I asked for why they gave quite a few reasons as to why they preffered the B For the most part, it was down to the fact that the B could take more punishment. The B could be damaged far more without crashing, than the B could.

As per usual, I asked a group of American, Australian, British, Kiwi and Canadian avgeeks about which heavy bomber they preferred. As per usual, there was a split with some preferring one over the other. For others, they preferred the B, reminding other avgeeks that it was the first and only aircraft to have ever dropped an atomic or nuclear bomb on an enemy nation during combat! Personally, before I sat down to write this article, I had never really given much thought to which aircraft I preferred.

However, over the course of writing this article, I have begun to prefer one bomber over the other. Here, my favorite aircraft was the Tupolev Tu For those who are unfamiliar with the Tu-4, it was a Soviet, reverse engineered version of the B It was my favorite because it looked so cool, and was instrumental during the Cold War.

When it all boils down, the B is noticeably larger than the B The B is much longer than the B is, by almost five times as much! It was the first pressurized bomber, so cannon hits on it often caused explosive decompressions of the cockpit. What it was, was an incredibly effective, very long range, very heavy load carrying bomber. Bringing down both speed and altitude massively helped with the engine trouble, and by this point Le May had removed the troublesome defensive armament.

Even against the far less deep air defences of North Korea in the Korean War , the B could not operate without an escort by day, or by night at low level. You must be logged in to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

Log In Sign Up. The Aviation Geek Club. Aviation History Military Aviation Warbirds. By Dario Leone. Share this article. Dario Leone. It too has seen extensive service with the Air Force and is a critical part of its bomber fleet. But the B has proven so adaptable — and the B-1 has been so strained by the war on terror — that the Stratofortress may outlive its replacement. No bomber that has flown has been as advanced as the B-2 Spirit, the world's first stealth bomber.

With a crew of two, the B-2 has a range of 6, miles, a ceiling of 50, feet, and a top speed over mph. It can deliver over 40, pounds of ordnance and is known for flying bombing missions as long as 33 hours. The Spirit is designed to fly into enemy territory undetected, drop conventional or nuclear weapons, and return unscathed, and it has done so in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

They have also flown from Missouri to Korea and back as a show of strength against North Korea. With 21 built, the B-2 is expected to be in service until the early s, when it will be replaced by its successor, the new and also stealthy B Raider.

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Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Benjamin Brimelow. The US Air Force now fields some of the most advanced bombers that have ever flown and is working on the next one to join its fleet.

Those aircraft, a cornerstone of the US's ability to dominate battlefields, are the result of decades of innovation. Below you can learn more about the bombers that proceeded them. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.