[102nd-YU-Patak]

B-17 (41-24406) "All American" after a direct collision with an enemy Me-109, on 1st February 1943.




Despite this massive damage "All American" brought her crew home.

Hope you enjoyed these
Cheers!

[Hawker17]

Yes i did! Thanks a lot.

[RadPig94]

no doubt the rear gunner had to clean out his workstation... among other things

[Serpiko]

I saw this story once, absolutely impressive. According to the crew, while flying the crippled bird back, they tried to help the rear gunner to reach the front section, but they had to abort: it turned out that the weight of the gunner was now essential as a "mass balancer" to prevent the tail from critically shaking. Then, the crew "reinforced" the structure using the strings of a spare parachute!

[LeBigTed]

I saw this story once, absolutely impressive. According to the crew, while flying the crippled bird back, they tried to help the rear gunner to reach the front section, but they had to abort: it turned out that the weight of the gunner was now essential as a "mass balancer" to prevent the tail from critically shaking. Then, the crew "reinforced" the structure using the strings of a spare parachute!

I knew this pic, but not the story !

Thanks for sharing the Art work 102nd-YU-Patak ! It's gorgeous !

Ted

[102nd-YU-Patak]

You are most welcome sir

There is some testimony of her crew they wrote a diary about the event, I'll try to dig it out somewhere and share it with u guys here