Скачать или смотреть LETHAL GRAVITY: A MID-AIR VIEW OF THE B-17 PAYLOAD 🛡️

❓ "What did it feel like to be the only man hanging under the plane?" For the gunner who took this photo, the world was a 360-degree panorama of clouds, flak, and steel. The Sperry Ball Turret was so small that gunners were chosen for their short stature; even then, they couldn't wear a parachute inside the turret.

The Mission: "Big B"
By March 1944, the U.S. Army Air Forces were engaged in a sustained campaign to break the German spirit and industry. Berlin, nicknamed "Big B" by the crews, was the most dangerous target in Europe.

The Defensive Box: To survive the dense anti-aircraft fire (flak) and German fighters, the B-17s flew in tight "Combat Boxes." This allowed the ball turret gunner to look up and see his fellow "Forts" dropping their payloads, as seen in this image.

The Payload: A B-17 on a long-range mission to Berlin typically carried around 4,000 to 5,000 lbs of bombs. The "stream" effect seen in photos occurs because the bombs are released in rapid succession to ensure a concentrated "carpet" of damage on the target below.

The 384th Bomb Group: "Keep 'Em Flying"
Based at Station 106 (Grafton Underwood) in England, the 384th was a veteran unit that suffered some of the highest casualty rates of the war. On raids like this one to Berlin, it was common for the group to lose multiple aircraft to flak "tracking," where German gunners on the ground would find the altitude of the formation and create a "box" of explosions that the bombers had no choice but to fly through.

The Physics of the Drop: In this photo, you can see the bombs beginning to tilt nose-down. It took several seconds for the heavy steel casings to stabilize in the thin air at 25,000 feet. From the ball turret, the gunner could actually follow the bombs all the way down until the flashes of orange and black smoke erupted on the city streets below.

The perspective from the ball turret was unique - it was the only place on the aircraft where you could see the war in four dimensions: the planes above, the fighters at your level, the flak reaching up, and the bombs falling away. Subscribe to see the historical stories they didn't teach you in school.