Скачать или смотреть Why So Many B-17 Flying Fortresses Were Scrapped After the WW2?

After World War II, thousands of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses—aircraft that symbolized American air power and survival over Nazi Germany—were quietly dismantled and melted down. This documentary explores why one of the most iconic bombers in history was scrapped in such massive numbers despite its legendary reputation for durability and heroism.

By 1945, the United States possessed over 12,700 B-17 bombers, far more than could be maintained in peacetime. With the war over, military strategy shifting toward jet technology, and the American economy transitioning back to civilian production, these once-essential machines became surplus. Maintaining them was costly, storing them was impractical, and preserving them all was impossible.

Using historical accounts, economic data, and firsthand veteran perspectives, this film examines:

The sheer scale of American wartime aircraft production

The role of the War Assets Administration in postwar disposal

Why aluminum recycling made scrapping profitable

How jet aircraft and new doctrines made piston bombers obsolete

The emotional impact on aircrews who trusted the B-17 with their lives

From the desert aircraft graveyards of Arizona to the few surviving museum pieces, this is the story of how industrial warfare turns even legends into inventory—and why fewer than fifty B-17s survive today.

This is not just a story about airplanes. It is a story about abundance, transformation, and how modern wars end—not with parades alone, but with cutting torches.

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