Britain gallery: B17

Start engines... I confess that this picture of a Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress', 'Sally B', is

wholly fabricated. Apart from the aeroplane, that is. The new display hanger at Imperial

War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire has this famous type looking out, almost

longingly, towards the south-east, roughly in the direction of the wartime Schweinfurt

ball-bearing factory in southern Germany. But by itself the picture had no atmosphere.

Taking Ansel Adams' "You don't take a picture, you make it" to heart, I've done away with

the hanger-sized windows, introduced a different sky with a bomber's dawn lighting the

horizon (the B-17s were engaged mainly on daylight raids over Nazi Germany, while the

RAF flew at night), and giving its aluminium skin a golden glow from the early morning sun.

It's not too fanciful to think that this picture could've been taken in 1943, almost anywhere

in SE England, though not at this resolution and probably not in colour! The B17 was

roughly the same size as our Avro Lancaster, though with approximately half the

bomb-load. Bristling with defensive gunnery, and with long-range fighter escort from P-51

Mustangs, between them the B-17s and the Lancs eventually destroyed the German ability

to fight the war in the air. Start engines...

Start engines... I confess that this picture of a Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress', 'Sally B', is wholly

fabricated. Apart from the aeroplane, that is. The new display hanger at Imperial War Museum

Duxford in Cambridgeshire has this famous type looking out, almost longingly, towards the

south-east, roughly in the direction of the wartime Schweinfurt ball-bearing factory in southern

Germany. But by itself the picture had no atmosphere. Taking Ansel Adams' "You don't take a

picture, you make it" to heart, I've done away with the hanger-sized windows, introduced a

different sky with a bomber's dawn lighting the horizon (the B-17s were engaged mainly on

daylight raids over Nazi Germany, while the RAF flew at night), and giving its aluminium skin a

golden glow from the early morning sun. It's not too fanciful to think that this picture could've

been taken in 1943, almost anywhere in SE England, though not at this resolution and probably

not in colour! The B17 was roughly the same size as our Avro Lancaster, though with

approximately half the bomb-load. Bristling with defensive gunnery, and with long-range fighter

escort from P-51 Mustangs, between them the B-17s and the Lancs eventually destroyed the

German ability to fight the war in the air. Start engines...

Marking time...