How To Fly The B-17: Flight Operations (1943)

Military training film in which an instructor trains a new B-17 bomber pilot in proper procedure and technique while airborne.
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[@TheVrownShow]

My Uncle and his crew were shot down flying these planes over Germany,my cousin never met his father because he was only a few months old when it happened. God bless my Uncle the pilot Paul Taylor and crew. Thanks to all those that fought for our freedom.

[@TheRatesMusic]

only on KZbin can I learn how to make my own forge for smelting aluminum cans AND learn to fly a B-17 all in one morning. Thanks interwebs, you're the best.

[@kamakirinoko]

I know! After I viewed the construction videos and had the basic aircraft built, the next difficult project was finding videos to build radial engines! Well, as you can imagine, that took a while . . . but after the third test flight I judged she was ready to go, so I began building the bomb, choosing as my model the first ever deuterium-boosted hydrogen bomb, because hey, why fuck around? So you'll be happy to know that the bomb is built, the plane is ready, and I'm off tomorrow to see if the bomb works, because I only had enough deuterium to build the one! So wish me luck, people, and I'll see you on the other side!

[@sophienavin8203]

this is crazy. i'm currently doing research on my great-grandfather who died in the b-17 plane during world war 2 for a school project. when i googled his plane, this is the first thing that came up. to think that he was on this plane at one point and probably watched this instruction video the same way i am right now is insane. thank you for sharing.

[@cherriewarren3417]

My dad was a B-17 pilot. Great to get to see what he would have done.

[@BBriBro]

Why the dislikes? This is aviation history at it's finest, not only vintage footage, but a glimpse of systems and procedures as well !

[@therealkarlmarx1818]

As someone personally trying to operate a B-17 aircraft myself, this tutorial is very useful. Thank you.

[@irish89055]

yes, this is Arthur Kennedy as instructor. He was in the Air Corp then making these films.. Many will recognize him from movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Elmer Gantry, and Peyton Place..

[@sirlordwhitman]

HAHA this is FASCINATING. Love the cartoon tutorials in the the middle of the film. And these pilots really needed a lot of technical know how. Seems a big waste of talent when the lot of them didn't make it back from war. Thanks for the upload!!!!

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

In 1943 the USAF came out with 145 octane avgas. It allowed very high boost with no pre-ignition/knocking. It was primarily used for bombers above 20,000 feet to improve power and fuel consumption. But there's stories of low level guys using it to great effect. Like the B-26 Marauder. Going in at low altitude but almost 20% faster than normal. The damage sustained was drastically lower than conventional speed. But it was not very easy to get the high octane fuel and pilots had to reconfigure their dope sheets to calculate bomb drop release points.

[@claytondyess4658]

Great film,and I have always loved this airplane!

[@rugbylane2000]

I find these films fascinating. Amongst other things, it shows why the US forces were so incredibly effective when they eventually got around to fighting WW2. This is atop class production - it then can be used to as part of a process to churn out thousands of effective pilots.

[@hiimbrady]

12:30 "In special cases you'll always figure your best power setting from your flight computer." And the guy in the back with the slide rule goes, "Aww, nuts."

[@shanefrance5071]

The sound of the b17 is awesome

[@SabraStiehl]

B-17s and B-24s carried a smaller bomb load than the British Lancaster since the American planes lugged ten crewmen (versus 7, including only one pilot for the Brits) and their gear plus at least 10 .50 cal machine guns and 420 rounds each (versus fewer .303 machine guns), adding 3000-4000 pounds which subtracted from the bomb loads. The Lancaster engines were inline Rolls Royce Merlins of about 1300 HP, while the American bombers featured Wright Cyclone R-1830 radials of about the same power.

[@spc301]

Wow I only wish my sep grandfather was alive to see these video's. He would have loved them, Because he flew B-17's.

[@CristoffandFriends]

My grandpa was a co-pilot on one of these back in the war and I bet he watched this!

[@madcitymcflyer]

Film was produced the the USAAF's First Motion Picture Unit in 1943. Pilot instructor is actor Arthur Kennedy, who was attached to that unit. That unit also included such actors as Craig Stevens [TV's Peter Gunn], Don Porter [the dad in TV's 'Gidget'] and even Ronald Reagan. The B-17 used in the filming was a late-production block Boeing-built B-17F.

[@wasistdaswasdasist]

Thanks a lot for uploading these videos!! Very interesting!

[@altoonabeme]

Factory fresh B-17 with that new bomber smell! Yeah, baby!!

[@TheModelGuy]

"Find out how far you can go with her and still be friends." Words to live by lol

[@MajSolo]

This vid is easily a favourite. Man, I wish, someone make a sim like this. Having to keep track of all this while being shot at. Learning how to fly an aircraft with defects and bad temper. I really like this vid.

[@mikew4171]

WAAY cool ! I annied up the $400. to take a demo flight (short-25 mins) on one of these "bad boys" --- cheap at twice the price. I was between the pilot/co-pilot nearly the whole flight except when I was peering through the Norden bomb sight. In a nice way, the pilot stated he "two hands full of airplane" and couldn't really concentrate on all my numerous questions --- understandably. What an experience, one I'll never forget ---- it was on my bucket list !!! DO THIS if you get the chance !

[@greagoffski1]

He is the best. Doesn't seem to panic in an emergency. My kind of person.

[@MGB-learning]

Outstanding video!

[@FinsaneLorist]

Excellent, very interesting!

[@groundcontrol436385]

Oh.my.god. I lost them by the 2 minute mark. I'd be dead. I can't believe my dad was on these planes and survived the war. Good going, Dad.

[@sehr56]

@CusterFlux Some think it was some totally informal evaluation.Most fighter pilots were considered to be real extroverts, who would do better solo and not having to be in charge of 9 other souls like 17 pilots were. B-17 pilots were considered to be able to take extreme pressure without wavering. Mainly calm and cool, good leaders, methodical, who remembered they were in charge of 9 other souls. However, you could simply be assigned by who they needed more at that time. @CusterFlux

[@pretakeoffcheck]

@AllanJNash It's Arthur Kennedy, alright, seenn his in some western in the early 50's with Jimmy Stewart...

[@davidvance6367]

Ken Mabe 222222224

[@benfried3745]

Been looking for an operational vid for my B-25 Mitchell..... It's been sitting in my side yard till the batteries have gone dead and tires have dry rotted

[@SabraStiehl]

"This guy"" was Stephen McElroy, a movie star right after WW II. He played bad guys and losers about as often as he did good guy roles.

[@manifestgtr]

hahah I love the dicey acting and transparent scripting of old instructionals like this...and I found something the b-17 has in common with the piper warrior! fuel pumps off at 1000' agl...like that's a huge surprise...

[@SabraStiehl]

The instructor pilot in the right seat was actor Stephen McNally who became a movie star, playing the villain about as often as not.

[@rhall4th]

13:24 What a cute little plane. :)

[@tryithere]

Cool video.

[@MurrayMelander]

The instructor is Arthur Kennedy.He wasn't in Winchester 73, but Bend Of The River with Jimmy Stewart.

[@joepapp01]

"how far can you go w/ her and still stay friends!?" lol... love the 1940s...hehe

[@SabraStiehl]

Airline check rides, which captains endure every 6 months and a copilot every year, basically check two things, how the pilot performs when he or she loses an engine at a critical point on takeoff (called a V1 cut), and how he or she performs a go-around with an engine inoperative for a twin or three-engine airplane or with two engines out on one side for a four-engine airplane. Due to recent events, other things may be checked in the future, but only time will tell if that ever happens.

[@SabraStiehl]

You're right about automation hurting pilots nowadays, as witnessed by the 3 French pilots crashing off the coast of Brazil, killing everyone. The copilot pulled the plane up immediately after the pitot tubes iced over, which stalled the plane. Then when the captain entered the cockpit he was no help. The B-17 then and current airplanes use 28 volt DC generators (now alternators) and a 24 volt battery. A transformer rectifier unit turns that into AC. I flew the glass cockpit Boeing '757 and'767.

[@markbattista6857]

Fantastic

[@carycoller3140]

There was a lot more going on in that cockpit than I ever imagined.

[@dimasdellatorre]

thx alot =D

[@andysim232]

@gundam116 its an addon for FSX that uses a custom module to simulate engine wear and tear. Its a whole new way of flying in sims cause bad flying will lead to a broken aircraft hehe.

[@alphamale666]

nice!!!

[@andysim232]

yup i got the B-17 accusim from A2A and its not like anything Ive flown before in FSX. Its a pity you cant shoot/bomb or be shot at but as a simulation its top notch. They modeled everything including failures due to bad engine managment. You break it!. Its also got accumulated hours logged so every time you fly you add wear to the engines and eventualy have to get them serviced.

[@Tubonaso]

Those guys sure had got brains AND guts

[@vinniscarboni4095]

Hated the cables jamming

[@billbright1755]

There will be days when you wonder why you took up this flying game. But a love of flying and aircraft is in your blood and for better or worse prepare for take off.

[@Bounty_Hunter84]

Im from ireland there was 3 irish nurses killed on that flight and i agree with what your saying.

[@ML4000]

very interesting

[@Steve1734]

I took three months and a Senator to get you into college to learn to fly a B17. Towards the end of the war, they dropped the Senator requirement. In the RAF, you learned to fly a single seater. They allowed you a weekend for that.They kept the best and then sent the rest to fly bombers. In the RAF you could be a pilot if you were an NCO. Skill was what mattered. Lots of Flight Sergeants in the RAF. The first thing American pilots discover about the Lancaster was that there was no co-pilot. One less pilot to lose if you copped it. Made sense. You were given a week and expected to be combat ready the following weekend. Why was it so much easier to fly than the B17? The B17 was designed in the early 1930s as a coastal patrol, antisubmarine aircraft. The Lancaster was a truck with engines and an enormous wing that was designed to carry twice the bombs as the B17 all the way to Germany at 100 ft. So the controls had to be light and sensitive at that height. You only gained height at the end of the bomb run to sling the bombs foward, then you hit the deck again and tried to get home. The B17s came in during the day at 25,000 ft in a box, flying in a straight line. So the Germans put up a box of flak that they had to fly through. It was carnage. 80% of B17 and B24 losses were to flak.

[@kenns9]

so the procedure to shut down the engines is to advance throttle to 1krpm, then throw mixture all the way forward, then place throtle all the way forward?

[@AllanJNash]

I am 99% certain that the instructor/actor is Robert Stack and NOT Arthur Kennedy as found in some of the descriptions. Stack was successful in the movies but was best known for playing Elliot Ness in the original "Untouchables" television series. Also seen in this series is a young Jack Paar who plays the executive officer and in real life went on to be arguably the most popular and influential host of The Tonight Show on TV.

[@CusterFlux]

How'd they choose between sending you to be a fighter pilot or a bomber pilot? What was the criteria?

[@tryithere]

I was wondering how much cooler will they be when the chocks are put in when it's only 15-30 seconds later anyway.

[@VideoProducer]

"Don't fight her, she won't throw ya!" Giggity!

[@shakeypitt]

Ten American pilots flew with units under the command of RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939-45 British campaign star

[@SabraStiehl]

I retired at the end of 1993, but I doubt things have changed. Pilots then were trained to recognize power on and off stalls, but only what they felt like at onset, not to recover from a full stall. The pilot recovered when the plane or similator burbled and he or she could feel it. Airbus's philosophy caused them to put laws or restrictions on their planes in a stall situation, ostensibly to help the pilot. Boeing's philosophy is to let the pilot recover on his or her own.

[@thebearclawjones]

06:39 "Now, let's see ya RIDE her!...."

[@tryithere]

Maybe you should bring up your flaps. There are spots where it does kind of look like Stack but near the end, you can tell it isn't.

[@tusenbiter]

@Angryrnmedic I bet they got computers doing all the hard work for them these days.

[@edwardm191]

@simonspiers Power yes, RPM no assuming constant speed prop.

[@douglaswallace7680]

How To Fly The "Hollywood" B-17 . All engines running - taxi to the runway - throttle up - pull back on the wheel - take off - fly to the target - fly home safely - get drunk - repeat for the next mission . EEEEE ZZZEEEE ! !

[@wingking077]

cool, now i need to get my hands on a b17

[@davidvance6367]

wingking077, The government destroyed almost all WW2 aircraft. They were afraid the people would use it on them

[@gundam116]

@andysim232 wat game that

[@terencerucker3244]

Hmmm.. That instructor looks familiar. It's Kevin McCarthy of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" Are they carrying a load of alien pods?

[@bilbobaggins5704]

+Terence Rucker Arthur Kennedy is the instructor /co-pilot

[@copernicus633]

@@bilbobaggins5704 Big actor in 40s and 50s, under name Arthur Kennedy.

[@barkon]

Seems so much more complex than a turboprop-equipped a/c. All that and still have to worry about getting shot at.

[@elmerlarimer9026]

like it

[@imaudie43]

I think boeing should make about 40 b-17s just for nostalgia

[@notaire2]

I simply cannot understand why this excellent film was not produced before the U.S. entered the World War. If it had been timely made and B-17 bomber pilots had been trained through this film, the casualties might have been reduced to a certain extent as compared with the reality.

[@tryithere]

At 13:15, the world's first documented case of texting while driving.

[@saxx001]

Is that Richard Widmark ? it was know that he tried to enlist 3 times but he had a perforated eardrum.

[@nancyvickers8059]

Arthur Kennedy

[@tryithere]

I can't believe they didn't rear wheel position indicators in the cockpit.

[@hoodoo2001]

You can see why they needed navigators....pilots were busy.

[@Nicker123]

Best airplain in the battle of britain

[@RainbowManification]

looks like an earlier model of B-17

[@antares4s]

You really had to be a flight engineer as well as a pilot to understand and operate an aircraft of that era. Not at all like today's modern aircraft. Back then you had to manage everything. Far more complicated than its looks.

[@elultimo102]

A little like running a steam locomotive, which could kill you, if you didn't know what you were doing---as opposed to modern diesels or electrics.

[@rugbylane2000]

This is why you tube was invented.

[@BooteyMasta]

I have the authentic 1942 manuals for these engines as well as the "Flight Manual" and "Erection Manual & Maintenance manuals " for the "B-17" if anyone needs some specific info on it :)

[@zieperegrine5237]

I do i am creating a cockpit for this thing in warthunder and i need to know what gauges amd such i need to animatw

[@BooteyMasta]

santa grop-Send me your email addy and I can get you pics of the entire cockpit with instrument details.

[@zieperegrine5237]

Mensa Melancholia [e-mail]

[@BooteyMasta]

ZiePeregrine-Will send you email later.

[@elmerlarimer9026]

chasles a larimer 1911-2002 8 AAF 896 MP CO

[@hoodoo2001]

I think about the guys who saw this video and never came home.

[@elmerlarimer9026]

ME TOO THANK

[@IEthaNoLFTW]

This guy knows his shit lol

[@larryblack2981]

Complicated, isn't it?

[@serwolfx]

make them and put some nose art on them

[@HJBounell]

Gentlemen..... we are looking for some volunteers.........

[@SuperTastyone]

No Parachute checks then!

[@gallantrycross]

Earhart.

[@HarmanMotorWorks]

I can in the simulator does that count? lol

[@imaudie43]

It's not like they don't have enough money

[@AllanJNash]

Well, maybe 98% certain and dipping...

[@SierzantYelonek]

Hwheels

[@SabraStiehl]

Some of you reading these blurbs have a yen to fly in combat, maybe having honed that yen playing video games and thinking yourself invincible. That's a bad idea. Combat environments are becoming so dangerous that in the future most or all direct combat in the air will be in unmanned planes, as witnessed by the USAF currently training more pilots to fly Predators, etc. than manned airplanes. I'd suggest you young warmongers change your thinking to tanks.

[@skeeterbuggy]

i think the instructor was in Winchester 73

[@themrhelperguy]

How about some views for themrhelperguy

[@AllanJNash]

Certainty on Robert Stack actor as instructer has dropped to 0%! see wikipedia bio of Arthur Kennedy. Sorry for the distraction from great B17 video. Is there any way to delete a dumb comment?

[@rollingstopp]

nothin to it

[@mrloy99]

95 gallons an hour

[@flyurway]

And that's after backing down to econo-mode!

[@gallantrycross]

This is why women can't fly airplanes, it's way too complicated. They don't even know how a car works. Yeah, a few women can fly, but not very well. Amelia Erhardt (sp?) was a lousy pilot, that's why she got lost. That actor in the co-pilot's seat is Arthur Kennedy, he was the news reporter in "Lawrence of Arabia".

[@flyurway]

Many of those planes made their way to England by women ferry pilots!

[@HarmanMotorWorks]

I can in the simulator does that count? lol