By the end of the war, the B-17 was an obsolete aircraft which had been surpassed by another Boeing bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. The plane was pulled out of front-line service and used as a transport plane and even drones. While the US had less than 200 at the start of the war, more than 12,000 B-17s were produced by the end and served in A follow-up aircraft design by Consolidated was the B-32 Dominator, a plane with some of the B-24's characteristics, built in only limited numbers towards the end of World War II. The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24. These were built alongside the B-24 at the Consolidated plant in Fort Worth, Texas. B-29s were primarily used in the Pacific theater during World War II. As many as 1,000 Superfortresses at a time bombed Tokyo, destroying large parts of the city. Finally, on Aug. 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later a second B-29, Bockscar, dropped another atomic bomb on One of the display highlights was to be a demonstration of the awesome power of stick bombing from Liberators. Formations of B-24s were to drop sticks of 500-pound bombs in a show of carpet-bombing. During a rehearsal with live bombs the delivery was perfect. Most of the bombs fell in a straight line. The story of the raid and the B-25 itself is a testament to the bravery and skill of the aircrew that flew this amazing aircraft. Built by North American Aviation, the B-25 Mitchell was a medium bomber which could carry 3000 pounds of bombs at a max speed of 328 miles per hour, and carried six .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns for protection. Keystone B-3 light bomber: 1929 retired 1940: 36: Keystone B-4 heavy bomber: 1930 retired: 30: Keystone B-5 heavy bomber: 1929 retired: 30: Keystone B-6 heavy bomber: 1931 retired: 44: Martin B-10 & related heavy bomber: 1932 retired 1949: 342: Martin NBS-1 night bomber: 1920 retired 1929: 130: Martin T3M torpedo bomber: 1926 retired 1932: 124 The Hustler was a direct successor to the B-47 Stratojet in the medium bomber role. Medium bombers were expected to attack the Soviet Union from overseas bases. the B-24, and the B-29, the A new “very-heavy, very-long-range bomber to replace the B-17 and B-24” was needed. the test crew and 20 people on the ground were killed.) Boeing built new B-29 facilities in Renton For this episode of the podcast, we're looking into the world of the Beaufort bomber, a plane that was colloquially called the workhorse of the RAAF during World War Two. 700 bombers were built between 1941 and September 1944, and they were made here on home soil with the help of tens of thousands of people. The B-24, built at five plants across the US serves as an excellent example of this. The largest factory; the mile long Ford production line at Willow Run in Detroit. In total, around 19,000 Liberators were built between 1940 and 1945, the most of any bomber ever. Around a third of those, including the one behind me, were built at Willow Run. Wu9qWD.