Originally Posted by
pax britanica
re the 'stored ' B17s . Not heartbreaking at all . One can look at them and say with pride that they won the war for us or alternatively better in a scrap yard than dropping bombs.
Like the B52s etc today a monument to Americas amazing capacity to mass produce even complex things .at quite extra ordinary rates , Liberty ships almost daily , B17s /24s thousands and thousands
DC3s , largest number ever made for a commercial aircraft? Sherman tanks, inferior to the panzers but not when its five versus one. Looking back with hindsight the factories of America (inc dockyards ) pretty much won WW2
In 1944 the US was producing 263 aircraft a day. In 1939 they built 8 per day! In 1942 they did not have enough airframes and borrowed Spitfires from Britain for North Africa and rebuilt wrecks in Australia to fight the Japanese.
Last edited by Sailvi767; 9th Nov 2023 at 13:23.