Short Stirling
My late stepfather served half a tour on 7 Sqn Stirlings (previously flying in Wimpies) He then spent a rest tour helping evaluate the B17C for RAF service before heading back on ops. He was always adamant that the early Stirlings though plagued by u/c and throttle problems were far better aircraft than we now allow for he was convinced that the first production batch climbed higher faster and flew further than any of the subsequent machines.
Cookies take on this was that he thought that after Rochester had been bombed by the Luftwaffe all subsequent production a/c were built with the wing incidence slightly out and no one noticed.
Anyone out there with there have a better theory? Just down the road from out house stands a memorial to a Stirling Crew who fell to earth in 1944