Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress

what is it?

The Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress was a modification for operational testing purposes of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber aircraft, converted to act as a heavily armed gunship to support other bombers during World War II. At the time of its development, long-range fighter aircraft such as the North American P-51 Mustang were just entering quantity production, and thus were not yet available to accompany bombers all the way from England to Germany and back.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 31.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 470 km/htop speed
• range 3,640 kmwithout refuelling
• size 33.6 tmax take-off weight
• built 25made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 84 years ago, in 1942.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 31.4 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,640 km: 20× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1942-09

introduced

1943

retired

1943

status

retired

number built

25

role

bomber escort

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Douglas, Vega Aircraft Corporation

engines

4× Wright R-1820-65 "Cyclone"

crew

10

length

22.6 m

wingspan

31.4 m

height

5.8 m

max take-off weight

33.6 t

top speed

470 km/h

cruise speed

315 km/h

range

3,640 km

ceiling

8,900 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.