pilot and a co-pilot side by side on the enclosed flight deck, a bombardier, a navigator, a radio operator, and five gunners that were all in the fuselage." (Comer 165)These Flying Fortresses were massive targets for the German and Japanese fighters to hit and that what they usually did. The Flying Fortresses would fly in box formation so the five gunners had an overlapping field of view of the enemy's fighters. The gunners of the Flying Fortresses had to be capable of firing down enemy aircraft from hundreds of yards out to only a couple of feet. If the gunners could not take out enemy planes far enough away from the rest of the squadron then they ended up jeopardizing all of the other planes as well. Since the Flying Fortresses flew so close together if you shot down one plane you usually ended up getting two by the domino effect. Flying Fortresses were the most prized aircraft throughout World War II. Flying Fortresses had excellent long-range abilities, and were able to go on strategic bombing missions with pinpoint accuracy on a fair day at any elevation. The Anola Gaye was one of the most famous of all the B-17 Flying Fortresses because the Anola Gaye was the first plane too ever drop an atomic bomb. The crew of the Anola Gaye never knew what type of bomb they were going to use. The crew was only told to drop the bomb over the middle of Hiroshima and get the hell out as fast as possible at the highest elevation possible. The other type of plane that I briefly mentioned earlier is the Consolidated Model 32 (B-24 Liberator). The Liberators were produced in mass numbers, even more than its predecessor the B-17 Flying Fortress. The Liberators did not have the same range as the Flying Fortress but falls just short of the mark of tying. Liberators were much easier and faster to build. This was the reason why the United States could produce so many of them so fast. Liberators were much more maneuverable than the Flying Fortresses because...
