B-17 Flying Fortress & B -24 Liberator coloring pages

 Welcome to my free coloring pages blog.

Today's new post is a drawing of a famous aircraft.

It is a B-17 Flying Fortress.

B-17 Flying Fortress

The B-17 was a heavy bomber with a long-range.  It was used by America and her allies during World War II.  It was the USA's first long-range heavy bomber.  It was a truly remarkable aircraft.  B-17 bombers were known to come back from missions with heavy damage.  Some were so damaged that after they landed at their airbase in England the aircraft had to be junked.  

B-17 Flying Fortress could fly at an altitude of 30,000 feet.  They usually carried 6,000 lbs of bombs.  They had a wingspan of 103 feet 9 inches or 31.6 meters.  They were 74 feet 1.5 inches long... or 22.5 meters long.  When loaded they weighed over 40,000 lbs or over 18,000 kg.  The B-17's maximum speed was 318 mph or 511 kph.  They had a range of 2,000 miles or 3.219 kilometers.  

The B-17 had less range and a lower payload of bombs than the B-24 Liberator.  But the B-24 was less survivable when damaged.  In this drawing, the explosions you see are the anti-aircraft explosions of what was called flak.  My father, who was a B-24 pilot said that flak was actually beautiful, but you didn't want to get hit by it.  

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed my father, and his two best friends volunteered for pilot training.  Dad was assigned to B-24s.  Although he crash-landed once he survived the war to become a respected family doctor and surgeon.  Dad's friends were assigned to B-17s and sadly both were killed in training.  Of the three friends, only Dad lived to have a career, marry, and raise a family.  

B-24J Liberator.   

The B-24 was a larger American Bomber and had a heavier payload and a longer range.  It had a wingspan of 110 feet or about 33 meters.  It could carry 8,800 lbs of bombs.  It had a range of 2,850 miles or 4,586 km.  It had a high ceiling of 34,000 feet.  But as has been already mentioned, it had lower survivability when it was shot up in combat.  Some airmen called it the flying coffin because its shape was somewhat like a coffin.  Fortunately for me and my many brothers and sisters, Dad's planed all came back and he and all his crew survived his one crash landing.  

NOTE:  These drawings, in printable form, can be found by clicking on the category button labeled "Vehicles & Military Vehicles."