The Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress was a modification of the United States B-17 Flying Fortress bomber aircraft, converted to act as a heavily armed escort for 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.
Read more about Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress: Design and Development, Operational History, Operators, Specifications (YB-40)
Famous quotes containing the words flying and/or fortress:
“Years in wingspans go
Across and over our heads. Watch them:
They are flying east. They are flying to the ebb
Of dark.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The absolute has moved into the fortress of the absurd.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)