Ken Hyman wrote:
The landing gear is electric, backed up by cranks.
Crankin' down B-17 landing gear by hand is a real... er... uh... pleasure. The mains are cranked from inside the bomb bay. Plant one foot on the little 4" by 8" platform down there on the inside of the fuselage skin about a foot lower than the level of the catwalk, and plant your other foot up on the catwalk. Yeah, you're gonna be standing crooked, and your feet will be about four feet apart. Lean forward and insert the crank into the socket on the forward bulkhead. Notice how large the diameter of the cranking circle is (about two feet). Summon up all of your strength and stamina, and then turn the crank a mere TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE times. That'll take you somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes, depending on how much of a he-man you are. All done? Congratulations! You've lowered ONE of the main gear legs! Great job! Now go do the other one! Nothin' to it, right? Right. Now, imagine doing all of that while you're airborne, wearing your full flight suit, nearing the end of a ten-hour mission over hostile territory, with the airplane bouncing around, obviously damaged from flak or fighters or both, and you're cold, hungry, dog-tired, and probably scared half outta your wits. Perhaps you even have a bomb or two hung up in the shackles that you can't get rid of. And maybe your ball turret gunner is trapped in the turret, and his life depends on you getting the gear down and locked.
They were brave young men who crewed the mighty Flying Fortress.
By the way, as part of the annual inspection, we must crank the gear down by hand. It is not fun.
Cheers!
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