B-17 Passenger vs Combat Interior ...

[Mark Allen M]

Some may find these two images interesting. Both are B-17's. I'm not educated enough to state what models they are so I'll leave that to the B-17 experts.


Passenger version (modification)


Combat version with waist gunner positions.

[sandiego89]

No seat recline or infotainment screen for the pax?

[StangStung]

No seat recline or infotainment screen for the pax?

Exactly my thoughts. Looks like almost any flight would be too long in that config. Not a very comfy looking set up.

[Larry Kraus]

When I arrived in Vietnam in August 1968 as a 68B20 Aircraft Engine Repairman I flew from the replacement depot at Cam Rahn Bay to the 1st Cav HQ at An Khe in a C-130. There were about 60 of us and our luxury accommodations consisted of some cargo straps attached across the cargo bay where we sat on the floor facing aft with our duffle bags and using the cargo straps as rudimentary seat belts. Not much insulation in the airplane and when the landing gear was retracted it sounded like we had just made a belly landing on a PSP landing strip. Not a lot of TLC expended on FNGs in those days.

[bipe215]

When the war ended my dad (483rd BG) did not have enough points to come home so he flew troops from Pisa to Casablanca as part of the Green project. They called it Homebound Airlines. He said they stripped them down and put 2 x 6's down each side to sit on. Turrets stayed put. Crew of 5.
Couldn't have been comfortable but I'd say the troops were just glad to be headed home.

[Mark Sampson]

Somehow I doubt that the Swoose, General MacArthur's plane, or most other transport-converted B-17s were so spartan inside. The ones that flew personnel home after the war, as mentioned here? Probably like the one in the picture above.

[steve dickey]

I don't ever recall(now I'm gonna go look for interior shots in my books)that armor plate in the waist, interesting...

[JohnB]

No seat recline or infotainment screen for the pax?

Still, it beats Delta.

As for the model of B-17...
The passenger version looks to be a late "G" with the staggered gunner windows.

[bomberfan]

I don't ever recall(now I'm gonna go look for interior shots in my books)that armor plate in the waist, interesting...

There were several variations of the armor plating, including the one pictured. Here's a drawing that shows the one pictured.

Attachments

[Lon Moer]

TWA model 299 with passenger interior.....

civilFort8b.jpg (83.86 KiB) Viewed 1278 times

[p51]

Looks like almost any flight would be too long in that config. Not a very comfy looking set up.

No less comfy that the troop seats on a C-47.
Or for that matter, any modern transport.

[Mark Sampson]

Well, now I want to know the *rest* of the story. When did TWA use a B-17 as an airliner, and on what routes?
Not for very long, I'd guess.

[Jim MacDonald]

I wonder if the armor plate in the drawing and photo were put in place on the production line, at a Stateside depot before the planes went overseas or in a kit sent overseas for installation at the unit level?

Mac