re: WWII Thread: Lesser known aircraft that you like

quote:

---

Now imagine spending that many hours in this..

---

Imagine having to pee in that cockpit at some point.

Which brings to mind a funny story regarding B-17's in British service...

Before the US entered WWII, the RAF was flying B-17's in combat as a result of Lend Lease.

The B-17's did not have a good reputation in British hands. It's bomb bay doors routinely refused to open above the targets, which caused the British to reassign it to reconnaissance missions.

Boeing Aircraft was unable to replicate the problems in the US. So the company finally sent a civilian engineer to go along on a British B-17 bombing mission.

Just after takeoff, the American engineer witnessed an RAF crewman peeing into the bomb bay. When questioned, the crewman explained that this was a ritual among RAF flight crews. It was though to bring good luck.

The result was, as the American engineer submitted in his report noted, that the urine froze at high altitude and the mechanism that opened the bomb bay doors wasn't strong enough to open the doors sealed shut by frozen urine.

The result was that the British banned peeing into the bomb bay after take off, which immediately fixed the problem. Boeing also installed a more robust door opener in newer B-17's to ensure the problem never happened again.

The incidence of stuck bomb bay doors in B-17's was very low in USAAF service comparison.