B-17 ENGINE.

B-17 ENGINE.
American, c.1940 1,200 hp Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial engine, with glass table top in place of propeller and held in place by spinner. 1,600 x 1,100 mm.

The four-engine (1200 hp each) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber, which cost over $200,000 each in 1940 (the equivalent of about $3,000,000 in today's market), was a key component of the United States Army Air Forces' (USAAF) World War II strategy in Western Europe. It dropped more bombs (640,000 metric tons) on German industrial and military targets than any other U.S. aircraft. It was relatively fast (287 mph maximum speed), high-flying, long-ranging (2,000 miles with 6,000 lb bomb load), and known for its toughness with a number of badly damaged B-17s still able to return to base. In one famous episode a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control and hit one of the B-17s, which continued to fly, its tail nearly severed. The B-17 headed back toward base, its gunners fending off two more Me-109s. Nearly 2 1/2 hours after the collision, the aircraft was able to make it back to base and land on the runway, its entire crew safe.