All Lined Up

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 04/17/2016 at 21:50 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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In 1942 a B-17 cost $238,329 off the line. That would be $3.6M in today’s dollars. Still a heck of a deal.

gmctavish needs more space > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:00

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NP

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:11

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heck of a deal until you remember they had a 37.3% loss rate. ~47500 crew lost :(

WilliamsSW > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:15

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Even with the volume discount, that's a bargain. Saw one up close last year at Oshkosh, puddles of oil under each engine and all. Beautiful aircraft, and great to see an airworthy example!

-this space for rent- > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:18

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WW2 Heavy Bomber max takeoff weight only a few tons more than a modern lightweight fighter. Yikes.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:19

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Fun fact: the B17 and F18 can carry about the same bomb load.

XJDano > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:21

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I wonder what today’s actual production cost would be.

I don’t think all of America has the same pitch in attitude of the 40's.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 04/17/2016 at 22:37

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B-17 empty weight: 36k lbs

F-18 empty weight: 32k lbs

crazy that one also had 5x the crew.

Hot Takes Salesman > f86sabre 04/17/2016 at 22:39

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Saw one taking off last year at the Airpowe Museum’s Memorial Day event thing. It was glorious, along with the Corsair and the divebombers and all the others

Hot Takes Salesman > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/17/2016 at 22:40

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And 5x the loss rate, and 0x the jet engines

ttyymmnn > -this space for rent- 04/18/2016 at 13:19

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Engines have gotten just a tad more powerful, though.

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/18/2016 at 13:25

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They were all pretty small, though. I photographed this stencil on the side of a B-17G at an air show. “CREW WEIGHT 1200 LBS.” With a crew of 10, that means that each guy averaged just 120 lbs. Of course, they were all 18-year-old farm boys, but still. Try finding eight 120-pound kids today. I’ll allow the pilots a little more weight, since they were older. Maybe mid-20s at most, though. I read about one B-17 pilot who joined at age 21 and retired at 24 as a full colonel.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 04/18/2016 at 13:28

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And they built 12,700 of them. Twelve. Thousand.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 04/18/2016 at 14:35

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$28.6B.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 04/18/2016 at 15:14

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With a “B”.