Boeing B-17

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a plane added to the game on October 23, 2018. It comes along with the U.S.A.A.F. DLC. It was in service in the U.S.A.A.C. and U.S.A.A.F. from early 1941 to the early 1960s and still flies today under civilian pilots.

Description
The plane consists of 9 crew (2 more than the Lancaster's 7 crew); Pilot, Engineer, Bombardier, Navigator, Radio Operator, and 4 Gunners.

This plane has 5 guns by default, but two cheek guns can be purchased.

Operation
Similar to the Avro Lancaster, the player does not directly control anything in the aircraft, but instead controls the actions of the nine crew members to operate the aircraft. The crew consists of a Pilot, Flight Engineer, Navigator, Radio and Radar Operator, Bombardier, and four Gunners. Crew members, after gaining enough experience, can have a secondary role. However, if necessary, any crew member can perform any task on a basic level. Clicking on one crew member will display a small menu along the bottom of the screen with buttons the player can click to perform some action.

At the start of every mission before takeoff, the aircraft sits at the end of the runway at the Airbase until the player commands the pilot to start the takeoff roll. When the takeoff begins, all the engines will be started simultaneously, and then the aircraft begins accelerating down the runway. The landing gear can be raised after lifting off from the runway, and it is recommended the player commands the pilot to do so to conserve fuel.

During a flight, one or more of the engines can ignite after taking heavy damage. Fires can be extinguished using extinguishers, by performing an emergency dive, or by letting the fire burn out over time by itself. If the fire burns out on its own, the engine will shut off after the fire goes out. The player can command a crew member, preferably a flight engineer, to crawl out of the aircraft and onto the wing to repair the engine. After being repaired, the engine will be operational and at full health.

Some types of ammunition can cause a fire to start inside of the plane. These fires can also be extinguished using an extinguisher or with an emergency dive, but these fires will not burn out over time and will instead spread slowly if left unattended. It is recommended that the player have at least one fire extinguisher on board in case of an onboard fire.

The B-17, in-game, has several systems to be maintained that are crucial to the operation of the aircraft: electricity, oxygen, and hydraulics. Electricity is required for the operation of the radar, the oxygen is required to keep crew members from suffering from hypoxia at high altitudes, and the hydraulics system is required to keep turrets, the bomb bay doors, and the landing gear operational.

Before landing, the landing gear must be lowered again before touching down. Failure to do so will result in a crash. Once the aircraft touches down, the pilot will lower the tail and reduce throttle. It is still safe to land the aircraft with only one wheel in the event that one of them has been shot off during combat. At least one engine must be running as well, else the aircraft will be uncontrollable and will likely crash onto the runway or near it. Nothing else needs to be closed or operational for a safe landing (e.g. all systems can be inoperative (assuming the hydraulics only fail after the gear is lowered) and the bomb bay doors left open on landing) The mission will officially close just before the aircraft comes to a complete stop.

Trivia
It appears that the plane is based on the B-17G (due to its offset waist gun unlike the B-17E and B-17F that have waist guns opposite of each other), although it's missing the chin turret and the radio operator gun. The co-pilot is also missing as it is replaced by the engineer which in real life is the main gun turrets gunner, thus the crew being ten.