Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

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CJS
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Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by CJS »

I know there are many, many of these from films we've all seen, but I have 2 specific questions regarding the 1990 film Memphis Belle that I am hoping UKAR can help with (and yes, I could Google it, but this is way more fun...):

1. Would the crew really have thrown out their expensive guns (along with other kit) to save weight when trying to get back to England on 1 engine? Is there any evidence that this either happened or that it would have made much difference anyway? And for that matter could a B-17 really fly on 1 engine, even for the shortest distance?

2. When they make it back across the (I have always presumed) East Anglia coast, they end up back their home base. A quick search suggests there were many bases across the area, some very close to the coast. I don't know where the film is meant to be set, but they'd have got the aircraft back to any old airfield with a suitable runway wouldn't they? Maybe their's was meant to be the closest anyway, I dunno.

I should point out that I love the film and don't really care if it's accurate or not, but these 2 points have always intrigued me!
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Irish251
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Irish251 »

There are many accounts of aircrew jettisoning heavy items in an effort to mitigate the effects of engine/s being out of commission. I assume it was deemed better to try to save the aircraft even if some equipment was lost in the process. Here is an example:
https://www.americanveteranscenter.org/ ... world-war/

Andy'll do
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Andy'll do »

There are many instances of crew throwing stuff,including guns & ammunition,to lightning the load,also of B17's being able to fly on one engine. They could take enormous punishment. There are some decent articles in the latest issue of Flypast on all of the above !!

Mike
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Mike »

I don’t know about the accuracy, but that summer sure was a fun time. Riding around East Anglia in the waist position of a B-17, dressed as a gunner by the props dept, as part of a formation of 5 B-17s with a finger four of Mustangs overhead and Mark in the Buchon howling almost vertically through the formation, is one of my all-time favourite aviation memories. Good times!

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Wes_Howes
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Wes_Howes »

Just jumping on the topic a bit, I can recommend The Cold Blue. Made using unused footage from the 1944 version of Memphis Belle, it's a documentary film too, depicting what it was like to fly a mission over Germany in 1944 and it's fascinating.

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Wrexham Mackem
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

Mike wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 10:18 pm
I don’t know about the accuracy, but that summer sure was a fun time. Riding around East Anglia in the waist position of a B-17, dressed as a gunner by the props dept, as part of a formation of 5 B-17s with a finger four of Mustangs overhead and Mark in the Buchon howling almost vertically through the formation, is one of my all-time favourite aviation memories. Good times!
What an experience to have had Mike, that must have been amazing.

Memphis Belle's base was Bassingbourn, very close to Duxford for those unfamiliar, so had it or any other B-17 limped over the channel on one engine they would land much closer to the coast surely?

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Brevet Cable
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by Brevet Cable »

Browning M2s were mass-produced, so ditching them wouldn't be an issue ( and the barrels were replaced due to wear after so many rounds were fired through them anyway )....and considerably cheaper than a replacement aircraft & crew.

A standard M2 for vehicle-mounting weighs in at around 35-40Kg - although I think the aircraft ones were a few Kg less as they use a lighter barrel - so even if they couldn't remove all of them ( 12-13 ? ) it would still add up.
A standard 100 round box of .50 Link is around 15-20Kg ( if you've never seen one in the flesh, they're big heavy rounds )....granted they carried them as a long continuous link, but depending on how many rounds each gun carried ( and how many hadn't been fired ) it too would make a difference.

Throw in ( or out ) personal protective gear - flak jackets, helmets, etc. - and that would probably be about 10-12Kg or more per person.
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Wrexham Mackem wrote:
Tue 16 Aug 2022, 7:36 am
Mike wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 10:18 pm
I don’t know about the accuracy, but that summer sure was a fun time. Riding around East Anglia in the waist position of a B-17, dressed as a gunner by the props dept, as part of a formation of 5 B-17s with a finger four of Mustangs overhead and Mark in the Buchon howling almost vertically through the formation, is one of my all-time favourite aviation memories. Good times!
What an experience to have had Mike, that must have been amazing.

Memphis Belle's base was Bassingbourn, very close to Duxford for those unfamiliar, so had it or any other B-17 limped over the channel on one engine they would land much closer to the coast surely?
Depending how much height they had managed to maintain (and they would have wanted to keep as much as possible while over water, that's why they were chucking stuff out) they wouldn't have wanted to steeply dive their damaged aircraft to a coastal airfield. It would therefore be no great matter to use their descent once across the North Sea to reach home base, which after all isn't more than forty miles or so inland.

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centaurus18
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Re: Memphis Belle (1990 version) inaccuracies?

Post by centaurus18 »

Mike wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 10:18 pm
I don’t know about the accuracy, but that summer sure was a fun time. Riding around East Anglia in the waist position of a B-17, dressed as a gunner by the props dept, as part of a formation of 5 B-17s with a finger four of Mustangs overhead and Mark in the Buchon howling almost vertically through the formation, is one of my all-time favourite aviation memories. Good times!

Were you on site when the B-17 crashed on take-off Mike?
That must have been so surreal given the setting.... thankfully the airframe allowed all the crew inside to get out.
Mark
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