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Liberators outnumbered the Fortresses. I've spoken to members of Liberator crews who were pretty disdainful of the B-17s for their inferior speed, range, altitude, and bomb load.
I think a lot of this had to do with the B-25s being the plane on the Doolittle Raid, which made them immortal, and the fact that the B-17 was first on the scene and had that reputation for ruggedness. That and the documentary about the Memphis Belle.
I don't know how many times I've seen that horrifying piece of film of a Liberator in flames (shot from above) and the whole right wing just folds up.
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The B-24 was the most-produced bomber in WWII, possibly in history. The legendary Davis airfoil wing gave it, as you say, greater speed, altitude, range and bombload. Unfortunately, it was also the 24's weak point. A hit in the shorter, wider wing of a B-17 was often survivable; in the 24 it was frequently fatal. There are numerous shots and films of 24s losing their wings after battle damage that the 17 might have survived.
The B-24's shoulder-wing configuration also meant that, while the B-17 would usually crash-land OK, cushioned by the low wing (and protruding wheels, even in the retracted position), a 24 would usually come apart like a squashed bug. And, let's face it, while the 17 was glamorous the 24 was ugly. Ironic that the B-17 looked fast, but really wasn't, being underpowered, while the boxy 24 looked slow and was much faster.
My dad flew lend-lease B-24 Liberators in the RAF Far East Air Force in WWII, as a combat air film photographer. He always commented on the meticulous attention to detail, and technical quality, of the plane. He was also grateful, as were all the crews, for the engine reliability and outstanding service ceiling of the Lib, since they often had to cross the Himalayas.
In a long-ago post - possibly in the old forum - I mentioned that the one that ferried him back to RAF Kolar, in India, prior to catching the train for Bombay and the ship back to England in early 1946, may possibly be the preserved one flown by Wings of Fame. Kolar was a disposal point where scores, possibly hundreds, of planes were destroyed - many with just delivery mileage, or fresh out of shipping crates - after August 1945. A few survived.
Incidentally, the wing coming off the B-24 in the famous film clip was caused by bombs from another 24 higher up falling on it. If you record it in digital format (Tivo or DVD) and play it back at 1/4 speed you can easily see the cascade of bombs falling, until one explodes right on the main spar. Bombs from above were a constant hazard in the USAF's "box" formation method. There is another photo sequence where a bomb falls on a B-17's horizontal stabilizer, causing the plane to immediately go into an irrecoverable vertical dive. Amazingly, the pictures are taken through the open bomb bay doors of the 17 that dropped them. I guess in a Hollywood version, someone in the stricken plane would be transmitting AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Lay was also the screenwriter for Twelve O'clock High, which still rates in my book as one of the great films about combat aviation, surely much better than later ones like The Memphis Belle
I miss the old "Wings" series on A&E that I used to see ten years ago or so. They were down-and-dirty documentaries about how the airplanes were built and flown--lots of technical details that most viewers wouldn't care for. Maybe they're still on, but much too late at night or early in the morning for me to see them.