Question about B-17 Missions

[cutiger83]

I have been searching but have not found an answer. I was curious about how long a B-17 mission was typically above 30,000 feet and on oxygen.  Was it just the time over enemy territory? Did it include the time over the channel? Since it took some time to get to that height, I was just curious about the amount of time they were on oxygen and flying in below zero temps. 

 

Thanks in advance,  Kat

[phantomfixer]

There are a lot of variables in the answer, maybe too many to give a definitive answer of "4 hours at 30,000 feet"..

 

To start,  typically in Europe, most missions did not reach the 30,000 foot altitude...the average altitude was closer to 20,000 feet..plus or minus depending on each mission's variables, such as target, distance to target, and weather...some missions required much lower altitudes, and some bordered at the 28,000 foot mark... early in the Air War in Europe, it was discovered the 30,000 plus ceiling was too much for plane (engines), and aircrews

typically, the strike force would assemble over England, using marker beacons, formation planes, smoke markers etc... and set out across the Channel still climbing and generally speaking, reaching the bombing altitude by the time they crossed the coast..and the reverse would be true on departure from the target, letdown somewhere near or after crossing the coast of the Continent...

So assuming a mission was set for the 28-30,000 foot marker, and the average mission was about 8 hours depending on target, France, Germany, etc...and this is just a wag on my part, maybe 3-4 hours at bombing altitude?   

[63 RECON]

Read the Mighty Eighth by Donald Miller, lots of good info in there

[TheCrustyBosun]

I’d be curious to see info on the amount of breathing air carried onboard and consumption trends. 

[phantomfixer]

27 minutes ago, TheCrustyBosun said:

I’d be curious to see info on the amount of breathing air carried onboard and consumption trends. 

http://www.303rdbg.com/sop-oxygen.html

 

some good info on the  oxygen system 

[cutiger83]

2 hours ago, phantomfixer said:

There are a lot of variables in the answer, maybe too many to give a definitive answer of "4 hours at 30,000 feet"..

 

To start,  typically in Europe, most missions did not reach the 30,000 foot altitude...the average altitude was closer to 20,000 feet..plus or minus depending on each mission's variables, such as target, distance to target, and weather...some missions required much lower altitudes, and some bordered at the 28,000 foot mark... early in the Air War in Europe, it was discovered the 30,000 plus ceiling was too much for plane (engines), and aircrews

typically, the strike force would assemble over England, using marker beacons, formation planes, smoke markers etc... and set out across the Channel still climbing and generally speaking, reaching the bombing altitude by the time they crossed the coast..and the reverse would be true on departure from the target, letdown somewhere near or after crossing the coast of the Continent...

So assuming a mission was set for the 28-30,000 foot marker, and the average mission was about 8 hours depending on target, France, Germany, etc...and this is just a wag on my part, maybe 3-4 hours at bombing altitude?   

Thanks so much! Great info!

 

...Kat