B-17 is an American bomber (flying fortress). The Germans had other models of aircrafts.
Of the American B-17s, the Memphis Belle is the most famous, the first to survive twenty-five bombing missions. American fighter pilots were required to fly fifty missions, and American bomber crews were required to fly twenty-five.
Many B-17s crash landed in German held territory. So the Germans had several captured B-17s. These were used for training German pilots. Allied pilots reported seeing unmarked B-17s shadowing bomber formations just out of range of the allied guns. These were believed to crewed by Luftwaffe personnel.
The mission requirements for bomber crews was raised from 25 to 30 as the war progressed and experienced crews were needed to continue the air offensive against Germany. Fighter pilots mission requirements were measured in "combat hours". The requirement being set at 200 combat hours.
Suggested Reading:
The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It, by Gerald Astor, Special:Booksources
"The Flying Fortress", "fort" for short. It carried as many as twelve .50 caliber machine guns. Six or eight of these were in twin mounts, giving the gunner two to fire. Of its ten man crew, four were full time gunners, and four others had guns to operate if they weren't busy at their primary job. These made attacking a Fort a daunting task for enemy fighter pilots. The B-17 was also extremely rugged and could absorb an amazing amount of punishing damage without going down. On bombing raids they flew in groups, in formations so tight that pilots constantly had to jockey to keep from colliding with neighboring aircraft, for hours over enemy territory, so they could cover one another with their guns.
All throughout WWII.
On a B17 bomber the spent shell casings (brass) fell on the floor. Everything was scarce and rationed during WWII so I assume the brass was reused.
Europe
James W Fore
Foot pedals controlled hydraulic motors
Boeing B17
All throughout WWII.
The B17, B24, and B29s were the heavy bombers of WWII. The B52 was the heavy bomber of the Vietnam War.
B52 B1B B17 B24
perhaps you mean the 'flying fortress' a B17 bomber
The B52 Stratofortess. During the Vietnam War, one B52 could carry up to 108 750lb HE bombs. That was equal to about 10 World War 2 B17 bombers.
It was the Flying Fortress, dubbed so by a Seattle journalist and later adopted as the official name.
On a B17 bomber the spent shell casings (brass) fell on the floor. Everything was scarce and rationed during WWII so I assume the brass was reused.
The B-17 .
The Boeing B-17 was a US Army Air Corps four-engine bomber with heavy defensive machine-gun armament and a crew of 10. Hundreds of them were used to bom German-occupied lands at that time.
1 h 21 min (104.1 km) via B17 and B17
B17 is a relative reference. $B$17 is an absolute reference. See the related question below.