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NetDork t1_j5wuet1 wrote

Reply to comment by DoubleDickel in TIL American WW2 airplanes were sent to war unpainted starting in 1943. The polished surface made the planes faster and lighter, giving more range to all planes and more cargo hold for the bombers by PatmygroinB

The really clear indicator was when they went "Silver Plate" and didn't even install the defensive gun turrets anymore.

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ash_274 t1_j5x3d7a wrote

That was specifically for the atomic-bomb carrying planes (and the Doolittle Raid B-25s) that had to shave all possible weight in order to accomplish their missions.

Silverplate B-29s also had redesigned bomb bays and wing mounting in order to accommodate the physical size of the bombs

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Doc_Lazy t1_j5xx55u wrote

Doolittle's range extensions were something to behold. Highly recommend the book 'Target Tokyo' by James M. Scott for a good read up on the requirements, training and undertaking of that raid.

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paiute t1_j5ywxh3 wrote

That's the one Ben Affleck led?

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OtisTetraxReigns t1_j5zpo6o wrote

Doolittle was played by Alec Baldwin in that dreadful movie. Doolittle personally lead the raid. Although Affleck’s character does go on the mission, iirc.

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paiute t1_j5zy0mu wrote

You mean the time the Japanese Navy attacked an American love triangle? The time when Ben Affleck went seamlessly from flying single engine fighters to taking a B25 off a carrier deck?

BTW, I was in Columbia South Carolina many years ago and needed to rent a car. Drove to a local small airport to get a van and spotted a monument which read that the Doolittle raiders had trained there.

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indr4neel t1_j5yovsz wrote

Silverplate does refer to the bomb version, but starting with the B-29B all defensive weapons were removed except for the tail turret.

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UnknownQTY t1_j683ntn wrote

B-29s also flew so high interceptor aircraft couldn’t reach them anyway.

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indr4neel t1_j6k40re wrote

Mm, technically. Interceptor aircraft couldn't reach them because there weren't any interceptor aircraft by late war. The 1941 A6M2b Type 0 Model 21 (the most produced variant) actually had a higher service ceiling than the (admittedly not model-specific) stats Wikipedia gives for the B-29, at 33,000 vs 30,000 feet. "So high interceptors can't reach them" has historically been a pretty washed defense mechanism outside of stuff that's high and fast like the Blackbird.

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