Checklists

The development of the Boeing Model B-299 in the mid-1930s was a significant contribution to aviation armament. The Model 299 was the prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress of WWII fame where it was the workhouse of the bombing runs over Germany’s wartime industrial complex across 1943, 1944 and 1945. The B-17 set the bar for the WWII bombers that followed: the B-24 Liberator, B-25 Mitchell and the B-29 Super-fortress, even though these bombers surpassed the B-17 in load capacity, range and speed. Nonetheless, the B-17’s greater and more long-lasting contribution may not be as the war machine that helped liberate Europe, according to a recent NPR story.

In the early 1930s, aircraft makers Boeing, Douglas, and Martin completed head-to-head for a government contract to build a new bomber that could carry a 2,000 lb. bomb load, and fly over 500 miles at 200 mph. Though Boeing's entry clearly met the criteria and had a more advanced design and features, the company almost lost the competition when in October 1935 the Model B-299 crashed during a flight demo at Wright Field in Dayton, OH. In fact, the prototype crashed on take-off because the crew of test pilots and engineers failed to unlock the elevator surface on the tail wings before take-off. The underlying issue was found to be the complexity of the aircraft and the challenges that posed even to well-educated and very experienced crew.

During WW II, the majority of pilots were not college graduates. In fact, many aviators were not high school graduates - depression era recruits who dropped out of school to help support their families. A case in point was my father who served as a crew chief and co-pilot initially on the B-17, and later the B-24 and B-25 bombers. According to the NPR story, it was the checklist that allowed crew members to reliably and safely operate these very complex aircraft, and humans to manage many other complex systems since. Checklists became the basis for the management of projects of all kinds. Today, computer based technologies have supercharged the checklist enabling humans to manage complexes of networked systems.

About 45 B-17s can be found on static display or in storage across the US, a handful of which are considered airworthy. Every few years an WWII aviation interest group brings a B-17 and other WWII era bombers to central PA. The planes could be toured and rides are offered. The photos here are of a B-17 (above - same plane on two visits) and a B-24 (below) taken through or over the chain link fence at University Park Airport early in the morning on two occasions in the mid-2000s when the views were not obstructed by admirers.