Get the latest tech news

Everything you've been told about the 'Chickenpox bomber' is wrong

Ah, the famous Chickenpox Plane. If you’re on any social media and are interested in aeroplanes (and this clearly applies to you), then you know this story. Some typically dumb military officers ap…

Nothing at all against the Ventura, but almost the entirety of its career was spent chasing submarines or shooting up ships with the Navy, rather than getting shot down en masse over Germany. By the time it was completed and reported, the final operational versions of the B-17 and B-24, after getting hammered over Berlin and Schweinfurt &c, were already flying, with essentially the same protection (self-sealing gas tanks and selective armour) that they used for the rest of the war. “Wald’s recommendations were quickly put into effect, and were still being used by the navy and the air force through the wars in Korea and Vietnam.”

Get the Android app