Success in B-17 revolves around
taking care of and learning from your crew. Take time to notice
how the computer-controlled gunners aim for the fast moving
fighters and try to learn from their techniques. When you
are being attacked, use 'Z' and 'X' to change to an enemy
fighter, then SHIFT-F1 to see the battle
from the fighter pilot's view.
Take care of your engines:
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Make regular checks on the outside view to check your engines;
if your co-pilot has been hit you don't get any warning. Fuel
leaks can be critical to the success of a mission. If necessary
you need to turn off an engine or two and drop out of formation
to conserve fuel. If your engines are on fire point the nose
at the ground and try diving at between 350-400 mph - this is
useful in later levels when one fire extinguisher per engine
isn't enough.
A healthy crew is a happy crew:
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Make regular checks to ensure the crew is OK and that the guns
aren't jammed -it's easy to miss messages in the heat of combat.
Keep at least one pilot healthy because the plane can end up
in a spin if it's in a turn when the pilot is hit, giving little
time to bail out. Make the radio operator send a MayDay message
to improve your chances of survival when you're bailing out
over the channel. Landing an engineless, bullet-ridden, flame-scorched
B-17 after a mission is risky and difficult. Bail out over the
channel to ensure mission success. Before landing, attempt to
heal injured crew otherwise they are hospitalised. Having more
than one crew member peform first aid on a casualty increases
the chances of success.
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