I asked my dad, Lt. Kenneth Kenyon of the
8th AAF about the differences in payloads.
He flew (and survived) enough B-17 bomber missions over Germany to be
eligible to go home. Instead, ol' aviation-loving Dad signed up to fly
DeHavilland Mosquitos. His job was to drop "chaff" (tinfoil?) to
confuse German radar and ground guns, take "before" pictures of bombing
targets, then fool around for awhile until the heavy bombers showed up.
Then he flew BACK over the same area to take "after"
shots. Without a doubt, the Mosquito was fast.
Recon was a walk in the park after those bombing runs in B-17s.
Anyway, the Mosquito COULD carry ALMOST
as much as the B-17. My dad said a Mosquito
dropped a 500lb bomb on Berlin "every night".
To put things in perspecive, my dad said that
a B-52 can carry the equivalent weight of a
COMPLETE B-17, crew, gas, bombs, everything!
It sure is nice to have a PRIMARY SOURCE
just next door...
Don Kenyon
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