I like this line of banter that supposedly occurred between a B17 pilot & a B24 pilot; the B24 pilot bragged that his ship wpuld get you home faster than the B17. The B17 pilot countered that was true but his ship would get you home more often. The 17 was known for taking a tremendous amount of battle damage & making it home. The Achilles Heel of the B24 (the wing that helped give it it's high speed) would catastrophically fail from much less damage than that borne by a B17. The much better range of the B24 made it a huge asset in the PTO. Both planes were loved by their crews. I'd have to give the Lancaster some negative points for being designed for a single pilot. I know that it was designed in accordance w/RAF doctrine. Was the RAF the only air force to expect one pilot & a flight engineer to fly a medium or heavy bomber when it seems everyone else had a co-pilot too? Which plane was best? The one that flew the most missions, accurately dropped the most bombs & got more of it's crew safely home.
