Only 25 Ever Built - The WW2 Gunship You Never Knew

In the righthand seat again with ‪@DarkDocsSkies‬ The YB-40 Flying Fortress was one of the strangest planes of World War II: a B-17 converted into a heavily armed “escort bomber” packed with machine guns and nearly 11,000 rounds of ammunition. It was built to protect American bomber formations from devastating head-on Luftwaffe attacks deep over Europe. On paper, it sounded like the perfect solution. In practice, it was... interesting. In this video, we trace the full story of the YB-40 — why it was created, how German fighter pilots exploited the B-17’s weaknesses, what happened when the YB-40 finally entered combat in 1943, and why the entire concept collapsed under the realities of weight, speed, and altitude. We also look at what the program did leave behind: the chin turret, staggered waist guns, and other improvements that would later make the B-17G far deadlier and more survivable. A bizarre dead end in bomber design — but one that helped shape the aircraft that came after it. As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -