Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress vs Boeing B-52 Stratofortress Comparison

Aviation | Utilities | Side-by-Side Comparison

Direct side-by-side comparison of two aircraft.

Your selected aircraft are compared in side-by-side arrangement below. You can always go back and Compare any two aircraft in our database. Some entries contain '0', 'not available', or an 'NA' value. This is more common with conceptual, experimental, and x-plane designs. Rotary-wing system (i.e. helicopters) values include main rotor diameter as part of width/wingspan measurement. UAV entries may display crew values as '0', not taking into account ground-based controllers.

Subjects

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
Four-Engined Heavy Bomber Aircraft

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
High-Altitude, Long-Range Strategic Heavy Bomber

Basics

ORIGIN
United States

YEAR
1937 [Diff.-18 yrs]

YEAR
1955 [Diff.+18 yrs]

CREW
10

CREW
5

PRODUCTION
12,731 units [Diff.+11,987]

PRODUCTION
744 units [Diff.-11,987]

Dimensions

LENGTH
74.7 ft (22.8 m) [Diff.-86.2 ft]

LENGTH
160.9 ft (49.0 m) [Diff.+86.2 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
103.7 ft (31.6 m) [Diff.-81.4 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
185.1 ft (56.4 m) [Diff.+81.4 ft]

HEIGHT
19.1 ft (5.8 m) [Diff.-21.6 ft]

HEIGHT
40.7 ft (12.4 m) [Diff.+21.6 ft]

Relative Size Comparison

Shapes below depict aircraft from wingtip-to-wingtip / nose-to-tail assuming aircraft are being viewed from overhead perspective (the nose pointing towards the top of the screen). Helicopter widths include main rotor diameter. If any dimensional values are "NA" in the database then the presented shapes may appear skewed.

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress

Weights

EMPTY WT.
36,136 lb (16,391 kg) [Diff.-136,607 lb]

EMPTY WT.
172,743 lb (78,355 kg) [Diff.+136,607 lb]

M.T.O.W.
72,003 lb (32,660 kg) [Diff.-415,990 lb]

M.T.O.W.
487,993 lb (221,350 kg) [Diff.+415,990 lb]

Installed Power

4 x Wright Cyclone R-1820-97 radial piston engines developing 1,200 horsepower each driving three-bladed propeller units.

8 x Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3 turbofan engines developing 17,000 lb of standard thrust each.

Performance

SPEED
287 mph (462 kph) [Diff.-308 mph]

SPEED
595 mph (958 kph) [Diff.+308 mph]

RANGE
2,001 miles (3,220 km) [Diff.-8,087 miles]

RANGE
10,088 miles (16,235 km) [Diff.+8,087 miles]

CEILING
35,597 ft (10,850 m) [Diff.-19,357 feet]

CEILING
54,954 ft (16,750 m) [Diff.+19,357 feet]

RATE-OF-CLIMB
540 ft/min [Diff.-5,730 feet]

RATE-OF-CLIMB
6,270 ft/min [Diff.+5,730 feet]

Armament

STANDARD (Primary Models):
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in left-front "cheek" position.
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in right-front "cheek" position.
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered dorsal turret
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun at radio operator station (removed on later models).
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Sperry ball turret.
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in left waist position
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in right waist position
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in tail gun position

B-17G (In Addition to Above):
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret

OPTIONAL:
Maximum internal bombload of 7,983 kg (17,600 lb).

Mission-specific armament can include any of the following:

20 x AGM-86B ALCM cruise missiles (internal).
20 x AGM-129 cruise missiles (internal).
2 x AGM-86B ALCMs cruise missile (external).
2 x AGM-129 cruise missiles (external).
Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs.
12 x AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
12 x AGM-142A air-to-surface missiles.
AGM-86C CALCM cruise missiles.
"Joint Direct-Attack Munitions" (JDAMs).

Up to 51,570lb (340kg) of ordnance carried.

Going Further

View Entry
(Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress)

View Entry
(Boeing B-52 Stratofortress)

Similar

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress

Avro Lancaster

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