I had the fortune to ride in the B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" in Appleton, Wisconsin during the EEA show in nearby Oshkosh several years ago.
Its unbelievable how "unsubstantial" the frame and sheeting on that plane is. Pretty sure a baseball pitcher could throw a rock right thru the skin. It's no wonder the plane was cut in two.
In that aircraft, there is no "interior" as such, just the aluminum ribs and the skin.
And to imagine that those guys would go up mission after mission with virtually no defense against shrapnel, AA and machine gun bullets from fighters. Courage doesn't begin to describe it, especially if you barely made it back to base in a shot up airplane and several days later came an early morning knock on your door. "You're on todays mission, get dressed."
