Memphis Belle

Trivia: Very few flyable examples of the B-17 existed at the time of the shooting of the movie. One airplane "stood in" for several by having its decals changed. The B-17G featured in the film has since undergone a meticulous restoration and now lives in Renton, Washington, USA. Though it is fully flyable, certain certification issues with the Federal Aviation Administration have kept it grounded.

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Mistakes

Factual error: One of the most carefully rationed materials in World War 2 was rubber. There were no rubber-like plastics or other synthetics in those days, so what were all those balloons at the dance made out of?

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Quotes

Richard Rascal Moore: Yeah Luke, why go back to the daily grind of being a lifeguard? Take it easy.

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Questions

Question: At the briefing it's pointed out that there's a hospital, school, etc. around the factory they're bombing, and Dennis is very adamant about getting the bombs "right in the pickle barrel" so a lot of innocent people don't get hurt. But the planes are spread out over a large area in the sky, and are also moving when the bombs are dropped, so wouldn't the bombs land over a large area and not just in the limited vicinity of the factory?

Krista

Chosen answer: It would seem that every plane's Norden bombsight would drop from different angles, etc., each designated for a common target. So, 2 planes could be higher, lower, ahead or behind the target and each hit the target, if the bombadiers had an accurate fix on the target.

Answer: Even with the Norden bomb sight, during WW2 bombing was generally very inaccurate.

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