Unified Capitalist Revolutionary Dictatorship Bomber Crew

"These UCRD bomber crews are reusing the obsolete Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses the Americans used back in World War II. Like many World War II-era German planes, they're being reused nowadays. Now their crewmen will make Eeofol pay for this."

--Su Ji-Hoon, The Big Battle

UCRD bomber crews are a group of crewmen and crewwomen that serve for the Unified Capitalist Revolutionary Dictatorship People's Air Force in their bombers.

The Unified Capitalist Revolutionary Dictatorship People's Air Force is made up of volunteers mostly in their late teens and early 20s (twenties) from every part of the UCRD.

Bomber crews would receive extensive training at UCRD air bases before being sent overseas for combat duty.

The Unified Capitalist Revolutionary Dictatorship saw the re-usage of World War II-era Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, which a usual B-17 would typically have a crew of ten, including a pilot, who is also the flight commander, a co-pilot, a bombardier and a navigator, a radio operator, a flight engineer, two waist gunners, a tail gunner, and a ball-turret gunners.

The UCRDPAF would launch strategic bombing campaigns from bases in Central America, the Caribbean and South America.

The strategy of air force commanders was to carry out daylight raids at a high altitude in mass formations with overwhelming firepower.

These raids would be carried out on industrial targets, and communication and fuel supply lines.

Losses in bombing campaigns on Eeofol were very high, and it was common to see a high proportion of B-17s not making it back.

As the war progressed, and Eeofolian air defense capabilities depleted, the bombing campaigns became more effective.

Combat missions would start early in the day, with crews being woke up in the early morning by an officer for briefing of the day's mission.

The bombers would then take off, and fly in formation towards Eeofolian-occupied Central America, Yuri-occupied places, the United States, and Scandinavia.

The conditions are uncomfortable, travelling in an unpressurized aircraft in the skiesat 7600m, or 25,000 ft, exposed to temperatures as low as 45° Celsius, or 56° Fahrenheit.

It is important therefore, for crews to wear oxygen masks and heated flying suits that could be worn underneath formal suits for males and pant suits for women on long flights to avoid frostbite or death.

For the tail gunner and the ball turret gunner, the cramped positions make the journey even more uncomfortable.

Parachutes are too bulky to be worn all the time, so crewmen and crewwomen wear harnesses, allowing them to quickly clip on their parachutes if they needed to bail out.

Once the escort fighters were out of range, and could not longer support the bombers, the crews would come under attack from Eeofolian fighter planes, Yuri's flying discs, American fighter planes and fighter planes from all over the Scandinavian countries.

The gunners would then open fire from all directions, including the navigator on check guns, the flight engineer on the top turret, the bombardier on the chin turret, and the other main gunners on the waist, ball turret and tail gun.

In addition to the danger of enemy fighters, heavy flak fire from ground AA guns could destroy the bomber, and send it diving int the ground.

The box formations, while providing better protection from fighters, made the bombers an easier target for anti-aircraft fire.

As the target approached, the bombardier would take control of the aircraft and use his or her Norden bombsight linked to the autopilot and release the bombs, hopefully hitting the target.

Once the bomb load had been dropped, the crew would make their way back, sometimes, with major sections of their B-17 bomber destroyed, contributing to the name of the "Flying Fortress."

A bomber crew's tour of duty was often 25 (twenty-five) missions, later increased to 35 (thirty-five) missions.

The odds of survival - a one out of four chance of completing his or her tour of duty, made the crewmen and crewwomen's tour nerve wracking.