Project Aphrodite
Old airplane with new behavior in descending flight
In the meantime had the 8. US Air Force the 3rd Bomb division with the allocation of the Aphrodite unit assigns. Voluntary pilots and radio operators, who had been recruited from the groups of bombers of the division for a "secret and dangerous" mission, were sent to the Honington Air Depot, where the 1st Strategic Air Depot was busy with it to develop from 10 war-tired B-17F/G bombers - with altogether 65 planned - the unnecessary equipment.
The entire armoring, machineguns, which bomb release as well as oxygene equipment, copilot-seat as well as everything that for the unique flight was not necessary remoted. Thus the weight of the Flying Fortresses could be reduced to approximately 32,000 lbs (14,500 kg).
This weight reduction around 5.000 lbs (2,268 kg) affected however the flight behavior, so that data over the changed descending flight behavior of the B-17 had to be collected. This taken place to a large extent with help for the B-17F instance equal heavy transportation version of Major General Earle E. Partridges.
With a machine, the B-17F, 42-30595, was separated the entire structure of cab, in order to facilitate a loading with torpedoes. After newest realizations thereby the German battle ship "Tirpitz" should be attacked. After however the daring enterprise had been however dropped, the machine with its open cockpit was used only for training purposes, no longer however than Baby.
To development of the unnecessary equipment in Honington the B-17 was flown to Burton Wood, where her two AZON receivers coupled with the autopilot (one for the side and one for the altitude control), an antenna, which necessary wiring and a radio altimeter received for automatic altitude hold. In addition the bomb pit was locked and strengthened by cross beams, in order to be able to accommodate seven tons of the planned charge of ten tons explosive in it; the remaining three tons went into the front fuselage area. At first three AZON-B-24 of the 458th Bomb Group were used as guidance airplanes. In addition, a B-17G kept built into a AZON transmitter in Burton Wood.