Which WW2 plane was the most dangerous to its own crew?
From a425couple@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 19 20:07:31 2025
Oh, one of many many times, I will try again.
Might be worth some thoughts and discussion.
a Quora
Dick Hopkins
May 14
Which WW2 plane was the most dangerous to its own crew?
I am sorry to say the Lancaster bomber had a poor record for crew
survival. This was pointed out by RAF statisticians who analysed PoWs in captivity and wondered where all Lancaster crews had gone. It was a hard
plane to escape from, the main spar was in the way and the emergency
hatches were badly placed.
In fact, the Halifax was the easiest to escape from. You could stand
upright in a Halibag for a start. Of the three heavies, the Stirling was somewhere in the middle. In terms of getting back in one piece the
Mosquito had the best record (despite some of the unsubstantiated quora trolling prattery).
The famous Freeman Dyson was a RAF statistician. He calculated that if a Lancaster had all the turrets removed and the fuel mix changed it could
fly both higher and faster. It would also put three fewer crew lives at
risk.