Mojo's Milsim
In development

Crew the B-17

A first-person WWII bomber crew sim. Every station built from the 1944 manuals.

Watch the trailer Steam page coming

Trailer

See it in action

The crew

Every position, by the book

Bombardier

The M-9 Norden bombsight on its stabilizer in the nose
The Norden. An M-9 sighthead on its stabilizer, in the nose glass.
The bombardier's control panel
The bombardier's panel. Every switch from the manual, down to the rack selector.
The bomb release panel by the bomb bay
Nothing drops until the doors are open and the switches are set the way the release procedure says.
Bombs falling away under the bomber
Bombs away. The load falls in a train from the open bay.
The tail's red signal lights on at the release
Signal the formation. The tail's lights tell the airplanes behind you when you drop.

Gunners

The top turret on the fuselage at 20,000 feet
Top turret. The Sperry upper turret's twin .50s, at 20,000 ft.
The chin turret under the nose
Chin turret. Under the nose, worked from the bombardier's seat.
The ball turret under the fuselage
Ball turret. The Sperry ball turret under the belly.
Inside the ball turret, the K-4 sight between the guns
Inside the ball. Curled up between the guns behind the K-4 sight.
A waist gun at its window, the ammo belt feeding it
Waist guns. On the K-6 mount, the belt feeding up from its box.
The tail guns' ring sight
Tail guns. Unlock them, charge them, then aim through the ring sight.
The radio room's gun coming out of its stowage
Radio room gun. Out of its stowage and up through the top window.
The K-3 computing sight
The K-3 sight. It computes the lead, the way the turret manual describes.

Ground school

The firing range and the ball turret tower beside the hangar
The firing range. The top turret, waist, tail and ball turret stands, and the ball turret's tower: a 1938 Forest Service lookout built from its drawings.
The top turret stand firing at a target board
Gunnery on the range, with your hits shown up close, and a jeep carrying a fighter's silhouette across it to track.
The waist gun stand on the range
The waist stand. A waist gun on its own stand, with the ammo boxes beside it.

Realism

The guns work like the real ones

Barrel heat

A 75-round burst takes a barrel to its limit, and it takes about 15 minutes to cool. Keep firing and it glows, jams more often and shoots wider.

TM 9-225, Browning machine gun cal. .50

Charging and jams

Each gun is charged twice before it will fire, the way the turret manual says. When it jams, you clear it by hand.

T.O. 11-45C-1, Sperry upper turret

Rate of fire

700 rounds a minute cold, rising to 850 as the buffer oil warms up.

TM 9-225

A real ammo belt

Every round is drawn. The belt peels up off the top of its box and runs over the rollers to the gun.

Full-weight ammo boxes

A spare box weighs about 17 kg. You carry it with both hands and walk slower, and if you set it down over open bomb doors, it's gone.

Ballistics

Rounds feel the drag of the air at 20,000 ft and drift back with the bomber's speed. 75% land inside a 4-mil circle; the K-3 sight computes the lead.

AN 11-45C-5; Air Forces Manual No. 64, Fighter Gunnery (1945)
The B-17's main landing gear, modelled from the manual

About

Built from the manuals

Mojo's Milsim is an independent studio making a crew sim of the B-17G. Parts are measured from wartime manuals, drawings and photos, down to the landing gear.

A single-player campaign comes first. A co-op mode for up to four crew is planned.

AN 01-20EG-2 Fig. 1, general arrangementAN 01-20EG-2 Fig. 1, general arrangement AN 01-20EG-2 Fig. 381, armament diagramFig. 381, armament diagram AN 01-20EG-2 Fig. 90, landing gear installationFig. 90, landing gear T.O. 11-45C-1 Fig. 6, upper turret outlineT.O. 11-45C-1 Fig. 6, upper turret Bombardier's Information File, the Norden's partsBombardier's Information File, the Norden

Sources