The B-17E was an extensive revision of the Model 299 design: The fuselage was extended by 10 ft (3.0 m) a much larger rear fuselage, vertical tailfin, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer were added to the design a gunner's position was added in the new tail the nose (especially the bombardier's well-framed, 10-panel nose glazing) remained relatively the same as the earlier B through D versions had, but with the addition of a Sperry electrically powered manned dorsal gun turret just behind the cockpit, and the similarly powered (also built by Sperry) manned ventral ball turret just aft of the bomb bay – replacing a relatively hard-to-use, Sperry model 645705-D remotely operated ventral turret on the earliest examples of the E variant resulted in a 20% increase in aircraft weight. While models A through D of the B-17 were designed defensively, the large-tailed B-17E was the first model primarily focused on offensive warfare.
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