Category Archive Browsing Category: B-17 Combat

B-17 Combat, research, The Ruining Heaven, WWII

B-17 Research

In the extensive rewrite of The Ruining Heaven I am taking the opportunity to catch all variety of technical errors that riddled my first few drafts. As often as possible, I rely on research materials such as direct interviews with veterans (now almost impossible, because the the novel is seventy-five years ago) or interviews. Best…

B-17 Combat, Schweinfurt raids, WWII

Two Raids, Same Outcome

The Ruining Heaven‘s combat scenes were pretty grueling to write, especially the two Schweinfurt raids. The 351st Bomb Group, operating out of Polebrook Air Station in the Midlands, started in earnest during the spring of 1943. By August, they were in high gear. All four squadrons flew at least one big mission a week and…