Forward view of the Bomb Bay from the Radio Compartment of the Commemorative Air Force's (Mesa, AZ) B-17G 'Flying Fortress' a WW-II heavy bomber on display this week at the Fargo Air Museum. View of Cockpit ahead.

The bomb bay is aft of the pilot's compartment. Provision is made for releasable gasoline tanks in place of a bomb load. One tank may be carried on each side of the bomb truss. Tanks (or bombs) can be released electrically by the bombardier, or can be released by pulling one of the emergency release handles. Bomb rack selector switches, installed on either side of the bomb bay, are used in conjunction with the rack selector switches on the bombardier's control panel. When either switch is quot;OFFquot; electrical release of bombs and fuel tanks is impossible. A hand transfer pump is mounted on the aft bulkhead of the bomb bay and is used in case of the failure of the electric fuel pump. -manual