planes and pilots facts n the movie

Great aviation movie, very close to the original John Hersey's book story . The big change is in the ending, when the Steve MCQueen Flying Fortress named "the body" explodes against the cliffs. In the book , Buzz (not Rickson but Marrow, who knows why they changed the name?) sinks with the plane after a emergency landing offshore in the Channel , as a suicide.
The planes are obviously Boeing B-17 G and several archive footage has been utilised , togehther with some very impressive and convincing new shots.
The Fortress landing on his belly was actually piloted by the late Paul Mantz and this scene has been previously utilised in the movie "Twelve O' Clock High " - 1949 , starring Gregory Peck,Dean Jagger and Gary Merrill. The interesting fact is that this B-17 was a radioactive one , utilised for atomic blast tests and Mr. Mantz piloted it , any way!. Paul Mantz died in a plane crash during the sequences of the movie " the flight of the phoenix" - 1965 .
Then , among the original fighting sequences starring authentic Fortresses and Me 109 , there are also some Spitfires and P-47 Thunderbolts attacking the bombers Flying Box.
In my opinion , one of the best WWII aviation movies, with a great cast and a magnificient MCQueen interpretation.