Metaphor : The Flying Coffin
The B-24 airplane is named The Flying Coffin, a metaphor for the widely-accepted fact that to be sent on a mission flying it was almost guaranteed to be a death mission as it crashed more than it returned safely and if shot down offered little protection to the men inside.
Metaphor : The Flying Fortress
The B-17 airplane was referred to as The Flying Fortress, a metaphor for safety and indestructibility. The 'plane was difficult to shoot down and was sturdy in construction, offering protection to its crew and rarely breaking up on impact.
Simile : Louie and Alcohol
"Alcohol was to Louie what acorns are to squirrels"
Louie had a tendency not just to enjoy alcohol but to build up a store of it to make sure he never ran out, in the same way that a squirrel hoards acorns for fear of the supply dwindling away.
Simile : B-24
"Flying it was like wrestling a bear"
The B-24 was hard to fly and felt like a struggle. Rather than being able to use the airplane as a weapon against the enemy, pilots would feel like they were in combat with the airplane itself, and also as though the 'plane was big and unwieldy and hard to control.
Simile : The Cockpit
"Sitting in the cockpit was like sitting on the front porch and flying the house"
Much like the front porch of a house, the cockpit felt small and definitely not able to support the weight of what it was attached to - the rest of the airplane.
