[chanandler_bong]

I'm confused as well. I can't imagine a B-17 landing without flaps. I am a pilot, but never flown a B-17, so take it with a grain of salt...

You'd want both the gear and flaps down on landing, so both switches would be in the down position. If the switches weren't in sync, e.g. you need one switch up and the other down for landing, that would be a problem.

[kayodelycaon]

From what I remember from a WW2 training video, you begin the landing 1/3 flaps. If you’re close to stall speed, the drag from unexpected full flaps could be enough to stall the plane.

In the reverse hitting flaps up before gear up is likely to cause problems.