In article ,
(Tony Williams) wrote:

(John S. Shinal) wrote in
message ...
aartamen wrote:

Saw this mentioned several times. Sounds somewhat implausible. A whole
lot implausible actually. Was this a common practice, an isolated
incident blown out of proportions or a myth? Is there an approximate
tally of German heavy armor (Pz IV and up) destroyed by the western
allies attack planes?

No firsthand knowledge but plausible. Recent gun camera
footage of strafing attacks shows a tremendous number of tracers on
ricochet trajectories from low angle strafing passes on dirt
airfields.

By definition, the angle at which the bullets would strike the
underside of the tank would be the same as when they hit the road in
front. If the bullets would bounce off something as soft as a dirt
track, why should they be able to penetrate 10mm of armour plate at
the same angle? For this to work, it would first be essential for the
road to be harder than the armour...

Ricochets have three independant variables:
angle
relative hardness of the bullet vs surface
velocity

Makes it a bit more of a chore deciding if something will ricochet.

Any (trained) cop can tell you that a .45 will often ricochet off
automotive glass where a 9mm (traveling at about 50% greater
speed) will penetrate.

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur