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#1
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"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ... "ArtKramr" wrote in message ... The pilot had to continue to fly straight and level AFTER bomb release until the camera flashed. When Radar bombing was used the camera recorded the image on the radar scope. If there was no picture it didnt count as a mission. Keith The problem with the Brit system was that the target was still smoking when the pictuere was taken so less information was recorded. But it saved them that second recon flight If you check my website you will see impact shots taken with the bombay camera recorded at the detonation moment. Now click on " Death of a marshalling yard" to see the reults of the recon mission. The recon flights were still made Art. Since the RAF were flying tight formations comparing the in-aircraft camera pictures with the after strike recon photos was the only way of establishing individual accuracy What was the point? If you are flying tight formation indivual planes can't correct for drift. Were they not dropping when the lead did and trying measure the single dimension? |
#3
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"John Keeney" wrote in message ... The recon flights were still made Art. Since the RAF were flying tight formations comparing the in-aircraft camera pictures with the after strike recon photos was the only way of establishing individual accuracy What was the point? If you are flying tight formation indivual planes can't correct for drift. Were they not dropping when the lead did and trying measure the single dimension? Sorry I misstyped I should have said the RAF were NOT flying tight formations Basically the night attack formation was the bomber stream, no attempt was made to fly in formation and each aircraft basically navigated to the target and dropped on its own. It was rare for one bomber to even see another much less formate on it. Later in the war the target would be marked by Pathfinders and aircraft would be instructed to bomb the markers laid down by that force. In daylight they tended to fly a looser formation than the USAAF with aircraft flying a loose gaggle at staggered heights and individual aircraft would drop on their own bombardiers command. Keith |
#4
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If there is a hole in the pattern it means someone dropped late, and there
will be more hell to pay. I assume the over all formation pattern of B26 was in a form of a circle to produce football pattern on the ground. That means there should be number of overlap bombing at the center of football to reduce the hole in the middle. Am I right? Emilio. "ArtKramr" wrote in message ... A BOMB PATTERN IS LIKE A FOOTBALL: BOMB PATTERN ANALYSIS One thing I never see in any WW II literature is bomb pattern analysis in tactical bombing. There is a lot to it that we had to live with, and I thought I would share it with those on this NG before it gets lost to history. Think of a formation of 56 B-26 Martin Marauders in tight formation. If all are in tight formation, and release on time and all functions are go the bomb pattern on the ground will be shaped like a football. After we fly a mission and the smoke has cleared a P-38 with guns removed and fitted with cameras will over fly the target area and record the bomb pattern damage on the ground. It should be a perfect football. But if there is a bulge or hole in the football pattern, that is trouble. A bulge in the pattern means someone was out of formation. And astute, well trained., experienced photo analysis men can not only spot the bulge, they can identify the pilot that was out of formation. And for that pilot there will be hell to pay. If there is a hole in the pattern it means someone dropped late, and there will be more hell to pay. We didn't send 56 aircraft with 336 aircrews in harms way for one pilot or bombardier to screw up the mission. And our CO never took these screw ups lightly. But neither did the aircrews. When someone screwed up, the aircrews made their displeasure known and friends became few and far between even when the target was effectively hit. But the photo guys could tell the difference between a screw up and a single defective bomb. There were two reasons for a single defective bomb, one was it was off weight and the other was bent vanes. There were some other causes; a sticking A-2 shackle could cause a bomb to hang up momentarily and release late. But that was very different than an entire bomb load going out late. We lived with this analysis on every mission. And aft And after a mission no news from ops was good news. And that is the way it was in tactical operations in WW II. Moral of the story? Keep you head out of your ass and stay alert, always alert. Arthur Kramer 344th BG 494th BS England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany Visit my WW II B-26 website at: http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer |
#5
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Subject: A BOMB PATTER IS LIKE A FOOTBALL
From: "Emilio" Date: 3/2/04 7:24 AM Pacific Standard Time Message-id: If there is a hole in the pattern it means someone dropped late, and there will be more hell to pay. I assume the over all formation pattern of B26 was in a form of a circle to produce football pattern on the ground. That means there should be number of overlap bombing at the center of football to reduce the hole in the middle. Am I right? Emilio. "ArtKramr" wrote in message ... A BOMB PATTERN IS LIKE A FOOTBALL: BOMB PATTERN ANALYSIS One thing I never see in any WW II literature is bomb pattern analysis in tactical bombing. There is a lot to it that we had to live with, and I thought I would share it with those on this NG before it gets lost to history. Think of a formation of 56 B-26 Martin Marauders in tight formation. If all are in tight formation, and release on time and all functions are go the bomb pattern on the ground will be shaped like a football. After we fly a mission and the smoke has cleared a P-38 with guns removed and fitted with cameras will over fly the target area and record the bomb pattern damage on the ground. It should be a perfect football. But if there is a bulge or hole in the football pattern, that is trouble. A bulge in the pattern means someone was out of formation. And astute, well trained., experienced photo analysis men can not only spot the bulge, they can identify the pilot that was out of formation. And for that pilot there will be hell to pay. If there is a hole in the pattern it means someone dropped late, and there will be more hell to pay. We didn't send 56 aircraft with 336 aircrews in harms way for one pilot or bombardier to screw up the mission. And our CO never took these screw ups lightly. But neither did the aircrews. When someone screwed up, the aircrews made their displeasure known and friends became few and far between even when the target was effectively hit. But the photo guys could tell the difference between a screw up and a single defective bomb. There were two reasons for a single defective bomb, one was it was off weight and the other was bent vanes. There were some other causes; a sticking A-2 shackle could cause a bomb to hang up momentarily and release late. But that was very different than an entire bomb load going out late. We lived with this analysis on every mission. And aft And after a mission no news from ops was good news. And that is the way it was in tactical operations in WW II. Moral of the story? Keep you head out of your ass and stay alert, always alert. Arthur Kramer 344th BG 494th BS England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany Visit my WW II B-26 website at: http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer No the formation was football shaped. Another cause of a hole in the pattern could be a bomb load going out taking improperly installed arming wires with them. But that was rare. Arthur Kramer 344th BG 494th BS England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany Visit my WW II B-26 website at: http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer |
#6
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No the formation was football shaped. Another cause of a hole in the
pattern could be a bomb load going out taking improperly installed arming wires with them. But that was rare. Were all the bombs released at the same time to form a football pattern on the ground, or did each bomber released the bombs over the target? Was the football shape chosen to minimize crosswind condition at the target? In that case, bomb trajectory can drift sideways and the main axis of football will be off the target. Emilio. |
#7
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Subject: A BOMB PATTER IS LIKE A FOOTBALL
From: "Emilio" Date: 3/2/04 9:09 AM Pacific Standard Time Message-id: No the formation was football shaped. Another cause of a hole in the pattern could be a bomb load going out taking improperly installed arming wires with them. But that was rare. Were all the bombs released at the same time to form a football pattern on the ground, or did each bomber released the bombs over the target? Was the football shape chosen to minimize crosswind condition at the target? In that case, bomb trajectory can drift sideways and the main axis of football will be off the target. Emilio. You ask good questions Emilio. The bombs are released via an intervelometer. The bombardier places his corsshairs where he wants the first bomb to hit. The intervelometer times the releases so that the full bomb load walks across the target area from beginning to end. The bombardier via the Norden bombsight corrects for wind drift and at the low altitudes we flew cross winds on the way down were rarely a problem. Good questions. Arthur Kramer 344th BG 494th BS England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany Visit my WW II B-26 website at: http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer |
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