Kampfhamster
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Switzerland
By the end of 1944 the life expectancy of a german pilot wasn't all that long, probably about the same as an allied bomber crew in the summer 1943.
Jesus - got right in there, didn't he? Not much return fire, and the ball turret with the guns pointing straight down. Can't imagine the scene inside that B-17.
I doubt this was a real or effective strategy. Attacking from the rear was probably the worst option for a Luftwaffe fighter pilot. It was the worst option in the sense of trying to close the distance, while at the same time exposing the fighter to a high volume of fire for the longest period of time. The bomber rear was also the least vulnerable and harder to hit. Instead, Luftwaffe fighters tended to attack from the frontal aspect (head-on) or from above. (There is a reason for the term '12 o'clock high'.) As mentioned by scott585, the high closing speed/angle meant the attacking fighter had very little time or opportunity to focus on or attack specific parts of the bomber. That said, attacking from above also offered the advantage of allowing fire on the fuel tanks and the engines over the broadest area possible.
All that carnage and damage to the B17, and it still kept flying. I agree that head on attacks, trying to kill the pilots was probably the best option.
There’s a lot of attacks from behind in the video posted.
If there was no escort, the attacking pilot could take station outside the range of the tail gunner and lob cannon shells into him until he was gone. None of the other bomber's guns would have a clear shot. Then you slowly come in and rake the rest of the plane. Different story later in the war when the long range fighter escorts showed up.
As you can see though, this strategy didn’t easily finish off the bomber, which is why they went to head on attacks, etc. later.
In November 1942, German fighter ace Egon Mayer found the weakest place on a B-17—directly in the front of the aircraft. Defended by only four machine guns, the nose of the B-17—and more importantly the cockpit—was vulnerable to a head-on attack. The attack required great skill and courage, as the German and American aircraft closed at an astonishing speed. The German pilot only had seconds to aim, fire, and peel away before careening into the heavy bombers. Tested by the developer himself, Mayer found the tactic worked exceedingly well. By December, the head-on attack was the preferred method of assailing American heavy bombers by Luftwaffe fighter pilots. Casualties among bomber crews began to mount steadily as B-17s were being blown out of the sky with growing consistency.
^Neat! So i assume the plane is turning in a circle to make that twisted “fan”?
Time lapse of an AC-47 mowing the lawn in Vietnam:
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that's awesome