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military

The only YB-29 Bomber Escorter ever built: the Cross Country

by Till Daisd January 29, 2023

The USAAC ordered that each new bomber type should have a variation considered for escorter duties in August 1941 while anticipating the development of an efficient long-range fighter escort

Designed in 1940, the first B-29 took to the skies for the first time on September 21, 1942, replacing the B-17 and B-24. The Superfortress was deployed to Asia by the leadership of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) in December 1943, where its extensive range made it particularly well-suited for lengthy over-water sorties against the Japanese homeland from bases in China.

The B-29 was one of the most technologically advanced aircraft of World War II and had several novel innovations, such as remote-controlled guns. Crew members could crawl between the two pressurized crew areas—fore and aft—that were joined by a long tube over the bomb bays. Only at altitudes where pressurization was not necessary could the tail gunner enter or exit his separate pressurized space.

Due to advancements in range, bomb load, and defensive needs, the B-29 was also the heaviest production plane in the world.

The story of Cross Country, the only YB-29 Bomber Escorter ever built — Boeing YB-29-BO (S/N 41-36957). Note the nose has an Erco ball turret with twin .50-cal. machine guns, and the fuselage package guns just below and aft of the cockpit have twin .50-cal. machine guns mounted.

According to William Wolf in his book World War II US Gunships, the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) ordered in August 1941 that each new bomber type should have a variation considered for escorter operations while waiting for an efficient long-range fighter escort to be produced. As a result, the fourth YB-29 (41-36957) was converted into a 23-gun bomber escort in 1943. The YB-29’s standard armament consisted of twin 0.50-cal turrets, each forward and aft dorsal and ventral, commanded remotely by gunners in three sighting blisters (the dorsal forward turret was later outfitted with four 0.50-cals). A 20mm cannon and two 0.50-cals were located in the rear turret.

The YB-29 escort was equipped with a remote-controlled experimental ERCO nose-mounted ball turret with two 0.50-cal guns and four low-profile, side-mounted Emerson Model 126 barbettes, two of which were mounted in front of the wings and the other two of which were installed in place of the aft gunner blisters. Two 0.50-cals and a 20mm cannon were added to the four dorsal/ventral turrets, while a 30mm weapon was added to the tail cannon. Prior to the concept’s demise, the YB-29 had cursory testing; it later operated as a training aircraft under the designation Cross Country.

World War II US Gunships is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 29, 2023 0 comment

History

The story of the Focke-Wulf Triebflügeljäger

by Till Daisd January 28, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Each of the three wings was tipped with a combination ramjet and 300kg thrust solid fuel Walter starter rocket

During the closing months of World War II, the Germans developed the Focke-Wulf Triebflügeljäger (power-wing fighter) as an idea for an aircraft to fend off the escalating Allied bombing raids on central Germany.

As explained by Dan Sharp in his book Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945, a design for a vertical take-off tail-sitter was first patented on Sep. 10, 1938, by Otto Muck — a prolific Austrian-born inventor — but Focke-Wulf’s Triebflügeljäger married the company engineer Dr. Otto Pabst’s work on ramjets to a concept invented by Professor Erich von Holst, with input from the Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt (AVA, one of the four predecessor organizations of the 1969 founded “German Research and Experimental Institute for Aerospace”) Gottingen-based jet intakes specialist Dr. Dietrich Küchemann.

The Second Reichswettbewerb für Saalflugmodelle, also known as the Reich Contest for Indoor Flying Models, was held in Breslau on November 20 and December 1, 1940. Von Holst, a worker at the Zoological Institute in Gottingen, entered two model ornithopters and took second place. One model was created to mimic the effect of a bird’s two wings flapping, and the other was created to mimic a dragonfly’s four-wing movements.

A 1942 paper by von Holst, Küchemann, and K. Soif that examined how von Holst’s models could be scaled up to a full-size aircraft and basically replaced the lapping dragonfly wings with two counter-rotating sets of helicopter blades was based on research surrounding this later movement.

In March 1944, Pabst presented a set of calculations describing the potential performance of his ramjet engines when mounted on the helicopter blade tips of the von Holst/Küchemann aircraft. In May, Focke-Wulf engineer Heinz von Halem worked to choose the optimal configuration for the aircraft. His focus was drawn to a cigar-shaped fuselage with three rotating wings attached either at the tip of the nose, with the pilot seated behind them, halfway back from the nose, or almost halfway along the fuselage, with the pilot seated in the nose.

By September 15, 1944, the fundamental design of the single-seater aircraft had been decided upon, and a brief preliminary description had been written. The aircraft’s cruciform tailfins were meant to rest on four 380 x 150mm outrigger wheels at each end, and a single 780 x 260mm wheel that was enclosed in a fairing at the tip of the fuselage, allowing it to sit vertically on the ground. The longest possible fuselage measured 9.15m when the mainwheel retracted into its housing during flight.

The story of the Focke-Wulf Triebflügeljäger, vertical take-off and landing tail-sitter interceptor with three rotating wings that never was

Each of the three wings was tipped with a combination ramjet and 300kg thrust solid fuel Walter starter rocket. The ramjets could be turned on and would then take control once the rockets had sufficiently accelerated the wings. The total wing area was 16.5 m2 (3 x 5.50 m2), and the largest wing diameter was 11.50 m. A total of 1,500kg of gas or liquid fuel for the ramjets was stored inside the fuselage. Armament consisted of two MK 103s with 100 rounds each and two MG 151s with 250 rounds each in the aircraft’s nose, one of each on either side of the pressure cabin cockpit. Armor protection was described as “usual fighter armor.”

On October 12, 1944, a second description was written that somewhat changed the aircraft’s dimensions: the fuselage length was raised to 9.35 meters, the wing diameter was lowered to 11.40 meters, but the wing area stayed at 16.5 meters.

Based on a description in a report by British intelligence. “In this aircraft, the normal wing is replaced by three rotating ‘wings’ or vanes each with an athodyd (Lorin duct) at the tip. The ‘pitch’ of the ‘wings’ can be adjusted by the pilot and the maximum peripheral speed which is normally used for the climb is 670ft/sec (455mph). It will be appreciated that with such an arrangement the air speed of the athodyds may be considerably greater than that of the fuselage.

“In this way, efficient operation of the athodyds can be achieved when the aircraft speed is relatively low and one of the main objections to this form of propulsion is thus overcome. The higher the forward speed of the fuselage the slower the rotation of the ‘wings’ and the smaller the difference between athodyd speed and fuselage speed.

“For take-off, the aircraft stands vertically on its tail (in which the wheels are housed) and initial rotation is imparted to the ‘wing’ assembly by three auxiliary Walter rockets incorporated in the athodyds. As soon as the peripheral speed appropriate to athodyd operation has been attained the main units are started up. During this stage, the ‘wings’ are in neutral pitch. When they are moved into fine pitch lift is imparted to the aircraft partly due to the rotation of the wings and partly due to the components of athodyd thrust parallel to the fuselage axis.

“After leveling out, the pitch is further coarsened and the speed of rotation correspondingly reduced in order to maintain a constant Mach number of 0.9 at the wing tips. At the maximum designed speed of the aircraft the wings rotate at 220rpm.”

There were six main benefits associated with the Triebflügeljäger: “1) High efficiency and low fuel consumption. 2) High ceiling. 3) No runway is required for take-off or landing. 4) Low weight. 5) Simplicity. 6) Any combustible medium (gas or liquid) which can be vaporized may be used as fuel.”

After October 1944, the project doesn’t seem to have continued.

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945 is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here.

Photo by War Thunder

January 28, 2023 0 comment

Sukhoi Su 25 of the Russian Air Force landing at Vladivostok

Military

Operation Examen

by Till Daisd January 27, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The 80th OShAP, assigned to the Trans-Caucasian Military District, was the first combat unit of the revived attack aircraft fleet of the frontal aviation branch of the VVS. This two-squadron unit was established in February 1981 and stationed at Sital-Chai airfield in present-day Azerbaijan, not far from the city of Baku. The initial cadre of pilots had already been deployed to the Lipetsk-based 4th Combat Training and Aircrew Conversion Centre in February 1981 for the theoretical phase of the Su-25 conversion-to-type, thus the regiment immediately started preparing for its anticipated combat deployment to Afghanistan. Once in the theater, the unit would conduct an official, extensive evaluation of the Su-25 in actual combat circumstances. Operation Examen was the codename for this incident.

By May 1981, one squadron of the 80th OShAP was equipped with a fleet of 11 production-standard Su-25s and one experimental T8-6. These jets were assigned sequential serial numbers ranging from 01 to 12. The regiment’s original 12 Su-25s that were added to its strength were also transferred to the unit. On June 12, 1981, the newly established independent squadron and its full fleet of Su-25s arrived at Shindand Airfield.

AFGHANISTAN WAR THEATRE

As a direct result of Soviet involvement in the country’s civil conflict in late 1979, Su-25s were in Afghanistan. The Marxist government in Kabul had frequently requested further military aid and direct Soviet involvement during that year. Hafizullah Amin, the prime minister of Afghanistan, formally requested in the fall of 1979 that the Soviet Union use military force to repress the armed opposition and support his authority.

After giving up, the Soviet Union made the disastrous choice to send a small military force into Afghanistan. In the end, the nearly ten-year occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Army failed to stabilize the nation or subdue the armed opposition, which had received significant backing from the West and a few resourceful Islamic countries. The brutal internal strife in Afghanistan was only made worse by the Soviet intervention.

As a result, by the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet military apparatus found itself fighting an extended and bloody war of attrition that it ultimately failed to win. The majority of the missions flown by the 200th OShAE were either carried out in northern Afghanistan, notably in the infamous Pandjsher Valley, where the Soviet Army launched up to 12 offensives but was unable to establish effective control, or in southern Afghanistan around Kandahar. The Su-17s were employed to locate and mark the targets with smoke bombs when striking pre-planned objectives while operating in mixed packages. Additionally, they repressed the Mujahedeen’s anti-aircraft arsenal, which at the time was mainly made up of DShK 12.7 mm heavy machine guns taken from the government.

Two or three pairs of Su-25 aircraft would fly over the target to drop bombs on the smoke markers a minute after the Su-17s had finished their strafing pass. Su-25 pilots operated in one or two pairs and used the surprise strategy when attacking targets in steep terrain. In the second attack pass, they exchanged roles. Initially, the leader attacked while the wingman provided an overhead cover.

Su-25 WEAPONRY

Initially, Su-25s frequently utilized the S-5 family of 57 mm rockets in Afghanistan, firing the weapons from UB-32M 32-round packs to hit local targets. It was soon realized, nevertheless, that these straightforward and light missiles had little destructive force, particularly in mountainous areas. The 57 mm rockets were duly replaced by the S-8 80 mm rockets, which were fired from 20-round B8M packs and were far more effective and powerful. Due to its impressively high accuracy and effective 120 kg high-explosive/fragmentation warhead, S-24 240 mm rockets were mostly employed to eliminate point targets.

The rocket could attack targets with a diameter of fewer than 50 feet and had an optimal launch range of roughly 6560 feet.
The 200 kg fragmentation/blast warhead on the S-25OF was more powerful and detonated by a contact fuse. The largest fragmentation/blast warhead to give the weapon penetrating capability was found on the S-25OFM. It was equipped with a contact fuse and could destroy tough targets.

The fragmentation/HE OFAB-100-120 and OFAB-250M54, as well as the more powerful blast-type FAB-500M56 or FAB-500M62 and RBK-250 and RBK-500 cluster bombs, were the primary general-purpose bombs employed by the Su-25 in Afghanistan. The ZB-500 napalm canister, which was used to assault nearby targets, was another weapon that was frequently deployed. The podded twin-barrel GSh-23L cannon with 250 rounds in SPPU-22-01 gun pods was more regularly utilized during the early years of the war in Afghanistan, while the built-in VPU-17A gun pack was considered a last-ditch armament and only occasionally used in action.

Without it, the Su-25 could only operate against targets within a 127-mile radius, and such missions were few. In the early years of the war, the 200th OShAE Su-25s were subjected to some severe operational constraints, mostly because of the aircraft’s faulty navigation system. As a result, it was forbidden for the “Frogfoot” community to fly combat in inclement weather or at night.

The Su-25’s ability to be serviced, pre-flight checked, and re-armed quickly was one of its main advantages. In fact, the preparation time for a four-aircraft flight was only 25 minutes, and for an eight-aircraft mission, it was only 40 minutes. Out of the 12 aircraft that the 200th OShAE deployed, nine or 10 were typically available for operations each day.

SECOND ROTATION PERIOD

The 80th OShAP, led by Maj Vladimir Khanarin, provided the air- and ground crews for the 200th OShAE’s second rotation, which ran from September 1982 to early October 1983. Early in October, the first familiarization sorties were reported after the new troops had been deployed to Shindand; ten days later, the first combat flights began. For striking missions, one four-aircraft flight was typically assigned, but two flights were occasionally required.

A nearby armored personnel carrier may be destroyed by the huge blast and heat produced by the detonation of the liquid explosive after it had spread over the ground in a gaseous condition and mixed with the air. The primary blast wave that was projected outward after detonation was followed by a secondary one that was going in the opposite direction to alternately destroy targets. This kind of bomb also had the deadly consequence of consuming all the oxygen in the air around it, which quickly killed everyone in proximity.

In addition, multiple so-called “shuttle” missions were carried out by 200th OShAP aircrews, who left their permanent station at Shindand to plant mines along a number of mountain trails near Kabul before returning to land at Bagram for resupply and rearmament.

The 2 December 1982 issue of Flight International magazine featured the first piece in the West’s specialized aviation press about the new Soviet attack aircraft operating in Afghanistan. Under the heading “Frogfoot in action against Afghan rebels,” it was stated that British reporters from an Independent Television crew touring the Mujahedeen-held territory had been able to capture Su-25s while they were hitting an Afghan town. Although it resembled Northrop’s A-9, which had lost out to the A-10 in the USAF’s AX competition, the new attack jet was described as the Soviet version of the Fairchild A-10.

FIRST LOSS

A well-known intrinsic design flaw, notably poor controllability in banks at high speeds due to excessive control column forces induced by the manually actuated ailerons, was the major issue Su-25 pilots faced in the air during the aircraft’s early years of regular deployment in Afghanistan. As previously mentioned, this led to severe operational restrictions being imposed on the T8 throughout its test and evaluation phase, including a top speed limit of 530 mph and turning limits of 5g. On December 14, 1981, the 200th OShAE suffered their first Su-25 loss due to ineffective ailerons.

In a diving attack while exceeding the 530 mph speed restriction, Capt. Mikhail Dyakov was unable to stop the strong accidental banking brought on by the nonsymmetrical 500-kilogram bomb separation. Because Dyakov had not tried to bail out, the unstable aircraft spun upside down, failed to recover from the descent, and slammed into the ground, killing him. After examining the information recovered from the aircraft’s Tester-U3 magnetic-type crash-survivable flight data recorder, it was determined that the loss of control in the bank was the primary cause of the accident, which had previously been attributed to enemy heavy machine gun fire.

A brand-new 4th Series “Frogfoot” was supplied to the squadron that same month to replace the Su-25 that had been lost in April, while another aircraft was brought back to the Tbilisi facility so that its fuselage could be fixed after suffering substantial deformation from heavy fuel leaking. Early in January 1984, the 200th OShAE permanently relocated to Bagram. On the 16th, not long after, the unit lost its third Su-25 in Afghanistan. During a four-aircraft mission to bomb fortified enemy positions close to the city of Urgun, Maj. Ruban’s jet was struck by a surface-to-air missile, a 9K32 Strela-2M developed in the Soviet Union, as it was coming in for a landing after a bombing run.

The missile seriously damaged the aircraft’s engines and control system, sending the aircraft into an uncontrollable roll. As the bank angle approached nearly 90 degrees, Ruban attempted to eject, but it was too late and he was at a too-low altitude. As a result, the parachute did not open, and Ruban suffered fatal injuries when he impacted the ground.

Maj. Pyotr Ruban received the highest military decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, the Golden Star of Hero of the Soviet Union, for his exceptional combat accomplishments and was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel. In late September 1984, the 200th OShAE underwent its fourth personnel rotation. This time, the 90th OShAP, which had acquired its first Su-25s in 1983, was the second VVS regiment to convert to the Su-25. The regiment later relocated to Artsiz, Ukraine, however, at the time it was stationed at Tiraspol Airfield in the Odesa Military District.

Lt Col Nikolay Shapovalov was in charge of this personnel rotation, which brought ten brand-new 6th Series Su-25s that had just been delivered to the unit in July and August, to Bagram. Under the guidance of seasoned veterans from the third rotation, who eventually made their way back to the Soviet Union on September 30, the new rotation’s pilots with the 200th OShAE conducted their first combat missions. Three days prior, the new aircrews of the 200th OShAE had formally begun independent combat missions.

Nine of the squadron’s new 6th Series “Frogfoots” saw a lot of combat as they were flown for several months with the seven remaining 1st Series aircraft. Four more Su-25s from the 6th Series arrived on October 12 to bolster the 200th OShAE’s fleet even further, and two more Su-25s from the 5th Series soon after.

Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ Units in Combat is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

January 27, 2023 0 comment

History

Why a Defiant ‘bomber formation destroyer’ didn’t shot down a RAF Museum Do 17

by Till Daisd January 27, 2023

written by Till Daisd

One particular assertion made by a Defiant crew of No. 264 Sqn, Do 17Z 5K+AR of 7./KG 3, shot down over the English Channel on August 26, 1940, has gained some attention in recent years. This aircraft, according to reports, was the one the RAF Museum recovered in 2013

The Air Ministry issued Specification F.9/35 in April 1935, requesting the development of a high-speed, two-seat day and night fighter with weapons housed in a power-operated turret. The P.82 suggestion by Boulton Paul of Norwich was one of the twelve responses. The P.82 design was accepted by the Air Ministry in April 1937, and 87 of the type were ordered.

On August 11, 1937, Cecil Feather piloted Boulton Paul’s prototype P8310, which had been given a Rolls-Royce Merlin III engine and given the new name Defiant. It was discovered to be a superb flying machine without any significant flaws. With its concentrated battery of four Browning 0.303-in. machine guns mounted in a power-operated turret behind the pilot, it was also remarkably stable for a gun platform.

The Defiant’s crucial turret made it uncommon for a single-engined fighter, as Andy Saunders explains in his book RAF Fighters Vs Luftwaffe Bombers, Battle of Britain; the aircraft was planned very much as a “bomber formation destroyer.” While common wisdom could lead us to conclude that this was a design concept that was hopelessly out of date for current air combat, it was unquestionably not as poorly thought out as many historians have since noted. These claims obviously resulted from its subpar performance during the Battle of Britain’s daylight combat, where it was shown to be no match for enemy fighters.

Only three production Defiants had been delivered by the time the conflict started. Nonetheless, there were 135 orders and more than 40 in service by January 1940. No. 264 Sqn was the first organization to receive the type in December 1939.

The tactical and strategic scenario for which the Defiant had been designed had vanished while it was in use. Now, in the summer of 1940, fighter aircraft like the Bf 109 and Bf 110 were within striking distance of southern Britain, and most bomber groups targeting the mainland were heavily escorted. So, if the Defiant was to perform as a bomber formation destroyer, it had to either breach a defensive fighter screen or cope with the Messerschmitts when they made an attack. Naturally, the gunner was always dependent on his pilot to maneuver the aircraft into the most advantageous offensive or defensive position.

If the bomber formations were unescorted or if the Defiants could avoid the fighter screen, they might have some success with some luck and a favorable wind. One particular assertion made by a Defiant crew of No. 264 Sqn, Do 17Z 5K+AR of 7./KG 3, shot down over the English Channel on August 26, 1940, has gained some attention in recent years. The Do 17Z that crashed on the Goodwin Sands was allegedly brought down in this combat by Plt Off Desmond Hughes and Sgt Fred Gash. As we’ve already mentioned, it’s been claimed that the aircraft was the same one that the RAF Museum recovered in 2013.

Hughes described the August 26 action, which took place at a height of 15,000 feet over the East Kent coastline, in his unpublished memoirs. He reported what happened after positioning his gunner for a strike from beneath the bombers:

Shedding light on a mystery: why RAF Museum Do 17 was not shot down by a Defiant ‘bomber formation destroyer’ — Goodwin Sands Dornier Do 17

‘The specks grew into the long pencil-slim silhouettes of Dornier 17s and suddenly there were the black crosses, insolently challenging us in our own backyard! Fred Gash took as his target the second Dornier and made no mistake – his De Wilde incendiaries twinkled all over it, but particularly on its engine. It began to fall out of the formation, the hatch was jettisoned, two parachutes streamed as little dark figures bailed out and the stricken aircraft went down increasingly steeply, with its starboard engine well alight.’

The Goodwin Sands aircraft was one of the two Dorniers that Hughes and Gash were credited with shooting down that day. Following the initial attack on the formation, a chaotic action resulted in the second triumph. Hughes wrote about this second achievement, ‘Fred had been blazing away at another Dornier’, which he later reported as having ‘brewed up’. The Defiants were then attacked by Bf 109s, and after shaking them off, Hughes and Gash headed back to base, where they discovered six bullet holes in their aircraft. That night, Hughes sent a telegram to his parents. It said, simply, ‘Two up and lots to play.’

In that operation, Hughes and Gash are credited with shooting down two Do 17s, one of which has since been speculatively “identified” as the Goodwin Sands plane. The latter, nevertheless, cannot be the one from which Hughes witnessed two crew members escape because that plane forced a landing on the sands with its crew still aboard. The fact that the recovered aircraft showed a bullet strike from dead astern in one of the propeller blades furthers the enigma.

Despite the fact that it is entirely plausible that other aircraft also had the bomber in their sights, this does not “fit” with Hughes’ angle of attack from below. Furthermore, it cannot be the one that Gash claims has “brewed up,” a term generally used to denote utter devastation brought on by fire and explosion.

In other words, the recovered Dornier has not yet produced any proof that it was the aircraft that crashed into the Goodwins on August 26, 1940. As we have shown, the aircraft touched down on the sands when the tide was low, where the infamously glutinous sand would have swiftly engulfed the bomber. In light of this, it is difficult to understand how the Dornier, assuming it is this one, came to be found on the seabed and on its back.

All in all, this instance adequately illustrates how difficult it is to link particular “kills” to particular airplanes. The inability of Defiant gunners to accurately determine what had happened to the aircraft they had fired upon was another challenge. The vulnerability of singleton bombers in the hostile skies above southern England in 1940 is equally well illustrated. The aircraft became separated from the formation after the crew lost their bearings, according to the RAF Intelligence Report on the crashed Dornier that landed on the Goodwin Sands, which includes details of the PoW questioning.

After that, fighters (plural) attacked them. Hughes’ claim that he had attacked a formation or group of Do 17s is refuted by evidence showing the Dornier was flying alone.

RAF Fighters Vs Luftwaffe Bombers, Battle of Britain is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Crown Copyright

January 27, 2023 0 comment

XF 85 Goblin Parasite Fighter 1170x585 1

History

Why the XF-85 Goblin “parasite” fighter was the strangest machine ever created

by Till Daisd January 26, 2023

written by Till Daisd

To defend B-36 bombers flying far outside the range of traditional escort fighters, the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. created the XF-85 Goblin “parasite” fighter

To defend B-36 bombers flying far outside the range of traditional escort fighters, the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. created the XF-85 Goblin “parasite” fighter. If enemy fighters emerged, the Goblin would be lowered on a trapeze and released to engage the attackers. The XF-85 would be carried by the “parent” B-36 within a bomb bay. The Goblin would return to the B-36, re-attach to the trapeze, and be lifted back into the bomb bay once the enemy had been driven away.

These photos show why the XF-85 Goblin “parasite” fighter was the most bizarre aircraft ever built — McDonnell XF-85 Goblin at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

The Goblin was rather peculiar, as the photos on this page demonstrate.

‘Yes, this was a real design. No, it wasn’t a scale model. This was the full scale, actually flying version,’ says Michael Perkins, an aviation expert, on Quora. ‘Less than 15 feet in length, just 21ft wingspan, and with a maximum weight of only 5,500lbs. Armament was equally light, just four .50 machine guns.

‘This wasn’t designed to be a ground fighter, though. It was designed to be carried by a much larger aircraft, the massive Convair B-36 bomber, and the proposed Northrop B-35 flying wing, as point-defense fighters. There were no fighters capable of escorting these bombers through enemy territory, so the theory was that the bombers would carry their own air defense, and if threatened they would launch these dinky mini-fighters that would be fast and maneuverable enough to at least prevent the enemy from attacking the more valuable bombers, and then when the threat was passed they would hook up to a trapeze-line retrieval system under the bomber’s belly and be drawn back up into their storage bays.’

Flight testing with a modified B-29 started in 1948 after two test aircraft were ordered in October 1945. The XF-85 could be launched successfully by test pilots, but recovery was hazardous and difficult because of the turbulent air under the B-29.

Perkins goes on;

‘Although the plane flew, and showed fairly decent handling in the normal flight envelope, the attempts to re-hook with the parent bomber were all failures and the test plane had to make belly landings (they were so small and light they weren’t even fitted with landing gear). It was also slower, less maneuverable, and much less heavily armed than the new Soviet fighters coming through that it would be expected to combat, so this combined with the failure of the docking concept and when aerial refueling of conventional fighter aircraft showed greater promise led to the cancellation of the program in 1949, just four years after the first proposals were made and after just two years of on-off flight testing.’

A B-36 has never launched or carried an XF-85.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 26, 2023 0 comment

History

The dogfight that gave rise to the “Thach Weave” maneuver

by Till Daisd January 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

On June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway, one of the crucial moments in the evolution of US Navy fighter tactics during World War II occurred

During the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, one of the key moments in the evolution of US Navy fighter tactics during World War II occurred.

Lieutenant commander (LCDR) John Thach, commanding VF-3 embarked in Yorktown and took off that morning with five other F4F-4s as escort to VT-3’s TBD Devastators on their way to attack the Japanese carrier force, as described by Edward M. Young in his book F4F Wildcat vs A6M Zero-sen Pacific Theater 1942. The Zero-sen combat air patrol shot down one Wildcat from Thach’s division of four as they instantly dove to attack the US Navy formation as they approached their targets.

As the Zero-sens surrounded them, Thach, who had been put on the defensive, guided his two remaining Wildcats through a series of evasive actions. He made the decision to use the Beam Defense strategy that he and his wingman, ENS Robert “Ram” Dibb, had practiced before the war started.

Thach waited for his chance while directing Dibb to his right and keeping LT Brainard Macomber tightly grasped to his wing.

As Thach remembered years later, “I got a shot at one or two of them and burned them. One of them passed at my wingman, pulled out to the right, and then came back. We were weaving continuously, and I got a head-on shot at him. Just about the time I saw this guy coming, “Ram” said, “There´s a Zero on my tail”. He didn´t have to look back because the Zero wasn´t directly astern, but at about 45 degrees, beginning to follow him around. This gave me the head-on approach I desired. I was mad because, here, this poor little wingman who´d never been in combat before – in fact he had had very little gunnery training – and was experiencing his first time aboard a carrier, was about to have a Zero chew him to pieces. I probably should have decided to duck under this Zero, but I lost my temper a little bit and I decided I´m going to keep my fire going into him and he was going to pull out, which he did. He just missed me by a few feet, and I saw flames coming out of the bottom of his airplane”.

The tactic Thach used went as well as he had intended. Thach’s maneuver, which was effectively used by LCDR James Flately during the Battle of Santa Cruz and was given the nickname “Thach Weave,” became the common defensive counter used by all US Navy and US Marine Corps fighter pilots when dealing with the Zero-greater sen’s maneuverability.

The Dogfight that led to the birth of the “Thach Weave” maneuver, the defensive counter employed during WWII by all US Navy and USMC fighter pilots when dealing with the Zero´s superior maneuverability

F4F Wildcat vs A6M Zero-sen Pacific Theater 1942 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Gareth Hector via Osprey

January 23, 2023 0 comment

History

Operation Wooden Leg

by Till Daisd January 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The 1981 raid on Osirak was about half as long as Operation Wooden Leg

The F-15 Eagle, which was purchased in the middle of the 1970s to guarantee Israel’s air superiority in the Middle East for decades to come, has remained the undisputed king of the skies since its arrival in December 1976. The air superiority fighters were also given long-range precision bombing capabilities in the 1980s, and the incredible two-seat F-15I Raam’s introduction in 1998 substantially increased their mission capability.

IDF/AF foresight allowed the Baz (as the F-15A/B/C/D air superiority fighters were christened by the IAF) to evolve into a long-range strike aircraft, as recounted by Shlomo Aloni in his book Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat. In October 1985, after a terror assault against Israeli civilians distant from home, the Israeli government was able to sanction a strike on the PLO headquarters in Tunis. This was after the Lebanon War. On September 25 of the previous month, Force 17 of the PLO assaulted an Israeli yacht off the coast of Larnaca, Cyprus, murdering the three members of the crew. The IDF/AF would then launch its longest bombing mission in history as a result of this move.

In 1985, Israel was a country in trouble, with a raging inflation that had put its economy in danger of collapsing. The Israeli government decided to leave Lebanon on January 14, 1985, since the conflict in June 1982 had not resulted in a breakthrough in relations with Israel’s neighbors or stopped the threat posed by the PLO. Although a small IDF force remained to help the Christian militia in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon until May 2000, the pullout was completed by June of that year.

Between 1982 and 1985, hundreds of Israeli soldiers died in Lebanon, although this campaign resulted in no diplomatic agreements with the surrounding Arab countries. Even the PL0’s expulsion from Lebanon turned out to be a hollow success because Shiite Muslim militias like Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, which were formed after the war to fill the political void left in the south of the nation, continued the PL0’s guerilla fight against Israel.

The following analogy was used by a noted Israeli defense analyst to describe the predicament the IDF was in after 1982 at a counter-terror operations conference in 2005:

‘A military force can defeat terror on the tennis court, only to find out that the terrorists have already started playing basketball — an entirely new game on a new court.’

And this was the circumstance Israel found itself in 1985 after the Palestinian strike off the coast of Cyprus. The PLO’s infrastructure in Lebanon had been destroyed by the IDF, but the Palestinians had decided to launch a new front far from Israeli territory. The PLO’s new headquarters facility in Tunis, which is 1280 miles away from Israel, was chosen as the target of a large retaliatory air strike because the Israeli government believed that this was the only option to stop the PLO from taking this course of action.

The mission’s planning and execution were given to the Spearhead Squadron under the codename “Operation Wooden Leg.” Six of the unit’s seven F-15B/Ds, piloted by the squadron’s six GBU-15-qualified aircrews, would be at the center of the assault. Four single-seat jets from the Double Tail Squadron would be one of the IDF/AF assets used to support these aircraft and troops. To Tunis, where they would drop GP bombs without guidance, two single-seat Bazs would follow the two-seaters designated Nos. 7 and 8. The mission required two more Double Tail Squadron planes, and they would accompany the primary strike aircraft until the crucial in-flight refueling point.

A detailed description of Operation Wooden Leg, the Israeli F-15 Baz long-range strike that destroyed PLO’s HQ complex in Tunis

The eight F-15s would then continue with the mission after topping off their fuel tanks, while the two backup jets would return to base. However, if one or more of the planes were unable to take on enough fuel for the remainder of the operation or experienced a technical issue while on the tanker, the spare jet or jets would take its position right away, leaving the malfunctioning jet to return to Israel.

The Wooden Leg aircrew was the best at employing PGMs, as it had been in past IDF/AF special operations. As had been the situation in 1981 when fellow Mirage IIIC ace Yiftach Spector led the Osirak raid in a brief leave from his work as CO of Ramat David air base, the formation’s still unofficially undisclosed senior officer flew in the liar that filled the No. 4 position. Seven of the participating aircrew were already certified MiG killers, and the eighth would be inducted the following month.

The strike was authorized by the Israeli government on September 26, 1985, and the aircrew engaged flew a challenging training mission the next day to practice the operation’s PGM delivery and in-flight refueling drill. Following the completion of preparations, the Baz crews departed for their aircraft on October 1st to begin the IDF/AF’s longest-ever bombing mission.

At 8:00 a.m. local time, the 10 F-15 strike aircraft took off, with the No. 5 jet pressing into the tanker despite one of its two multi-function displays malfunctioning. The Bazs met up with two Boeing 707 tankers an hour into the journey, and the in-flight refueling component of the mission was successfully completed. The F-15s continued toward Tunis with each aircraft carrying 13.5 tons of fuel as the two air spares flew back home.

The formation divided into two flights of four in the trail with a four-minute separation after receiving one last INS update. A few minutes later, the No. 3 plane experienced another technical issue when the bomb delivery system went offline as the crews were giving the PGMs a final check time. There was no backup to bomb No 3’s target since each Baz had its own aim position inside the PLO HQ compound. The crews debated target reallocation swiftly, but it was decided to leave things as they were since each crew was well-versed in its own target.

Clouds and smoke significantly hampered the navigator’s ability to direct the GBU-15, which required a clear line of sight between the target and the data link equipment carried in the retreating aircraft to be effective. For the PGM, the maximum drop height and distance were 40,000 feet and 24 miles, respectively. The navigator continued to direct the PGM to its aim point as the pilot left the area as the bomb descended toward the target using a television camera image that was relayed from the bomb to the Baz via a data link pod. The guiding instructions from Baz’s navigator to the bomb were the “downlink,” while this image served as the system’s “uplink.”

Baz crews were surprised to see a lot of clouds in the sky close to the target region as the bombers started to fly toward the Tunisian shore. They were relieved to observe that the target region was cloud-free when they drew closer to Tunis, indicating that the PGM attack could proceed after all.

Three direct strikes were seen after a 90-second pause after the first three Baz bombers detonated their explosives once they were within range. Now that the second wave was ready to strike, Nos. 5 and 6 dropped their PGMs. The bomb dropped by No. 6 missed the target, while only the weapon unleashed by the first jet made a direct hit.

The mission leader used up his GBU-15 and joined up with the last two F-15s (which were not equipped with PGMs) on their bombing run so that his navigator could take pictures of the smoking remains of the PLO HQ complex. No. 8 located his target and dropped the six 500-lb Mk 82 bombs mounted on the vertical ejector rack beneath the jet. The No. 7 jet’s pilot was unable to visually identify his aim point above the target because of the dense smoke, so he and the formation leader circled Tuinis once more before making a successful bombing run from a different angle.

Israel declared the operation to have been a total success right away. Up to 75 people—60 of them were PLO members, some of whom were purportedly from Force 17—had been killed or injured, and the PLO headquarters complex was in ruins.

The F-15 crews proceeded east, leaving a shell-shocked Tunis in their behind. Each aircraft was still carrying 10 tons of fuel. They met up with a command and control Boeing 707 that had also been involved in the mission, making their flight back to Tel Nof that much simpler. At 1400 local time, the F-15s safely returned to base while the latter fighter served as a mother ship, bringing the six-hour mission to a close. The Osirak attack in 1981 lasted a little under half as long as this mission.

Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Israeli Air Force Facebook Page

January 23, 2023 0 comment

History

The Lippisch P 13, the Nazi Mach 2.6 interceptor that led to the F-102 Delta Dagger and to the F-106 Delta Dart

by Till Daisd January 22, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The P 13’s construction started in May 1944, and although it used the P 12’s ramjet technology (which had been intended to carry weapons), its function was similar to that of the “arrows of death” that had been conceived in September 1943—it was a rammer.

Dr. Alexander Lippisch created the experimental Lippisch P 13 ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor plane for Nazi Germany in late 1944. The aircraft was never developed past the design stage despite wind tunnel tests demonstrating the design’s exceptional stability up to Mach 2.6 speed. At the end of the war, conventional fuel was in insufficient supply, thus powdered coal was to be used to power the ramjet.

Work on the P 13 began in May 1944 and, although it used the ramjet technology of the P 12 (which had been designed to carry weaponry), its role harked back to the ‘arrows of death’ conceived back in September 1943 — it was a rammer, as Dan Sharp explains in his book Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945.

Its design also differs from the P 12’s. The P 13’s ramjet intake was fully unobstructed, with air entering the intake nearly immediately entering the massive combustion chamber, in contrast to the P 12 where the pilot sat low in the fuselage with the air ducts feeding the ramjet coiled around his narrow cockpit. The cockpit was moved upward to create a sizable combined fin/cockpit sitting on top of the combustion chamber, which allowed for this.

The P 12 had tanks filled with liquid fuel for its ramjet, whereas the P 13 would have a wire mesh grate holding a substantial amount of slow-burning coal or other solid fuel. In July 1945, while being questioned by US Army officers, Lippisch gave the following justification for his decision to switch fuels: “He felt that at high velocities, solid fuels were more desirable than liquid fuels, the reason being that the solid fuel did not flow out into the velocity stream and, therefore, its burning took place at a predetermined place.

“For a solid fuel to be acceptable it must have good ‘gas producing qualities’, such as bituminous coal. The most intense heating among the solid fuels was provided by German normal pine wood ‘cooked’ in oil or paraffin in pieces 1 x 1 x 1cm.”

How the P 13 was supposed to be used during active operations is not mentioned in either of Lippisch’s 1976 publications. When the British questioned him about whether the P 13 had been intended to be a rammer, he responded: “The possibilities of using the P 13 as a ramming aircraft had been considered but Dr. Lippisch did not think that athodyd propulsion was very suitable for this purpose owing to the risk of pieces of the rammed aircraft entering the intake. This would be avoided with a rocket-propelled rammer.”

Here’s why the Lippisch P.13a Mach 2.6 experimental ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor designed by Luftwaffe during WWII is the weirdest aircraft ever conceived

However, the Luftwaffe’s undated P 13 Baubeschreibung or construction description of 1944, probably produced in October or early November, states: “The aircraft presented here is a jet with the task of a fighter. The propulsion is by a Lorin engine, not using liquid fuel (gasoline, gas oil, J2, etc.) but with solid fuels (coal). Studies have been carried out on two forms — bulky pieces in a real grate or secondly with pressed coal in plates and hollow cylindrical shapes. Either can be used.

`The engine used allows, for the time being, no self-launch. The launch itself must be carried out with (powder) rockets, a Madelung catapult, or similar. Due to tactical considerations, among other things, the speed difference between fighters and bombers, attack from behind is preferable, though the thought was given to the installation of brakes (brake parachute, retractable screens similar to dive brakes, etc.), and although ample room for weaponry is present, the task of ram fighter has been taken into account — so that the ramming attack will not lead to the loss of the aircraft, thanks to its shape and static structure.”

Transporting the little rammer plane would be simple: “When the outer wings are folded, transport of the entire aircraft on a small open car is possible on the Deutsche Reichsbahn.”

The fuselage section of the description gives the length of the aircraft as 6m, saying: “The wing attachment fittings (outer wing to wing center section) are formed so that the outer wings can be folded upwards. This is necessary for two reasons. The `up’ position allows access to the engine through the wing center section, and secondly for loading and offloading onto vehicles during transport.”

In other words, by folding up the wings, the ground crew may quickly refuel the aircraft by reaching in, removing the exhausted coal grate, and then sliding a new one in.

The P 13 would cut through Allied aircraft using existing technology: “The edge cap is constructed as a deflector to avoid rudder damage if possible during ramming. The entire wing leading edge is reinforced with a knife (similar to the Kutonase).”

The story of the Lippisch P 13, the Nazi Mach 2.6 interceptor designed to ram Allied bombers that led to the development of the F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-106 Delta Dart

The Kutonase was originally developed to cut the steel cables anchoring barrage balloons. A thin, flexible aerodynamic covering protected a hard steel blade that was installed all the way down an aircraft wing’s leading edge. This kept the Kutonase hidden and gave the wing that had it look normal.

It is assumed that the fin also contained an aircraft-slicing Kutonase along its length since it was designed exactly like the wing and built along similar lines. It had four fittings, two of which were on rockers to allow for wing surface expansion brought on by the ramjet’s intense heating, and was 2.28 meters high, the height of which was dictated by the necessity to give the pilot a good view.

When the inner side changed in length owing to heating, this was offset by a rocker at the point of connection between the center part of the aircraft and the outer wings.

The glazing was made to be easy to produce and distortion-free, and the cockpit itself was equipped with front and rear walls and is planned to be extremely spacious. For production reasons, the seat and joystick were to be mounted on the detachable cabin floor, and the front half of the fin was meant to be easily detachable to provide access to the equipment housed beneath it.

Given the need for a nose-up attitude, landing the P 13 would have been challenging. In order to achieve this, a design where a blade flips open that is rotatable around its front end was chosen. Only one end of the blade skid, which had several torsion springs, was linked to the fuselage; the other end was meant to make contact with the ground, allowing the aircraft to settle while the springs absorbed the impact.

The P 13 (later referred to by Lippisch as the P 13a and replaced by a new design using a circular rotating coal grate design, the P 13b) was only capable of producing the unpowered DM-1 test glider before the war came to an end. Following the war, Lippisch created and tested the XF-92 based on his concepts in collaboration with American aircraft designer Convair, which eventually led to the adoption of the F-102 Delta Dagger and its replacement, the F-106 Delta Dart.

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945 is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 22, 2023 0 comment

History

Why Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose wouldn’t be a good troop transport

by Till Daisd January 22, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The Spruce Goose, when at combat overload weight, weighed almost twice as much when empty as a fully loaded B-29 did during takeoff. For the time, they were simply absurd numbers

The Spruce Goose, the largest wooden aircraft ever built that has flown only once, is a symbol of one of humanity’s most ambitious attempts to dominate the skies. Hundreds of Allied ships were being sunk by German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean in 1942, therefore it became necessary to carry troops and materials across that region. The idea for a massive flying transport originated with shipbuilding and steel magnate Henry Kaiser, who hired Howard Hughes to design and construct it. Hughes took on the job, which was made more difficult by government limits on supplies like steel and aluminum that were essential to the war effort. The Spruce Goose often referred to as the Hughes Flying Boat, is entirely constructed of wood and is six times bigger than any aircraft of its era.

When Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project in 1944, the giant, which had been given the initial designation HK-1 for the first Hughes-Kaiser aircraft, was given the new designation H-4 Hercules.

‘While staying at the floating museum and passenger ship turned hotel, the RMS Queen Mary on a business trip I was able to tour the Spruce Goose (of which 90% was constructed out of Birch, not Spruce. But the media thought “spruce goose” had the right ring to hook readers and listeners),’ says Gregg Gray, former Senior Noncommissioned Officer (SNCO) in the US Air Force, on Quora. ‘As it was very close by where the Queen Mary is moored (when the aircraft was still in Long Beach, California) we felt compelled to go, she has a large drawing effect, its size is overwhelming (and I was then routinely flying on the huge Air Force jet cargo aircraft, the C-141B stateside and often the C-5B overseas, as well as the occasional Boeing 747 and the rare Lockheed L-1011 widebody; and I was staying on a huge ocean-going, luxury passenger ship). My military co-workers and I were just gobsmacked at the size of the aircraft.

Here’s why Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose couldn't be an effective troop transport — This diagram shows a top and side schematic size and shape comparison of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, Boeing 747-400, Airbus A380, and Antonov An-225.

‘The story we got from the tour guide was that at that time Hughes and his engineers were simply planning the day testing to collect data at faster surface speeds on the water, but it accidentally reach take-off speed and flew very briefly, and very low (but somehow managed to get its picture taken for the newspaper).

‘I speculate, as others do, that Howard Hughes, who was at the controls that day, did it on purpose just to see if it would actually fly. I think at that point he was already aware that the project was doomed to end and never go into production. It probably would not have seen service even if the war had continued. It appeared to be very problematic, as very large, complex, and complicated things tend to be, as well as a gas hog.’

Gray continues:

‘It was 3,700 miles from Norfolk Naval Yard to Southampton and 3,800 miles to La Rochelle, France. Amsterdam is 3,900 miles from Norfolk and Naples, and Italy is a staggering 4,650. (All of these are straight-line distances, as the crow [or seagull] flies, if I may improvise slightly]. The design flight range was 3,000 miles at 250 mph. So it was going to have to find a refueling ship in the open ocean or an intermediate island like the Azores at 2,751 miles, and then another 1,500 miles to Southampton (Way back in the day I flew on a piston engine, propeller-driven passenger aircraft from Scotland to the Azores, and on to New York, [then on to our car in Bayonne, NJ, followed by a drive to Tennessee to get back home to our family in Tennessee] we were very tired.). But just the flying portion by itself sucked, it wasn’t any fun at all, in fact, it was miserable and very cramped. The top speed hoped for out of the Spruce Goose was 250 mph, and realistically 200 mph was probably going to be achieved when fully loaded with combat troops in “Full Battle Rattle.” The proposed purpose was to avoid German U-boats sinking troop ships. This aircraft was still going to have to land in the water off the coast of the Azores, or on the high seas for a refueling ship. Now the miserable cramped, tired, and intolerant troops were one thing to deal with, after all, it was four days or more minimum on the cramped troop surface ships, so they would have to tolerate that. What they couldn’t tolerate was getting troops killed by U-boats lying in wait for the aircraft, and no matter where you landed that was an issue. Water landings by aircraft in a sea full of U-boats give the U-boat skippers an easy sitting duck (or goose in this case) for a target.

‘Flying for between 15 and 20 hours with just a short refueling break would have been exhausting. I have done it more than once, the Pentagon planned our flights to land just after daybreak so we could get in a full day’s work at our destination. What starts out as huge gets smaller as you go.

‘Now, not only is the aircraft huge now, but it was absolutely ginormous in the mid-1940s, she is almost 2.5 times as long, has three times the wingspan, and empty weighs more than triple what was then our huge Boeing B-29 United States Air Force Bomber, the Superfortress (of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bomb fame). The B-29 had four engines producing 8,800 horsepower together, the Spruce Goose achieved 24,000 total horsepower from “8 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) each.” It required three times as much horsepower because it was well over three times heavier at 250,000 pounds versus the Superfortess at 74,500 pounds. In fact, empty the Spruce Goose weighed almost twice what a fully loaded B-29 weighed at takeoff when at combat overload weight. They were just insane numbers for the era. It was another 20+ years before the big C-5A Galaxies and 747s came along which are in the same size range as the enormous H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose). ‘

Gray concludes;

‘As neat as all the specifications are, she still comes up short. I don’t think it would have worked as a troop transport. Nowadays we just charter civilian passenger jets for routing troops deployments. The military cargo birds are busy moving heavy equipment and helicopters. Military cargo birds are usually used for pax when the troops have to deploy in full battle rattle and prepared for almost instant action.’

The Spruce Goose is now housed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum near McMinnville, Oregon.

The following interesting video features the first and last flight of the Spruce Goose.

Photo by Federal Aviation Administration

January 22, 2023 0 comment

History

P-38 Lightning was the most interesting WWII military aircraft due to a few interesting facts

by Till Daisd January 20, 2023

written by Till Daisd

When the P-38 Lightning first debuted in the late 1930s, few people were aware of just how unique it was

The P-38 was initially intended to be a highly advanced, twin-engine interceptor. Lt. Ben Kelsey flew the sleek prototype Lightning coast to coast in 7 hours, and 48 minutes on February 11, 1939, but he crashed on landing. Despite the incident, work on the YP-38 continued, and on September 16, 1940, the first of 13 service test aircraft took to the air.

The final version of the Lightning was the P-38J, which debuted in August 1943.

During World War II, the versatile P-38 carried out a wide range of tasks, including dive bombing, level bombing, bombing through clouds, strafing, photo-reconnaissance, and long-distance escort. When the Lightning started conducting combat flights out of England in September 1943, it was the only fighter with the range to escort bombers into Germany. It first saw extensive use during the North African war in November 1942.

In the Pacific theater, where it was the default USAAF fighter until the war’s last months, the Lightning really excelled.

Did you know that the speeder bike sound effects in Return of the Jedi were created using samples of P-38 engine noise? Some interesting facts that made the Lightning the coolest military aircraft of WWII

‘Not a lot of people realize just what a box of tricks this baby was, especially when it first came out in the late thirties,’ says Andrew T. Post, a student pilot, on Quora.

‘The plane had:

‘An unusual design: The twin-boom layout with a central cockpit nacelle wasn’t all that common in the late thirties. And the Lightning’s booms were incredibly long because they had to contain the…
‘Turbo-superchargers: Not only did these give the P-38 the ability to operate at stunningly high altitudes for the day—the P-38L had a service ceiling of 44,000 feet, which is higher than the cruising altitude of a Boeing 747—but they acted like mufflers, making the Lightning a relatively quiet bird.
‘Liquid-cooled Allison engines: Air-cooled engines were far more common back in those days. The twelve-cylinder engines were capable of developing 1,600 horsepower apiece and had counter-rotating propellers, eliminating the torque that plagued single-engine fighters. The engines gave the P-38 a cruise speed of almost 300 miles per hour and a top speed of more than 400 miles per hour. The damn thing was so freaking fast that the designers had to figure out a way around compressibility issues during the design phase. The Lightning became the first military airplane to exceed 400 miles per hour in level flight.
‘Tricycle landing gear: Tricycle-style landing gear wasn’t all that common back in those days, either. It allowed for much better visibility on the ground and permitted the more forceful application of the brakes during landing (tailwheel aircraft risk nosing over if the pilot slams the brakes too hard, or even if they hit a bump too fast).’

Post continues;

‘Though the Lightning didn’t really impress Allied brass during its initial demonstrations— besides the incident mentioned above the first prototype ran into a ditch on its first taxi test, in fact—it would soon become absolutely vital to the American war effort.

‘The top three American aces in the Pacific Theater—Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories), and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories)—all used the Lightning.
‘It was a squadron of Lightnings that intercepted and shot down the aerial convoy in which Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was traveling in April 1943. Yamamoto was confirmed dead the next day after his body was found in the jungles of Bougainville.
‘In addition to being used as a straight-up fighter/interceptor, the P-38 was also utilized as a fighter-bomber, a night fighter, a long-range fighter (equipped with drop tanks), and a “bomber pathfinder.” Thanks to their high service ceilings and blindingly fast speeds, P-38s also made excellent reconnaissance platforms (so-called “droop-snoot” Lightnings with glass noses). These modified P-38s accounted for a whopping 90% of the aerial reconnaissance film taken over Europe during the war.
‘The Lightning was the only American fighter aircraft to be in large-scale production from the very beginning of America’s involvement in the war (Pearl Harbor) to the very end (VJ Day).’

Post concludes;

‘Some other cool facts:

‘Several car designers were able to attend the initial demonstrations of the YP-38 prototype before America entered WWII; the twin-boom design directly inspired the famous “tail fins” of the 1948/1949 Cadillac.
‘The P-38 also inspired the design team at Studebaker when they created the 1950/1951 Studebakers. (Google “1951 Studebaker”—you’ll see the resemblance.)
’Remember the speeder bike chase in the forests of Endor in Return of the Jedi? The speeder bike sound effects were created using samples of P-38 engine noise (and P-51 engine noise, too).’

Photo by The Flying Bulls, U.S. Air Force, and Adam Tooby via Osprey

January 20, 2023 0 comment

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