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Wwiiaircombat The air battles, the pilots, the aircraft, the tactics, and other air topics of WWII air combat

03/21/2024

Explore aviation history from a new perspective! With the Spitfire Mk Ia and Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 AR Card, the past comes to life in your device. 🌐🛩️

03/21/2024

Explore aviation history in 3D! Discover the thrilling experience of the Spitfire Mk Ia and Messerschmit Bf 109 E-4 AR Card.

Explore aviation history!Did you know...? The messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4
03/08/2024

Explore aviation history!

Did you know...?

The messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4

Explore aviation history!Did you know...? The Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1a
03/08/2024

Explore aviation history!

Did you know...?

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1a

The first true production Lancaster bomber flew in October 1941 (Avro Lancaster I).Equipped with four Rolls-Royce Merlin...
04/22/2022

The first true production Lancaster bomber flew in October 1941 (Avro Lancaster I).
Equipped with four Rolls-Royce Merlin XX developing 1,280 hp each, the maximum take-off weight of the Lancaster I was 60,200 pounds (data from trials that took place during April and May of 1942. Later, the all-up weight of the aircraft was set at 65,000 lbs.) The maximum bombload was 12,000 pounds, (later 18,000 pounds) giving it an operational radius of 550 miles. With 4,000 pounds of bombs, it could reach targets 875 miles away.
Compared with the B-17 it could fly almost as fast (275mph vs 282 mph), although it operated at much lower altitudes (ceiling of 19,000 feet versus 36,950 for the B-17G, although during combat conditions both bombers operated at altitudes somewhat lower than their service ceilings). It carried less armor, and less defensive armament, but a much heavier bombload. Even though the maximum take-off weight was almost identical (67,860 lbs. of the B-17G), the typical Lancaster bombload was 12,000 lbs. vs 5,000 of the B-17 (for the same distance, the Lancaster could carry a heavier bombload).
Although it was designed as a high-altitude night-bomber, one of its first missions was carried out in daylight (more precisely at dusk so the bombers would benefit from darkness on the homeward run) at tree-top altitude. On 17 April 1942, 12 Lancasters, six each from 44 and 97 Squadrons bombed the M.A.N. factory at Augsburg. Four were shot down by JG 2 near the coast and three more by Flak near the target. The bombing was precise but the effect on the German production of diesel engines for submarines was not very significant.
The Lancaster would become the mainstay of British Bomber Command and would later find much success in operations.

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These are the claims of enemy aircraft destroyed by the USAAF during WWII, all theaters.A claim (a.k.a. victory) is not ...
04/22/2022

These are the claims of enemy aircraft destroyed by the USAAF during WWII, all theaters.
A claim (a.k.a. victory) is not necessarily a kill (actual aircraft destroyed) and sometimes the discrepancy may be quite large.
Documentary evidence shows that kills are always inferior to victories, so this information should be taken with care.
However, claims of destroyed enemy aircraft can provide unmistakable trends:
1. USAAF's effort against the Germans was formidable, but against the Japanese was minor. We could say that the Navy defeated the Japanese aviation and the AAF defeated the German air force.
2. USAAF's impact during all of 1942 was quite small
3. ETO (European Theater of Ops) had a more debilitating impact on the Luftwaffe's force structure than the MTO (Mediterranean Theater of Ops), but the latter was far from negligible.
4. The attrition on the Luftwaffe was greatest in 1944.
5. USAAF's fighters destroyed more German aircraft than bombers. These numbers appear to show that the difference was almost insignificant but documentary evidence (not shown here) demonstrates that bombers overclaiming was much more pronounced than the fighters.
Note: Data in the Pacific reflects the total number of victories (air+ground)

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At 67,860 pounds (30,781 kg) of maximum take-off weight, the B-17G could carry a maximum bomb load of 12,800 pounds (5,8...
04/13/2022

At 67,860 pounds (30,781 kg) of maximum take-off weight, the B-17G could carry a maximum bomb load of 12,800 pounds (5,806 kg). With this heavy cargo, the bomber had a maximum capacity of 2104 gallons of fuel (12,834 pounds/5821 kg). This load is equivalent to carrying more than two Spitfire Mk I’s full of ammo and gasoline.
With maximum bomb load, the operational radius of the B-17 was 689 nautical miles (1276 km). If the bomb load was restricted to 10,000 pounds, the fortress could carry 2,800 pounds of extra fuel and its operational radius increased to 873 nautical miles (1616 km).
To achieve this range, the B-17 flew as much as it could at 10,000 ft of altitude. Thirty minutes before the bomb-drop, the fortress would have attained an altitude of 25,000 ft.
The loss rate of the B-17 (all versions, between 1942 and 1945) reached 1.61 aircraft per 100 sorties. This was almost identical to the B-24 and lower than the RAF heavy bombers by a fair margin.
The B-17G had extra machine guns in the chin to protect itself against the dreaded 12 o’clock high used by the German fighters. Its green camouflage was standard from the beginning of hostilities (1942 for the USAAF) until the end of the first quarter (roughly). By mid-1944 the Americans had achieved air superiority and the bombers stopped using any camo.
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Sources: Bowman 1997, AAF Statistical Digest 1945Total KIA in combat and in accidents overseas is correct. The split bet...
04/13/2022

Sources: Bowman 1997, AAF Statistical Digest 1945
Total KIA in combat and in accidents overseas is correct. The split between KIA in combat and in accidents is an estimation based on ETO figures (9.1% of KIA were caused by accidents).
KIA in training is an actual figure.
Note that one-third of all deaths were caused by accidents (in the theater of operations or in training in the US)
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04/06/2022

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The German Plan to Defeat Russia: How the German Army Failed Hi**erASIN ‏ : ‎ B0939ZGC88Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently pu...
04/04/2022

The German Plan to Defeat Russia: How the German Army Failed Hi**er

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0939ZGC88
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (April 25, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 168 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8734684269
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.38 x 9 inches

www.amazon.com/dp/B0939ZGC88

Aircraft move fast and cover a lot of ground quickly. A bomber flying at 180 mph (290 km/h) travels 3 miles every minute...
03/29/2022

Aircraft move fast and cover a lot of ground quickly. A bomber flying at 180 mph (290 km/h) travels 3 miles every minute (almost 5 km).
In addition, the frontages that must be defended are huge (the coastline from Brest to Denmark measures some 745 miles (1200 km).
The attacker can choose any time of day or night to attack and the course it will take to minimize the time the defenses have to react.
Radar was not critical for the attack, but it was necessary for air defense. If the attackers came by night, it was impossible to intercept them without it.

The Giant Wurzburg radar (Germany) had a range of 70 km (43 miles) and a precision of +/- 15 m (24 ft).

Its high precision allowed it to be used as a fighter-control radar. During the night, it was used in pairs (one to control a night fighter and the other to detect the bomber).
The small Wurzburg, a smaller diameter and lower range unit was used as gun-laying radar.
More than 4000 units were produced during the war.

German bomb tonnage on British targets during the relatively calm period before 8 Apr 1940 is unavailable.The British at...
03/29/2022

German bomb tonnage on British targets during the relatively calm period before 8 Apr 1940 is unavailable.
The British attack on the Hornum seaplane base delivered more than 20 tons of bombs in a single raid.
The three German attacks occurred in a single day during the Battle of Britain (and there were more attacks)

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