tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post5755421732359941955..comments2024-03-29T13:09:31.522+01:00Comments on Defence and Freedom: Night fighter personnel - a remarkable historical anomalyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-6458243574963877052011-02-24T20:08:45.793+01:002011-02-24T20:08:45.793+01:00There was a proposal to end the nightly blackouts ...There was a proposal to end the nightly blackouts (which were causing many traffic accidents anyway) in favour of better vision for the night fighters once it became obvious that British/Canadian bombers were able to find their targets with radio tech (Gee, H2S and Oboe).<br /><br />The politicians weren't sure how the population would react and blocked the idea, but the Luftwaffe deployed so many sources of illumination in densely populated areas that the nightly blackouts were ineffective there anyway.<br /><br />The radar-less night fighter techniques were nevertheless no good for winter time and quite challenging for pilots and material. It was a niche technique. The single engine fighter's short range was furthermore adding to the navigation accident rate of inexperienced crews.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-66425894976599251042011-02-24T19:55:40.995+01:002011-02-24T19:55:40.995+01:00Hm, ja. Certainly Germany was just one step away f...Hm, ja. Certainly Germany was just one step away from Vietnam-era weapons technology in a lot of cases. Like radar or IR guided SAMs. Or the bomb. But ...<br /><br />Btw, the most successful night fighters: Wilde Sau with daylight fighters over Berlin. Shot down by far the most bombers once contact to a bomber stream was made.Distillernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-58336183469126155642011-02-24T18:26:49.715+01:002011-02-24T18:26:49.715+01:00Most daylight fighter vs. fighter kills happened w...Most daylight fighter vs. fighter kills happened with the element of surprise. there's no bias in favour of an ace pilot if a squadron of Fw 190 surprises a squadron of Spitfires from the sun. All of them had the opportunity to score.<br /><br />The assistance role was certainly true for the wingmen, but there's only one of them per ace and that one still got plenty opportunities for kills and many long-time wingmen of experts eventually became simple or double aces.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-15041620183075898852011-02-24T18:13:46.977+01:002011-02-24T18:13:46.977+01:00I'm sure I remember reading that many of the a...I'm sure I remember reading that many of the aces were aces because they were assisted, rather than because they were overly talented.<br /><br />A pair, or a quartet of fighters would hunt, one of them, the ace, tasked with killing the enemy, the other 1 (or 3) tasked with keeping him alive.<br /><br />To kill an enemy, you would have to fly straight, which made you an easy target, sure to die, unless you have someone else worrying about keeping you alive and interfering with anyone trying to line up a shot on you.<br /><br />Obviously it makes sense for the best pilots to be given the kill role, but it also makes it more or less impossible for the others to score kills.Domohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00240964731398145995noreply@blogger.com