Curious. I don't see mention of the B-26 Marauders. (Did I miss it?) I thought they were involved in fighter-bomber operations including strafing runs and close air support?
Steve SweeneyDigital Editor, Hobby
Nothing wrong with the P-39's as ground-attack aircraft, the Russians made very good use of Lend-Lease P-39's and P-63's in that role and were very pleased with them.
General Chuck Yeager flew P-39's for a while and said they were good airplanes and very underrated. He liked them just fine until the P-51's came along. He liked the Mustangs even better!
Leo_AmesI wonder what made for the best train strafer in the European theater? I imagine it's a race between the USAAF P-47 and the RAF's Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.
For a combination of speed, firepower, and low altitude maneuverability, I would nominate the P-39 Airacobra (and P-400 and P-63). Of course, for ground attack you could use the airplane designed and built for the job, the IL-2. BTW, in Italy, where many of the main lines were electrified, the favored USAAF tactic was to destroy the substations forcing the Axis to use less efficient steam locomotion.
zardoz Flintlock76 I'd give slightly higher points to the Hawker Tempest and Typhoons since they had 20mm cannons. The USAAF never went into 20mm's in a big way, the .50 cal Brownings were considered more than adequate. Were those rounds sufficient to penetrate a locomotive boiler, and if so, would said penetration cause a catastrophic failure?
Flintlock76 I'd give slightly higher points to the Hawker Tempest and Typhoons since they had 20mm cannons. The USAAF never went into 20mm's in a big way, the .50 cal Brownings were considered more than adequate.
Were those rounds sufficient to penetrate a locomotive boiler, and if so, would said penetration cause a catastrophic failure?
Oh, absolutely, both the 20mm and the .50 cals, especially since the .50's were typically loaded with armor-piercing ammunintion, and some times armor-piercing incendiarys, the incendiarys would start fires.
These are the various types of .50 cal ammunition. The variants M1 through M8 are essentially the types available during WW2. All those after the M8 are post-war or recent developments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_BMG#Military_cartridge_types
Would penetrating a boiler cause it to explode? Possibly, but in all the train strafing films I've seen typically when the boiler's hit you can see steam venting out from the punctures. I've never seen film of a boiler blowing but of course that doesn't mean it never happened.
It sure happened in this case! Here's a British engine that took Winston's advice of "Take one with you!" Also a good lesson in avoiding target fixation!
https://ryesown.co.uk/german-bomber/
Flintlock76I'd give slightly higher points to the Hawker Tempest and Typhoons since they had 20mm cannons. The USAAF never went into 20mm's in a big way, the .50 cal Brownings were considered more than adequate.
Flintlock76'Dude, this thread of yours is just diabolical!
My uncle Frank was a P-47 jockey and he said how he loved shooting up trains. He'd make a pass over them first to give the crew a chance to jump-(unless he was over Germany) and then blast the helll out of the locomotive. In the new mag, Trains at War, there is a blown up locomotive that looks like almost like a flower with the tubes formatted into a nice bouquet.
54light15 That sure looks like something Gomez Addams could use! But, AT-6s as combat planes?
That sure looks like something Gomez Addams could use! But, AT-6s as combat planes?
The AT-6's, or in this case since it looks like an RCAF facility, "Harvards," are strictly for training purposes. Those air cadets had to learn on something, and it goes without saying all the combat-capable planes were reserved for advanced training or at the various fronts.
By the way, some of those guys were getting so close to one another it was making me nervous!
Anyone besides me notice those target trains had an American/Canadian profile to them?
That North American Aviation ad Mike sent us? Wow! That B-25 jockey means business! Either that or he's got the mother of all cases of target fixation!
BaltACD Murphy Siding Flintlock76 As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmwCmjkYFs The "trains" aren't moving. That seems rather unsporting on the part of the attacking airplanes. And why does the steam engine and later a coal tender burst into flames after being hit? Gosh, it almost looks like a gasoline fire. Look like a movie set false front!
Murphy Siding Flintlock76 As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmwCmjkYFs The "trains" aren't moving. That seems rather unsporting on the part of the attacking airplanes. And why does the steam engine and later a coal tender burst into flames after being hit? Gosh, it almost looks like a gasoline fire.
Flintlock76 As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmwCmjkYFs
As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmwCmjkYFs
The "trains" aren't moving. That seems rather unsporting on the part of the attacking airplanes. And why does the steam engine and later a coal tender burst into flames after being hit? Gosh, it almost looks like a gasoline fire.
Look like a movie set false front!
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
For your thread Dude .. thanks to Mike!
Murph, I suspect your tongue is well-planted in your cheek on your first statement.
Why does the target burst into flames? Probably to give those student pilots a sense of acomplishment, they sure know if they hit the target, and no doubts about it!
A lot more gratifying than counting bullet holes in paper.
The Thunderbolt could also absorb 20mm cannon fire into its radial engine and have a chance of getting home, an obviously attractive attribute when attacking a well defended target like an important freight yard.
The Mustang and Lightning were much more fragile with their easily damaged liquid cooled piston engines. Charactestics that sadly would lose more than a few UN pilots a few years later in Korea when the widely retained P-51, which was selected for deployment over the Thunderbolt that had largely already been phased out and scrapped, and had to go train busting and such.
A great plane, but I bet the American, Australian, South African, and South Korea pilots that flew Mustangs in the skies over Korea wished they were in a Corsair or Skyraider instead when encountering heavy ground fire.
Leo_Ames ;) Here's some more good color footage of trains being strafed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7D4jMbLfRA I wonder what made for the best train strafer in the European theater? I imagine it's a race between the USAAF P-47 and the RAF's Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.
;)
Here's some more good color footage of trains being strafed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7D4jMbLfRA
I wonder what made for the best train strafer in the European theater? I imagine it's a race between the USAAF P-47 and the RAF's Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.
I'd give slightly higher points to the Hawker Tempest and Typhoons since they had 20mm cannons. The USAAF never went into 20mm's in a big way, the .50 cal Brownings were considered more than adequate.
The American P-38's, P-47's, and P-51 were all pressed into service for train strafing. all got the job done.
By the way, did you know the late, great, railroad artist Howard Fogg was a fighter pilot? It's true, he flew P-51's in the European Theater.
I can't help but wonder if he did any train strafing, and what went through his mind if and when he did?
Oh, if those German engineers didn't get hazardous duty pay they sure should have!
Too bad the train strafers never caught up with the Fuehrer Sonderzug, Hitler's personal train. But then, that train probably never went anywhere without a cloud of Messerschmitts or Focke-Wulfs hovering over it.
'Dude, this thread of yours is just diabolical!
deleted
Were the German locomotive engineers getting hazardous duty pay?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYTaddev6KQ
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
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