On 6 Aug 2003 22:07:01 -0700, (Tony
Williams) wrote:

(John S. Shinal) wrote in message ...
aartamen wrote:

Saw this mentioned several times. Sounds somewhat implausible. A whole
lot implausible actually. Was this a common practice, an isolated
incident blown out of proportions or a myth? Is there an approximate
tally of German heavy armor (Pz IV and up) destroyed by the western
allies attack planes?

No firsthand knowledge but plausible. Recent gun camera
footage of strafing attacks shows a tremendous number of tracers on
ricochet trajectories from low angle strafing passes on dirt
airfields.

By definition, the angle at which the bullets would strike the
underside of the tank would be the same as when they hit the road in
front. If the bullets would bounce off something as soft as a dirt
track, why should they be able to penetrate 10mm of armour plate at
the same angle? For this to work, it would first be essential for the
road to be harder than the armour...

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Discussion forum at: http://forums.delphiforums.com/autogun/messages/

I could only see this as being a successful killing technique if the
crew left the underside escape hatch open, assuming the tank had one.
Otherwise, the bullets will not penetrate armor because:

1. They will not be striking "nose first" with the same vector to
drive the tungsten core into the plate.
2. Probably be tumbling.
3. The angle will not be perpendicular to the base of the tank
(probably glancing), exact angle would depend on the angle of the
aircraft's dive.
4. Energy lost after striking the ground/road.

Maybe the pilots who reported this technique as being successful
didn't notice that the tank crews had left a roof hatch open, and that
was how the bullets destroyed the tanks.