SHOULD YOU OPEN FIRE?

Uhhh....I think "drop the inside wing and swing the nose" is the normal way
to turn an airplane. Maybe I don't understand your point.

The point is, you don't want to look like an attacker.

Anyway, you don't need to point your nose at a bomber, or other
aircraft, to get close to it. It isn't even the "right" way to do
it." You do a formation join-up.

If the bomber is flying, say, due north, and is on your left side, you
fly a heading of around 300 - 320. You keep adjusting your heading so
that the bomber's position remains constant relative to your own.
I.e., it appears to stay at the same place on your canopy.

You will soon be on the bomber's wing, but will not get shot at
because you have never pointed your guns toward it. You appear to be
flying "almost parallel," which, in fact, you are. And you give the
bomber's crew a good look at your side profile, which they are most
likely to recognize as a friendly.

vince norris








"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
SHOULD YOU OPEN FIRE?

Easy question right? Are you sure? Let's take a case in point. You are
sitting
in the top turret of a bomber. You spot a formation of fighters coming
toward
you. They are clearly the P-51 fighter escort you have been waiting for.
"About time they showed up", you are thinking. They are getting closer
pointing
straight at you. Why aren't they fanning out and forming into a top cover
position? They are still coming. Now they are getting near that critical
1,000
yard mark. At 600 yards they will be within their firing range. SHOOT NOW
DAMMIT SHOOT! Shoot at what you identified to be your own P-51's? Damn
right,
And shoot to kill. And if you shot down every one of them, no jury would
ever
convict you. You were obeying a first rule that all gunners are taught
early
on. It goes like this. Any fighter that points its guns at you is to be
considered hostile and be fired upon. On the other hand every fighter
pilot is
warned that hanging around a bomber formation can be a dangerous
business,. He
must be careful how he moves and where he moves to. For example; If a
fighter
is flying parallel to a bomber formation and wants to get closer, he might
turn
toward the formation dropping his inside wing and swinging his nose toward
the
bombers. This is a classic fighter approach so highly favored by the
Luftwaffe
and the USAAC and RAF as well. To approach a bomber in this manner can
prove
fatal since gunners are trained to recognize that as a fighter approach
and
assume he is under attack.. He will then assume that he misidentified the
attacker as friendly when the every moves proves he is hostile. Should you
open
fire? Damn right you should.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer