Death On The North Sea Gunnery Range

In article ,
Keith Willshaw wrote:

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
The War Was Over: Death On The North Sea Gunnery Range
far as anyone can figure they made their pass and then continued to dive
right
into the North Sea. There were no survivors. We will never know what
actually
caused the crash. Some say it was target fixation. Others claim it was

What was the weather like Art ?

I once knew an RAF coastal command type and he
reckoned that fine weather and smooth seas were
always dangerous because it was hard to get a
visual cue of how high you really were. He said
they lost aircraft the same way and they did this
for a living.

My father talked about planes flying into the sea while trying to
ditch when the conditions were like that, and Norman Hanson
(in 'Carrier Pilot') talks about at least one case when a Corsair
was lost in exactly the circumstances Art describes - just continued
diving until the pilot flew into the sea. I'm pretty sure that Charles
Lamb gives a similar account of a close friend flying into the sea
while doing intercept/evasion trials in a Skua against Lamb in a
Swordfish (Lamb dived to very low level, the Skua came in for a slashing
attack and simply flew straight into the sea - again, the pilot had
a lot of experience).
ISTR a family friend was lost in a maritime patrol Lancaster or
Shackleton sometime well post-war under similar circumstances
during gunnery training, but I'm not sure how I could confirm that.

Calm sea - especially with mist - seems to have been a killer.

--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales....
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