And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
De Hovland Mosquito. A nearly all plywood aircraft. A group of them bombed one of Hitlers rallies as they were too fast for the Luftwaffe to catch at the time.
My father flew one of these, though usually without any guns because he was doing photo-reconnaissance. Had some hair-raising stories to tell when in the mood, including an encounter with an ME262 that he was able to shake off in the cloud.
Uh! For me it doesn't work in Brave, only Pale Moon. Problem is with any site using blogger. And the Mosquito hasn't transparent to radar and only flew low to avoid radar on coastal strikes. On the Russian courier flights it flew above the German fighters ceiling and faster than they could go, until the M262. Which didn't have much range.
We know from TV weather reports that rain and snow provide radar returns. Therefore, I assume that although it might not be as reflective as a metal airframe, a Mossie would be detectable. However, I've always read that wood was used because it was in greater supply than aluminium, which is what the Brits use ;).
Shortly before Japan surrendered, the US Navy was surprised to discover that their ship mounted radar couldn't see Japanese training planes that were wood construction. If the invasion had happened, that would have become a huge problem, as Japan had many thousands of those aircraft that were intended for kamikaze employment, plus the gasoline to fuel them. Japan was hording gas and planes for action against the invasion fleets. They had a LOT of both hidden away.
Read the book: "Hell to Pay" by a military investigator who looked at what Japan had done to get ready for the Allies invasion set for 1946. Those A-bombs killed a lot less than Japan estimated it would take to repulse it. The Japanese military/government were willing to tolerate a death toll of 22M civilians to get it done. The US military leaders were planning on using a-bombs to clear areas of enemy just beyond the beaches. They had no clue about radiation that would be released for our soldiers to walk through. Imagine the bodies that would eventually be shipped back home after that fiasco alone. He concluded that the Allies were going to be screwed in the attempt to invade Japan.
De Hovland Mosquito. A nearly all plywood aircraft. A group of them bombed one of Hitlers rallies as they were too fast for the Luftwaffe to catch at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe wood didn't show up on radar.
ReplyDeleteummm...
DeleteWould.
ReplyDeleteMy father flew one of these, though usually without any guns because he was doing photo-reconnaissance. Had some hair-raising stories to tell when in the mood, including an encounter with an ME262 that he was able to shake off in the cloud.
ReplyDeleteStripped of guns and bombs they flew courier service between England and the USSR. Don't remember if they ever lost any.
ReplyDeletePlywood like any other solid to the touch material WILL reflect radio waves…. They flew extremely low to avoid the radar waves
ReplyDeleteAt what radiated power, at what range, at what frequencies?
DeleteOnly one more dangerous--the Hornet. Arrived too late for WWII.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Hornet
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 4 minutes
Tech note: Un-able to publish comment in Firefox, get error message pop-up. Works Ok in Brave.
ReplyDeleteUh! For me it doesn't work in Brave, only Pale Moon. Problem is with any site using blogger.
DeleteAnd the Mosquito hasn't transparent to radar and only flew low to avoid radar on coastal strikes.
On the Russian courier flights it flew above the German fighters ceiling and faster than they could go, until the M262. Which didn't have much range.
We know from TV weather reports that rain and snow provide radar returns. Therefore, I assume that although it might not be as reflective as a metal airframe, a Mossie would be detectable. However, I've always read that wood was used because it was in greater supply than aluminium, which is what the Brits use ;).
ReplyDeleteShortly before Japan surrendered, the US Navy was surprised to discover that their ship mounted radar couldn't see Japanese training planes that were wood construction. If the invasion had happened, that would have become a huge problem, as Japan had many thousands of those aircraft that were intended for kamikaze employment, plus the gasoline to fuel them. Japan was hording gas and planes for action against the invasion fleets. They had a LOT of both hidden away.
ReplyDelete-------not sure, but believe yer comment contains a non-specified percentage of bullshit------
ReplyDeleteRead the book: "Hell to Pay" by a military investigator who looked at what Japan had done to get ready for the Allies invasion set for 1946. Those A-bombs killed a lot less than Japan estimated it would take to repulse it. The Japanese military/government were willing to tolerate a death toll of 22M civilians to get it done. The US military leaders were planning on using a-bombs to clear areas of enemy just beyond the beaches. They had no clue about radiation that would be released for our soldiers to walk through. Imagine the bodies that would eventually be shipped back home after that fiasco alone. He concluded that the
DeleteAllies were going to be screwed in the attempt to invade Japan.
https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Operation-DOWNFALL-1945-1947/dp/168247643X