Coastal Command Flares

BeauBrummie

BeauBrummie

Home for tea and tiffin!
No not a comment on uniform:costumes:, but before the Leigh light CC aircraft used flares to spot U-boats at night. Having just seen Steve's Wild Sau flares, I thought they could be used by CC. now Steve has asked, what color did coastal command use for sub hunting? I've a few refences to the fact they did, but no details.

Beau
 
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you're one bloody funny man Mr Pattle

I'll do it RB...ta, I should have thought of that, but it's still early here in Yorkshire!

Beau
 
Guys'

After trying several types of flares in test missions I have come up with the same answer that Coastal Command did. The best answer is the buoy flare. You can approach at any altitude, drop the buoys ahead and around the enemy ships and then circle back around to line up for attack. The enemy ships do not know you have dropped flares until they go off after a delay. By then you have circled around and are setting up for an attack.

Now all we need to know is what colors Coastal Command used, I would not be suprised to find that they used either yellow or Red.

O-1
 
Hi,

It's clear from a description in Flt. Lt. Les Baveystock's memoir "Wavetops At My Wingtips" (he and his crews sank at least 2 U-boats and he received the DSO, DFC and Bar and DFM) that Sunderland's used *white* flares for hunting submarines. I can give more details from the memoir if needed.

HTH

Remlinger55.
 
Remlinger55 said:
Hi,

It's clear from a description in Flt. Lt. Les Baveystock's memoir "Wavetops At My Wingtips" (he and his crews sank at least 2 U-boats and he received the DSO, DFC and Bar and DFM) that Sunderland's used *white* flares for hunting submarines. I can give more details from the memoir if needed.

HTH

Remlinger55.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. From what little I have been able to find out about Coastal Command night surface actions, they abandoned the traditional aerial drop flares early on and used the more effective Buoy flares and the Leigh Light. Do you have any reference to a white color on buoy flares that would help a lot. There already existed a quantity of red, green and yellow buoy flares at the time they began using them.

Regards

O-1
 
Hi O-1,

Just off to bed late as it's 2.45am here and I'm shattered but I'll dig around in the memoir tomorrow and post more details of what I find then.

Regards,

Remlinger55.
 
It's looking good. This talk of coastal flares reminded me that the also used smoke floats to mark positions of dived u boats.

Beau
 
Hiho Steve

Don't give up on the para flares just yet. The TBFs embarked on the CVEs carried paras for their night patrols protecting the convoys. USS Bogue had over 10 U-boot kills in her career. Guess what I will be asking for xmas?

I expect that the flares were red so as not to ruin the night vision, give me a few days to rummage through my Bogue/TBF info to verify. Flares would have to be set up in CFS3 to continue to burn on top of the sea. TBFs during daylight used smoke to mark location of submerged u-boots for the "killer" Task Force escort ships who would converge upon the location of the sub.





O-1Driver said:
Guys'

After trying several types of flares in test missions I have come up with the same answer that Coastal Command did. The best answer is the buoy flare. You can approach at any altitude, drop the buoys ahead and around the enemy ships and then circle back around to line up for attack. The enemy ships do not know you have dropped flares until they go off after a delay. By then you have circled around and are setting up for an attack.

Now all we need to know is what colors Coastal Command used, I would not be suprised to find that they used either yellow or Red.

O-1
Click to expand...
 
Quote
"I expect that the flares were red so as not to ruin the night vision, give me a few days to rummage through my Bogue/TBF info to verify. Flares would have to be set up in CFS3 to continue to burn on top of the sea. TBFs during daylight used smoke to mark location of submerged u-boots for the "killer" Task Force escort ships who would converge upon the location of the sub. "
.....................................................................................................

Bob,

These are the Naval aircraft flares that I am working on.
1. Buoy flare, yellow/white in color. Visible water splash where you drop it around the enemy shipping then after a preset delay the buoy launches a flare that explodes in to a parachute flare 900 ft above the water.
2. Sodium water flare. This flare explodes on contact with impact and salt water. It fizzles, smokes and has a bright sodium flare effect on top of the water as it floats and burns. These were also used to assist bombers forming up out over the ocean early dawn before heading in to attack targets. They were also dropped by Mossies and Beaufighters as well as CC aircraft. These will come in red and yellow
3. Standard aircraft flare that we now have simply enhanced with new effect and chute.

The buoy flare will be ready for testing tomorrow probably.


Think this will cover us?:d

Steve
 
Life cycle

Here is the WIP of the life cycle of the buoy flare.

1. You can see the visible splash where it enters the water so you can see where you actually placed the flare. Depending on the speed of ships you may need to lead them a little.
2. The buoys have a time fuse activated at release from aircraft. You can drop them from any altitude but best from 2,000 ft and below. You can see the buoys start to fire off their flares after a 70 sec (currently set) delay. First one then a second one starts arcing upwards with fireball and smoke trail.
3. Flare explodes and ejects a parachute flare illuminating the ships for bomb, torpedo or cannon attack. Parachute has long hangtime for plenty of light.

O-1
 
no no...is the Luftwaffe version of the flare a chute one.....the one to be dropped among bombers in bombers treams to illuminate em


R
 
O-1Driver said:
Thanks for the response. From what little I have been able to find out about Coastal Command night surface actions, they abandoned the traditional aerial drop flares early on and used the more effective Buoy flares and the Leigh Light. Do you have any reference to a white color on buoy flares that would help a lot. There already existed a quantity of red, green and yellow buoy flares at the time they began using them.

Regards

O-1
Click to expand...

Steve,

Can you give me a hand with aerial sea mines. I have made a weapon, but would like it to splash and float and obviously when a ship hits it sink the boat. Any ideas?
 
Quote
Steve,

Can you give me a hand with aerial sea mines. I have made a weapon, but would like it to splash and float and obviously when a ship hits it sink the boat. Any ideas?
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Ted,

Will be glad to look at it after I finish up all of these flares. i have an excellent texture that was done for me a while back that we are also using for the parachute flare that we can use unless you have a better one.

On another note, for the Wilde Sau bomber that drops flares on the British Bomber streams, I am setting it up as a ventral gun that ejects the "flak Illumination flare" at the enemy bombers. As a player all you will have to do is fly within range of the targeted bomber and the trainable gun will release the flares in the direction of the British bomber. I am having to set it up that way because the AI bombers will not drop a bomb on another aircraft.:d It also works well with AI aircraft, they will fire the flares everytime they come within range of the enemy aircraft.

Steve
 
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