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Skip-bombing?

Douglas Aircraft ............. accident

I probably have way too much time on my hands..................................

but........

Did anyone else pick up the aircraft type n the skip bombing accident from training film above.

And I am sorry to anyone related to or involved with the pilot and crew of that misfortunate accident...............it is horrifying to watch.

Yet it is historically significant.....an important to the war effort....and for aircraft enthusiasts

The square tail..............caught my eye.

I am not sure..................and better suggestions would be encouraged...............with photos

The Douglas XA-26 first flew in 1942. The Dam Busters raid was in 1943.

I think that was a testing of the first Douglas invader?????
 
Definitely an A-26, by the high square tail. Boston's have a high tail too, but a little more rounded in shape. The video's content strongly suggests it was an RAF training/testing film. So it could have been a Lend-leased aircraft.

In terms of the possibility of the A-26 being operational in Europe before the raid for inclusion in this footage, there's no reason to fix the final dating of this release either before or after the raid - could have been a string of clips from before and after. We would have to assume that the success of the raid encouraged continued refinements in skip-bombing weapons and tactics, which would lead to more on-going training, testing and filming for future missions of the type.

BTW, did you notice how the force of the plane's airspeed at a sudden nose down position caused the wings to snap back and begin breaking off even before the water impact? Wow....:kilroy:
 
To my knowledge the only aircraft to be used for testing 'Upkeep' other than the Lanc was an adapted Wellington. The Mosquito was also used and this led to the smaller version 'Highball'. 618 Sqn were equipped with adapted Mossies to use Highballs in the Far East and reached the theatre although were no used in action.

Only one A-26 on RAF charge I can find and that flew at A&AEE Boscombe Down. I'll check my references but I believe that aircraft wasn't lost.
 
Just keep in mind that the history references never tell all Hewman. I know i sound like a broken record at times repeating this but historical references are just "handed down" works that are often incomplete, altered repeatedly or contain erroneous data and recordkeeping, as we all have shared many examples just communing here at this forum alone. Just because we can't find a reference to something doesn't mean it never happened and when we can find a thing, it doesn't necessarily mean it did happen in the details given. I like researching history - especially military - as much as the next guy here, but i never buy into everthing 100% 'cause that just ain't practical.

As a teen and later a younger man i had a much more stubborn "faith" in the recorded "facts" of hysterical works :icon_lol:, but the experiences that come with age have tempered my stubborness on the subject substantially.
 
Douglas Invader A-26B

I am fairly sure the aircraft is the early variant of the Douglas Invader.....

more likely the A-26B



Also.............I did a search on "A-26 skip bomb"..... and google books has the manual on A-26 skip bombing................

The links are too long to post..................

The you tube is a cut and paste of skip bombing footage........so who knows when the A-26 accident occurred???/
 
The A-26...

...that bought the lake was definitely either too low, too slow or both. In fact, it appeared obvious that it was releasing at a lower altitude than the Lancs. :isadizzy:

I thought it interesting that the weapon the 26 dropped was noticeably smaller and different in shape compared to what the Lancs were dropping.
 
Round Ball..............skip bomb

You probably looked at this one too!

but I like the round one....................as it come up to the camera

also...............would you stand that close .........along the shore????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrN0iVJjLgU

The bouncing ball bomb looks like what the A-26 was trying to test.......... must have been an later version after the Dam busters
 
Checked my references only two Invaders served with the RAF, KL690 and KL691. These were both evaluated at Boscombe Down and returned to the USAAF in 1947. The rest of the order for 140 was cancelled

The book this info comes from is collated from the Aircraft Data Record Cards held for every aircraft ever on RAF charge.

I agree that data can be garbled. But the amount of first hand and well documented data on this particular weapons usage from the British side at least, leads me to think this may have been an American testing of the weapon along the same lines as that carried out by the Mosquito. Possibly for use by the USAAF or USN?

Records on A-26s and their fates maybe a good place to start looking
 
Here is the A-26 answer

As usual...........................the answer or the issue has been addressed

Maybe most of you already found this web page.............

http://vectaris.net/id386.html

Maybe this web page came about after this page???

Highball...............

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]The USAAF sent an A-26 over to Brooklands for conversion and it was fitted with a standard Highball installation (the codename for the A-26 installation was Speedee, but it was physically identical to Highball). The A-26 did a series of test drops in the sea near Eglin AFB in Florida; one of Wallis' men was there for some of them.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif][FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]The type of bomb was not the large ‘UPKEEP’ used so successfully by Lancaster bombers over the Rhur dams, but the smaller ‘HIGHBALL’, eventually dropped by the Mosquito. The ‘HIGHBALL’was designed to be used against Japanese shipping in the Pacific, but constant problems delayed the programme and these problems were notcured before the end of the war.
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]On several drops, the A-26, which flew these experimental missions codenamed Speedee, was VERY low (under 10 feet) and on the 28th April 1945, the bomb hit the tail with fatal consequences, as can be seen below. American interest in the weapon then faded; there was only one converted A-26 Invader.[/FONT]​


[/FONT][/FONT]
 
Well I took my idea about using a Torpedo Type weapon as a skip bomb and this is what I came up with. First I took DB's 500lb_GP_c.dp and converted it to a Type=11 Torpedo. This is one othe types not used by MS or any of the other Add-On weapons developers. I used the "c" because none of my other A/C use this MDL. Next I took my B-25C/D Pappy Gunn Commerce Killer and set up the DP with 4 of these weapons which drop in pairs. Front Right & Rear Left then Front Left & Rear Right.

The screen shots show what it looks like in action. You can see I was only 320 Meters from the ship when I dropped and you also see the splashes. Unlike other torps these don't go under the ship from short range. TheAI's will make regular low level torpedo runs with them. They do quite well.

Enjoy....
 
Does this bring about the possibility of a Dambusting raid without the Payware add-on?
 
Wow! I wish we would have had this when we made the Battle of the Bismarck Sea campaign. This would make a rebuild of that campaign well worth the effort.
 
Thanks Gents;

The parts were already there, I just rearrange the chairs on the deck and whala!

The pictures are backwards in order. The first shot is in the bottom center position. They are from two different passes at the same ship. If you look at the title of the picture, Release, BombHitsWater and Boom are from the first pass. OhCrap and CommerceKiller are from the second pass.

Hewman, yes, as long as the Dam Is a Ship, Torpedoes won't affect any other object type in the Sim. And Yes, you will get a Wake behind it. It's nothing more than a bomb with a modified DP to turn it into a torpedo. Very Simple.

The reason I pursued this avenue is that the AI’s will not fly a Skip-Bombing Attack Flight Profile without the weapon it’s trying to drop being a torpedo. Everything else, Bombs, Rockets gives you diving attacks, not the way it was done.

Yes, there is a D/L in the works. Bwaahaahaahaa…
 
This could make for some interesting missions.Way to go Pen.

Like Jadg said the Battle of the Bismarck Sea could be redone using this plus using some of the newer planes that weren't out when it was first done.


Talon
 
A Roger that Talon. A work already in progress. That was the whole reason I've been working on it.

JFYI, the smoke coming from the upper deck of the ship is the result of a Beafighter attacking it. The Bullet Spray on the water in front of my A/C is from the 8 x .50Cals on another B-25C/D Gunship to my rear left attacking at the same time. It had already completed 2 "Torpedo-Skip Bombing" Runs and had been assigned a new target. No problem with the Player or AI-Only Formation AI's transitioning from Torpedo Attack to Gun Attack.
 
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