MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Project Aphrodite was a WWII USAAF program to take war weary B-17's and convert them into radio controlled drones that could be dived into high value targets, such as sub pens and V-weapons storage sites. They rigged up a control system based on two Azon (Azimuth only) guided bomb control systems, one set up for left and right and one for up and down. The Aphrodite missile B-17's were stripped of everything not needed for the mission, loaded with tons of explosives, and took off under the control of a pilot and a flight engineer. Once the bomber missile was up and level the two men switched it over to radio control and bailed out while still over Great Britain. Another B-17 served as the control aircraft and the operator looking out through the nose maneuvered the missile B-17 to take it to the target and dive it in.
There were many problems, not the least of which was that B-17's were not designed to dive well, and they never had a successful mission. But on one mission they flew almost all the way to the target, only to lose control of the missile B-17, which belly landed in a field in France.
The next day they sent fighters to that location to strafe and destroy the B-17 but could not find anything in that area but a gravel pit. It was only after the Allies overran that area of France that they found out what had occurred. The local French reported that German troops surrounded the bomber and ordered the crew to come out. When the crew did not appear the Germans pried open the door in the aft fuselage and stormed in to capture the crew. The French said the next thing was an enormous explosion.
And all that was left was a gravel pit.
There were many problems, not the least of which was that B-17's were not designed to dive well, and they never had a successful mission. But on one mission they flew almost all the way to the target, only to lose control of the missile B-17, which belly landed in a field in France.
The next day they sent fighters to that location to strafe and destroy the B-17 but could not find anything in that area but a gravel pit. It was only after the Allies overran that area of France that they found out what had occurred. The local French reported that German troops surrounded the bomber and ordered the crew to come out. When the crew did not appear the Germans pried open the door in the aft fuselage and stormed in to capture the crew. The French said the next thing was an enormous explosion.
And all that was left was a gravel pit.
