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plan_D said:I've heard a story about a Hurricane pilot that was so good in the formation he used to tap the other planes wings on purpose. And they sometimes landed with dents in the wings to prove it! Looks they knew what was coming.
There was considerable danger in attacking the V-1 even though it could not shoot back. Its explosion could be lethal in the air within 200 yards and in the early weeks several pilots were killed and aircraft badly damaged by bursting bombs. Diving on to the bomb to attain extra speed brought the danger of entering the lethal distance while shooting; turbulence of the hot gases from the jet engine also upset the aim of a fighter attacking from the rear
The best form of attack had to be discovered by trial and error and eventually most pilots found that, if possible, it was best to allow the bomb to overtake them and then fire deflection shots as it passed. Occasionally, unorthodox methods were used with success. Pilots would fly alongside a bomb and then tip it over with the wing of their machine – the wings did not actually touch since the air passing over the wing surface of the fighter was sufficient to unbalance the robot, which then overturned and went into a dive.
New Zealand pilots flying Spitfires, Mosquitos, Mustangs, Tempests, and Typhoons played a prominent part in the fighter patrols. No. 486 New Zealand Tempest Squadron was in action from the outset. After flying sweeps and convoy patrols over the Channel during the early days of the invasion, its pilots found themselves switched overnight to the defence of London. By 4 September they had flown 2443 sorties and destroyed 223 flying bombs, a record excelled by only one other squadron.
No. 486 Squadron's top-scoring pilots were Warrant Officer Eagleson,1 with twenty-one flying bombs destroyed, Flying Officer Cammock,2 with twenty and one shared, Flight Lieutenant McCaw,3 nineteen and one shared, and Flight Lieutenant Cullen,4 who brought down sixteen. These men displayed outstanding skill both as pilots and marksmen, sending many of their targets down into the sea before they reached the coast and others into the open countryside nearby.
On one patrol Madden found his ammunition exhausted whilst attacking so he flew alongside the bomb and tried to tip it over with his wing. Twice the bomb righted itself but his persistence was rewarded when, at the third attempt, it turned over and plunged down to explode in a wood. Kleinmeyer adopted even more unusual tactics to destroy his target one evening early in August. During his approach he overshot but, turning sharply, he flew across the nose of the bomb, catching it in the slipstream from his aircraft so that it rolled over and crashed.