Most Dangerous Position on a WW2 Allied bomber?

Admiral Beez · Jan 24, 2020

TheMadPenguin said:
"I would be killed by flak if an enemy plane "
Enemy planes have guns, but not artillery.
FlAK is ground-based anti-aircraft artillery "Fliegerabwehrkanonen" from Flieger flyer + Abwehr defense + Kanonen cannons.

Methinks Vahe Demirjian should be on read-only status for a few decades.

Flak has either a proximity or altitude fuse. Could proximity fuses be used on ww2 fighter cannons, akin to air to air flak?

Looking here, it seems the tech was only for larger projectiles. But there were airborne cannons up to 120mm.

TheMadPenguin · Jan 24, 2020

The US VT fuse could fit in 75mm shells late-war, at first only in 127mm (5"/38). Axis had no equivalent.
We used 75mm in B-25, but I never heard of VT fuses used there.
Other air-burst fuses were mechanical timers set in the firing artillery mount before loading the shell.

Shortround6 · Jan 24, 2020

there were actually several steps from the 5in gun to the 75mm. There were some fuses for the british 4 in (and/or 3.7?) before the fuse for the 3in.

You not only had to make the fuse smaller but the fuse took up a fair amount of room inside the projectile and on the smaller shells greatly reduced the amount of HE filler.
Even on the larger shells there was a removable piece of explosive that had to be taken out if a VT fuse was fitted instead of a time fuse.

wrenchedmyspanner · Jan 24, 2020

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
No B-52's were intercepted during Desert Storm...

The actual reasons the guns were removed was:

"My decision to eliminate the guns from the 'BUFF' was not an easy one," General George L. Butler, then head of Strategic Air Command (SAC), wrote to the aerial gunner community in the fall of 1991. "It stemmed from the collapse of the soviet threat and the leading edge of very sharp budget cuts… Our Air Force is going to go through a lengthy period of turmoil as we adapt to a dramatically changing world."

The U.S. Air Force's Last Tail Gunner Has Retired

Why do I bother? It's not like you will respond.

I always wondered if the so-called "Harms Way" incident during Desert Storm played some part in the decision to dispense with the gunner (though the crew position had been moved to the forward part of the aircraft many years earlier). I'm sure the decision would've happened anyways but it seems each year a little more info is revealed about the "harms way" incident.

GrauGeist · Jan 24, 2020

Admiral Beez said:
Flak has either a proximity or altitude fuse. Could proximity fuses be used on ww2 fighter cannons, akin to air to air flak?

Looking here, it seems the tech was only for larger projectiles. But there were airborne cannons up to 120mm.

View attachment 567636

The largest operational cannon was a 75mm, used by the US and Germany.

The Luftwaffe did experiment with an 88 and the Italians had an experimental Piaggio P.108A armed with a 90mm cannon for anti-shipping and later upgraded it to a 102mm cannon.
Japan had a 75mm mounted in a KI-109, intending to intercept B-29s but only two were converted.

Admiral Beez · Jan 25, 2020

TheMadPenguin said:
The US VT fuse could fit in 75mm shells late-war, at first only in 127mm (5"/38). Axis had no equivalent.

It seems an obvious next step for the Luftwaffe. AIUI, they were working in the Doppelzünder proximity shell. Put this in the nose of their night fighters.

Would a timing proximity fuse be possible for fighter aircraft? You could set your gunsight for the travel time.

Most Dangerous Position on a WW2 Allied bomber?

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