Which was the best night fighter?

FLYBOYJ · Jun 25, 2007

syscom3 said:
How can spiral painted prop spinners spoil the aim of a bomber gunner when the fighter is flying at night and couldn't be seen clearly anyway?

I was thinking the same thing.

Unless light is shining right on the aircraft it shouldn't make a difference. I've been in formation with a 172 that had an alternator failure. To save the battery for the landing lights and radios when we arrived at our home airport my buddy shut off the master switch. We kept flying into the night and without nav lights I was barely able to see him when there was say 1000 feet between us. His plane was white and red trim....

pbfoot · Jun 25, 2007

Probably in the same way carrots would enhance your night vision

FLYBOYJ · Jun 25, 2007

pbfoot said:
Probably in the same way carrots would enhance your night vision

Maybe....

Marcel · Jun 27, 2007

pbfoot said:
Probably in the same way carrots would enhance your night vision

Well at least that's true in some cases.

mhuxt · Jun 28, 2007

Marcel:

Check my reply in your "Plane crashed at Hedrik Ido Ambacht The Netherlands" thread.

Cheers,

Mark

fat flyer · Jun 30, 2007

Erich,

I am very interested in learning more about the ejection seats on the He-219.

1) What was the reason for failure?
2) Was it a common problem that was shared by ejection seats of other German planes?
3) Can you provide any sources, especially via internet for further reading?

Thanks in advance.

Also, did the Do-335 which also had ejection seat actually become operational as a nightfighter? I do not believe so, but at another forum someone selected the Do-335 as the best nightfighter.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Jul 1, 2007

fat flyer said:
Also, did the Do-335 which also had ejection seat actually become operational as a nightfighter? I do not believe so, but at another forum someone selected the Do-335 as the best nightfighter.

No it did not. At most the Do 335 became operational only in defense of the factory but it never saw combat.

Heinz · Jul 1, 2007

pbfoot said:
Probably in the same way carrots would enhance your night vision

I actually read in a book recently that the whole carrot thing is a crock.

Was a propaganda thing staged by the RAF saying their Nightfighters ate lots of carrots.

Australian nightfighter pilot said this in the book called FLAK.

This may also be old news to you all, if so sorry guys,

mosquitoman · Jul 1, 2007

Carrots contain a high amount of something called beta-carotene, this is converted into Vitamin A (retinal) by our bodies. It is then converted to a molecule called retinal which essential for a protein called rhodopsin to work. Rhodopsin is found in rods in your eyes and it converts light into an electrical gradient.
It's more a case of eating no carrots and not getting any beta-carotene causes night-blindness.

I knew my degree would prove useful somehow

Heinz · Jul 1, 2007

Ah,

very nice

Carrots are a very average vegetable when it comes down to it though.....

mosquitoman · Jul 1, 2007

I quite like them myself
Anyway, back on topic:
If The Luftwaffe had Mosquito's, would they have operated as well as, worse or better than the Bf110s and Ju88s in service?

Heinz · Jul 1, 2007

Mossies easily would have performed better than the Bf 110 if the Luftwaffe had them.

Marcel · Jul 1, 2007

mosquitoman said:
Carrots contain a high amount of something called beta-carotene, this is converted into Vitamin A (retinal) by our bodies. It is then converted to a molecule called retinal which essential for a protein called rhodopsin to work. Rhodopsin is found in rods in your eyes and it converts light into an electrical gradient.
It's more a case of eating no carrots and not getting any beta-carotene causes night-blindness.

I knew my degree would prove useful somehow

Ah another Biologist.

Marcel · Jul 1, 2007

Heinz said:
Mossies easily would have performed better than the Bf 110 if the Luftwaffe had them.

I disagree, I think the whole nightfighterconcept in WWII depended a lot on the system and less on fighter performance. I you can't find the bomber, you cannot shoot it down. If you're on his tail, performance doesn't matter, just shoot the bastard. In the LW, nightfighters were guided to their targets by ground radar. The bombers usually never knewe what hit them, so no fancy flying.

Glider · Jul 1, 2007

Whilst you are right in saying that success in WW2 depeded to a large degree on ground control I believe the LW would have been better served with the Mosquito instead of the 110.

The Mosquito had three almost priceless advantages over the 110.

Range. The Mosquito had it in spades and would have made the aircraft a much better nightfighter for the German Defence

Performance. The LW found it very difficult to shoot down aircraft of the Mosquito's performance. Obviously the Mosquito had the performance to shoot down any intruder.

Independence. The Mosquito had the performance, range and equipment to operate against German N/F over Germany away from ground control enabling them to 'hunt' the 'hunters'. Can you imagine the damage that could have been done if the LW aircraft like this operating over the UK on a regular basis, when bombers were taking off, forming up and returning to base?

Marcel · Jul 1, 2007

Well, the LW started doing these intruder missions back in 1941, using Ju88's. Unfortunately Hitler didn't like it and told the Nightfighter command to stop this. IMHO one of the greatest blunders of the war!
As far as I know, in Germany the nightfighters were controlled by a system called "Himmelbett". Although this was a nice system, it had some serious backdraws in that it could only controle one plane in one sector and this plane could also not been taken over by other sectors. So long range didn't do much good. I still think Mossies wouldn't have made a difference.

marlin · Jul 2, 2007

Did night fighter pilots rate speed and altitude as especially desirable in a night fighting aircraft ? Before he died I was fortunate to be able to work as unpaid secretary to Wing Commander John "Catseyes" Cunningham and he always rated other factors as being more more important. Chiefly amongst these I would rate good radar installation, effective weaponry, maneouvreability and crew comfort. A bloody good navigator/radar operator ( and he had one in Flt.Lt. Rawnsley ) also is of critical importance. Sure height and altitude cannot be ignored but, other than early in the war, most aircraft used as nightfighters had both of these factors in sufficiency.

syscom3 · Jul 2, 2007

When you think about it, unless the nughtfighter can find its target at a long enough range to be able to maneuver for a shot, everything else becomes secondary.

The radar system and a good radar operator is the most important.

Marcel · Jul 2, 2007

syscom3 said:
When you think about it, unless the nughtfighter can find its target at a long enough range to be able to maneuver for a shot, everything else becomes secondary.

The radar system and a good radar operator is the most important.

Exactly, so that's why I think either mossie, Bf110, Blackwidow or Ju88, doesn't matter as long as the radar and the ground system is good.

pbfoot · Jul 2, 2007

Speed would be important since all attacks at night would be from astern so yo have to have spped to overtake

Which was the best night fighter?

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