BuckFelize
LE

A DH Hornet was featured taking a header on a deck landing!
That was the Short Sturgeon prototype and not a Sea Hornet
A DH Hornet was featured taking a header on a deck landing!
Du hast rechts! Es tut mir leid.That was the Short Sturgeon prototype and not a Sea Hornet
View attachment 166325 . Another obscure beast in the great man's logbook.
V2 had a ballistic trajectory profile whereas the V1 flew an aerodynamic profile.
The V2 was fired high,the rocket burnt out and fell as a dead weight onto the target,you couldn´t hear it coming let alone attempt to stop it.I doubt very much that a pilot however good or brave could stop a V2?
Bloody hell. I texted a good friend last night, an old Phantom driver, to ask if he'd seen the documentary.
The reply was, "Went down to see Eric just last month. He only lives in <PLACE>."
Not too far from me - I pass where he lives every day.
I've volunteered to be a wingman if there's a next time.
If you do, could you ask him if we considered piggy-backing fighters on bombers to enable protection over Germany?. Given other developments it's not that silly an idea - even if some 'mothers' would carry fewer/no bombs.
If you do, could you ask him if we considered piggy-backing fighters on bombers to enable protection over Germany?. Given other developments it's not that silly an idea - even if some 'mothers' would carry fewer/no bombs.
One or two fighter pilots over Holland had a pop at a V2 just after it was fired and on the way up. I don't think they hit any. As you say there was no practical defense once if it was on the way.
Raymond Baxter , Spitfire pilot, rally driver and tv presenter was involved in one such chance sighting:
SOURCE (well worth a look for V2 history)
On February 14 (1945) , several R.A.F. Spitfire aircraft had just finished a bombing run over Wassenaar when a V2 was fired from the forest. One of the aircraft tried to attack the fast moving rocket, but was unable to hit the target from 600 meters.
R.A.F. pilot Raymond Baxter remembers
“…I read in my log book that we attacked a target just North above The Hague on 14 February 1945. I must have been in a very aggressive mood because I read in my logbook that after a dive attack of 6000 feet, I ordered the boys to return to attack the anti-aircraft defense, which was trying to make it difficult for us. After we dropped the bombs I saw to my surprise at a distance of 600 meters a V2 out of the forest, that we just had bombed, rising into the air, very slowly. Right in front of us. It was an incredible sight and it was so unexpected that I couldn't do anything about it. But my number three, a Scotchman called Cupid Love, responded very fast and shot at the V2 that was rising slowly. It must have been one of the most optimistic shots of the entire war. So far as I know this was the only time in history of the war that a dive-bomber attacked a rocket in the air. Fortunately, he didn’t hit the rocket. I say fortunately, because if he had hit the rocket, the war would have been ended for me quite abruptly.”
Every day a college day - I never knew Spits were configured for a fighter-bomber role over post D-Day Yurp.
![]()
Simply put, a V1 was a crude, cruise missile whereas the V2 was ballistic missile.[/QUOTE
The Germans realised that Tempest and Spit pilots were "tipping" V1's and put a device on the wings of them to explode them should this happen .....we lost too many good pilots before this was realised.....also it was found that just putting the wing over the wing of the V1 would disrupt the airflow and cause it to roll to destruction, shooting them down with cannons was also fraught with danger as the debris field you flew through contained some large parts that could puncture rad's and such like , not to mention a lot of flame and fire.
As a lad I well remember the cowshed still having a row of holes in the roof caused by the cannon shells from a Spit as he shot down a V1 some 30 years after the event.