Mistel composite aircraft
[image credit - wikipedia.org]
What do you do with worn out aircraft? You fill them with explosives and use them as guided bombs. Using a simpler solution then the Americans when faced with the same problem the Germans also found better uses for their warn out bomber.
FW-190 and JU-88 Mistel Combination
As you saw earlier this week the American Air Force attempted to take worn out bombers and use them as guided missiles. This wasn’t successful for the US Air Force and managed to kill a few pilots in the process. While the American’s went with a very technical approach to the problem that involved the pilot bailing out of the aircraft, the Germans went with a very different take on the same issue.
German Piggyback Porn is weird
The two approaches were very different from each other. For example where the American bomber was loaded with 20,000 pounds of torpex explosive the German version had two tons of explosives in the nose placed as a shaped charge. This would allow it to penetrate seven feet into it’s target. The American version went for brute force, the German version for precision. Next where the American bomber was remotely controlled, the German version was attached to a parasite fighter. When the bomber was over target explosive bolts would fire and seperate the two aircraft while the German bomber went down towards it’s target. This allowed the pilot far better odds to get back home then Operation Aphrodite had for it’s pilots.
In operation the Mistel was only partially effective with a record of sinking a ship and partially damaging a bridge. Like the American version though the results weren’t worth the efforts placed into it’s development.
Mistel composite aircraft
Where there are straight parralells between Operation Aphrodite and modern cruise missiles the same can not be said of Mistel. What makes this more unusual is that the Americans went with a higher tech approach then the Germans. Which was reversed of the normal procedures for each country. Because of this the Mistel had a better service record then it’s American counterpart. In this day and age you would never see this since we just refurbish and reuse instead of innovate and replace.
[images unless otherwise noted - http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org]
The B-52 is a fine example of refurbish and reuse,This aircraft will still be in use on its 100th anniversary.
I wonder if any other airplane designs will hit the century mark. It doesn't seem to far fetched to think the 747 will too… Maybe there is an outside shot for the A10.
The B-52 and A-10 are both scheduled to be put out of service in 2040. The Boeing's first flight was in 1952. So it will be 88 years after her first flight. The A-10's first flight was in 1972 that will make her 68 when she's put out to pasture for the final time.
My guess is that 2040 is the magical year we switch over to pilotless aircraft.
I would imagine the AC-130 has a chance.
The C-130 itself had it's test flight in 1954. Like the B-52 it has seen several generations of replacements come and go. Nothing has every truly replaced it because the new ones are to complex. As the Russians will tell you with the TU-95 (another 1950's to 2040 aircraft BTW) there is nothing like a turboprop for efficiency. It's just that we, as Americans, only like jets because they are cool and props are old.
Most of the designs we see will be around for generations ,research and development being so costly.
Nein, trust me Herman, it vill work MAGNIFICENTLY! Ja! You vly das little plane un top, ja? Ven you see das Big Ben, you push little red booton here, ja? There will occur a slight bang, nothing to vorry about. Is perfectly normal. You pull up abruptly, und return to the fatherland a hero! Ja? Now, there is teeny, teeny, tiny, teeny, little chance that maybe there is no slight bang, or maybe a big bang instead. Teeny. Tiny. Miniscule. Vhy am I even vorrying you, ja? You will be hero, REGARDLESS! JA? Ja! Now, uh, sign waiver, bitte.
OK, so the pilot flew the fighter with a bomber attached as a bomb? (Yo' dawg! goes here, but I think that one's pretty played out…)
Someone tell me please that they fired up the bombers engines pre-takeoff, and that the fighter didn't have to pull all that weight alone. Were there any linkages to the control surfaces on the bomber? It doesn't look like it, but I could see the possibility of some rigging going through the trapeze between the planes.
I'd have to imagine that these were what you'd call a sitting duck to other fighters or AA. That can't have been very maneuverable.
I do believe the engines were running since the Fighter engine wouldn't have been enough to do it alone. Next there were no controls to the bombers that I am aware of. The fighter was able to maneuver it around on it's own. Oh and yes it would have not only been fighter and AA bait but think of the BOOM that it would have created when you shot it down.