Great photo! Some interesting things there. I assume that is a ring tail bomb rather than one with cruciform tail fins. Also I wonder if the bomb displacement gear is already retracted or if it was not used (if that was possible) at this dive angle. I would assume the bomb was mounted to the displacement gear as SOP?Thanks for the photo post, Pat D
Nice page, a little bit over enthusiastic about the superiority of US dive bombers over Japanese ones and in particular the Stuka. The assertion that the latter was not effective at high dive angles raises eyebrows. Eric Brown's opinion was that the Ju-87 was the only one that "felt at home standing on its nose" and that there was no sense of being on a runaway roller coaster like on other planes thanks to the very effective drag producing devices (including spatted gear). Brown should know, he test flew all sorts of dive bombers (although he may not have flown the Val). Cheers, Aerofranz
Great photo! Some interesting things there. I assume that is a ring tail bomb rather than one with cruciform tail fins. Also I wonder if the bomb displacement gear is already retracted or if it was not used (if that was possible) at this dive angle. I would assume the bomb was mounted to the displacement gear as SOP?Thanks for the photo post, Pat D
ReplyDeleteExcellent little article explaining the weapon that won the battle of Midway Island.
ReplyDeleteNice page, a little bit over enthusiastic about the superiority of US dive bombers over Japanese ones and in particular the Stuka.
ReplyDeleteThe assertion that the latter was not effective at high dive angles raises eyebrows. Eric Brown's opinion was that the Ju-87 was the only one that "felt at home standing on its nose" and that there was no sense of being on a runaway roller coaster like on other planes thanks to the very effective drag producing devices (including spatted gear). Brown should know, he test flew all sorts of dive bombers (although he may not have flown the Val).
Cheers,
Aerofranz