Recently Discovered From Wwii

[mike Meehan]

Spitfire "tipping-off" a V1. If you've never heard of this insane tactic .......

At first V1's were shot down by gunfire. Optimum range was inside 200yds, which was marginal for survival. Many planes were damaged and quite a few pilots killed.

Basically at such high speed and low altitude a plane had to fly though the explosion and hope for the best.

At great risk of being blown up, some of the best pilots started "tipping-off" the V1's wing, because of damage to wing tips they later developed a tactic of disrupting

the V1's airflow by placing their wing very close to the V1's wing, causing it to topple.

Not every pilot did this. At night this tactic was impossible, as the exhaust plume from the V1 blinded the pilot to everything else, though some Mossie pilots flew

past and closely in front of the V1, called a "thumping," again causing it to topple. The thought of doing this at 450mph, 4,000 feet above the ground, at night and

beinded gives me the willies. g blin

Pear Harbor , Hawaii (December 7, 1941)

Isn't it amazing how a film could last so long in a camera without disintegrating?

Fantastic photos taken 69 years ago. Some of you will have to go to a museum to see what a Brownie camera looked like?

Here is a simple picture of what we are talking about. . .. ]