Bitzer project

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Motormouse
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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Motormouse »

Argentine FMA / IA 50 Guarani II

Ttfn

Pete
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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Airspeed »

I guess that's near enough, Pete. :lol:
That mouse of yours must be a V8 supercharged version!
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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Airspeed »

This is bitz plus. ;)
I'd like you to answer these questions:
1 Name the Group and Squadron for each of these tail paints.
2 Name the Air Forces which painted the red/white/blue fin flash on their aircraft.
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Last edited by Airspeed on 21 Sep 2020, 03:23, edited 1 time in total.

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Motormouse
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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Motormouse »

So... one appears to be a Lancaster, the other a Halifax

Time to put thinking cap on

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by TSR2 »

A wild stab in the dark.... BLEU Blind Landing Experimental Unit?
Ben.:tunes:

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Airspeed »

Hi Pete and Ben,
Thanks for your suggestions.
They are indeed Lancaster and Halifax fins, and I realise that you're just expressing some early thoughts, but that's not the question, Pete.
"Sacre bleu!", Ben, no. :lol:
The coloured patterns were to help squadrons formate. The USAAF used geometric shapes and letters for the same reason.
So we still have the same questions to answer. *-)

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Motormouse »

The Group is easy... only master bombers or pathfinders had coloured tails, and from 1943 were all part of 8 Group... just a matter of whittling down the squadrons now.

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Airspeed »

Motormouse wrote:
19 Sep 2020, 10:12
The Group is easy... only master bombers or pathfinders had coloured tails, and from 1943 were all part of 8 Group... just a matter of whittling down the squadrons now.

Ttfn

Pete
Hi Pete,
My sources agree that leaders had the coloured tails. They carried Gee or Gee H equipment, and those not so equipped had to follow their leader.
My sources disagree with your comment about 8 group. I can't quote my sources for this just yet, because the tail details are disclosed in the notes. :-#

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Motormouse »

Hmm.... my sources say only Pathfinder squadrons were Gee equipped... (John Searby Master Bomber book)

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Re: Bitzer project

Post by Airspeed »

Pete, and everyone else, too.
These dates come from a couple of different sources, which indicate that 8 Group PFF came after some period of using Gee. They knew that they had only about 6 months before Germany discovered what was going on, and initiated jamming capability. There followed Gee II, [edited]H2S, Oboe.

........a substantial number of' Gee-boxes' was available. By February 1942 this moment had at last arrived. Some 200 bombers had been fitted; and in preparation for an assault of unprecedented accuracy the policy of conserving our bombers, applied since November 1941, was now withdrawn.....


........a Pathfinder Force was formed in August of 1942 with Nos. 7, 35, 83, 109 and 156 Squadrons......
........8 Pathfinder Group was established in January 1943........
........So, in March of 1944, 635 Squadron was formed using crews from the “B” flight of 35 Squadron and the “C” flight from 97 Squadron.
By way of interest, here's 635 Squadron's tail marking:
Image
Someone has put out a model supposedly depicting this, but they've put the paint on the inner faces of the fins as well as the outer. :doh: [edited]The fin flash appeared on both sides of each fin, but not the G-H colours according to my reading.

Finding the gen is not easy, but I've personally learnt a lot from recent reading in books and on line.
Last edited by Airspeed on 21 Sep 2020, 12:44, edited 2 times in total.

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