Over Germany, Italy, Japan, “Flak” (anti-aircraft gun) was, along with enemy fighters, the main threat to Allied bombers.
An Army Air Force training film explains FlaK (from the German word for Anti-aircraft gun – Flugabwehrkanone): how heavy, smal caliber and automatic gun worked, the way they could aim at aircraft formations flying at 27,000 feet and 320 mph and evasive maneuvers for bomber pilots to avoid being hit by anti-aircraft fire.
Obviously, technology behind AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) has improved a lot since 1944 with radar guided bursts, but concepts like continuously pointed fire and predicted concentration are still used as a base of calculations required to shot down air intruders around the world; hence, even if you won’t face flak over Japan or Germany like U.S. pilots did 70 years ago, anti-aircraft artillery batteries still pose a threat to modern warplanes equipped with cutting edge EW (Electronic Warfare) suites and stealth planes.
Since radios were not so advanced, audio clips from World War Two are quite rare.
This make the following radio chatter clip of a Lancaster bomber being attacked by a German fighter during a war mission over Germany particularly interesting.
The crew seems to panic as the German plane engages the Lancaster shortly after the latter has dropped its bombed, and the captain at one point shouts “Okay, don’t shout all at once!”
Eventually one of the gunners manages to bring down the German fighter.
January 4 saw U.S forces start to arrive at Incirlik airbase, Turkey, with two of the planned six Patriot batteries along with 400 personnel.
According to the press release the U.S forces arrived by air and it will take several days for all of the personnel to be in place. The troops have come from the US Army’s 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, based at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
The other four batteries are to be supplied by Germany and the Netherlands with two batteries apiece. These Patriots should arrive in Turkey by ship and all batteries should be in place and ready to go by the end of January.
It will take a week or so to find suitable sites to place the missile systems and also a proper set of Rules of Engagement (RoE) still has to be agreed upon.
Image credit: AFP
The Dutch ministry of defence confirmed that the missile systems had left the Dutch port of Eemshaven and are expected to arrive in Turkey on Jan. 22.
Thirty Dutch and 20 German troops will leave from Eindhoven Air Base on Jan 8. to prepare the sites for the missiles
On Jun. 5, Wittmund airbase, home of Germany’s last operational F-4 Phantoms the Jadgdeschwader (JG) 71 “Richthofen”, hosted a Spotter Day. Possibly the last one before the entire fleet is eventually retired next year.
Unfortunately, the Spotter Day didn’t feature any flying activity, and the venerable “Rhinos” were only in static display.
In spite of the completely static event, The Aviationist’s photographer Giovanni Maduli, a real “Phantom Phreak” flew to Germany to attend the “open house” and take (among the others) the following interesting panorama images.
The following aircraft were spotted on static display:
37+01
38+24
38+42
37+92
38+28*
38+48
38+01
38+29
38+50
38+10
38+33
38+53
Whilst the German Phantoms are retired and replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoons, in the U.S., according to the Air Force Magazine, the final F-4 Phantom destined for conversion to a QF-4 aerial target drone, has entered the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group’s refurbishment line at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.
Destined to be delivered to the Air Force in January 2013, the final Phantom, serial number 68-0609, will become the 318th QF-4 drone supplied to the USAF.
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