I have read a great number of accounts of downing of enemy aircraft in air to air combat. I will list those I can remember here. Can you add any that I have not read of?

1. Shoot down--machine guns
2. Shoot down --missle
3. Collision - ramming enemy aircraft
4. Causing two enemy aircraft to collide
5. Shredding enemy aircraft with propeller
6. Causing the enemy to collide with the ground
7. Causing the enemy to abandon a flyable plane by bailing out
8. Causing the enemy to break up his aircraft in high g manuvers
9. Hitting flying enemy aircraft with a laser guided bomb.
10. Causing enemy aircraft to exhaust fuel.

I am sure there are others. Care to list them here?

The air to air bomb is listed here.
Bombing a helicopter

Another account of bombing the helicopter

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:
I have read a great number of accounts of downing of enemy aircraft in air to air combat. I will list those I can remember here. Can you add any that I have not read of?

1. Shoot down--machine guns
2. Shoot down --missle
3. Collision - ramming enemy aircraft
4. Causing two enemy aircraft to collide
5. Shredding enemy aircraft with propeller
6. Causing the enemy to collide with the ground
7. Causing the enemy to abandon a flyable plane by bailing out
8. Causing the enemy to break up his aircraft in high g manuvers
9. Hitting flying enemy aircraft with a laser guided bomb.
10. Causing enemy aircraft to exhaust fuel.

I am sure there are others. Care to list them here?

The air to air bomb is listed here.
Bombing a helicopter

Another account of bombing the helicopter

Suspended cable as from a barrage balloon? Don't know if they worked or not but sure did have a lot of them. Also I think someone had a scheme that involved firing a shell with a trailing cable into the sky - enemy aircraft were supposed to catch the cable, etc.
Someone is sure to come up with others and I guess we should include sabotage or destroying on the ground?

In WWII, the Luftwaffe experimented with "bombing" the American daylight bomber formations. The plan was for the fighter to position itself above the bomber stream, same heading and speed, but far enough in front to allow for bomb lag and release a time-fused bomb (125kg I think) to detonate in the formation.

The first time they tried it, it worked and they took out two or three B-17s with a single bomb. But the idea wasn't feasible because the formations would then zig-zag, whenever they saw a fighter setting up for a bomb run, and the Germans had to abandon the idea.

quote:

Originally posted by BwanaBob:
In WWII, the Luftwaffe experimented with "bombing" the American daylight bomber formations. The plan was for the fighter to position itself above the bomber stream, same heading and speed, but far enough in front to allow for bomb lag and release a time-fused bomb (125kg I think) to detonate in the formation.

The first time they tried it, it worked and they took out two or three B-17s with a single bomb. But the idea wasn't feasible because the formations would then zig-zag, whenever they saw a fighter setting up for a bomb run, and the Germans had to abandon the idea.

This quote brings to mind another oddball method I have read about somewhere – can’t find any reference to it now. Seems the Germans had decided they could not approach the B17 and B24 formations with all those many 50 Brownings firing at them so they installed an oblique firing mortar [?] in an aircraft (ME 410 perhaps?) that would fly along under and forward of the bombers and then fire up and back at them with the idea of hitting they from outside the range of the A/C guns. Anyone else ever heard of these A/C and how effective they were? Seems like there would be more info if they had been successful.

Also, I have often wondered how much effect sabotage had on the aircraft in WWII, especially the German aircraft as they operated in occupied countries. Read a bit about sabotage of railroads and the like but never have I seen much about A/C.

From the Leach Corporation Heritage of the Air Collection, 1960:

The Germans couldn't believe their eyes. Behind them, trailing a five-pronged anchor and an iron ball, was a Russian in a Morane scout. He struck from above. The anchor or "katze" hooked into the left wing of the Albatross and shattered it. Staff-Capitan Alexander A. Kazakov scored a victory. It was June, 1915. By 1919, the Russian ace claimed 32 kills and held every decoration his country could award for gallantry.

Cheers

That is a cool one.

Saw a blurb on the history channel that BVR scored his first 3 kills flying as an observer using a shotgun.

Germans came up with the first revoling barrel(3) aircract cannon. From Mauser, the MK213, 30x86B.



This is a British ADEN, post-war copy of the above mentioned round.(ball)

Keith

Ok, would "missile" include unguided free flight rockets?

As that was tried several times, by the Germans in WW2

and as part of the design of several american and russian fighter aircraft of the 50's and 60's.

I remember the germans also mounted tube mortars in some aircraft and fired them at the bomber groups from below.(as mentioned above)
and Yeah, I think it was done to Me410 aircraft
as well as some Me210 and Ju88 (and follow-on variants) aircraft

Additionally the germans employed drone aircraft packet with explosives and remotely detonated near or in american bomber formations.

Then the Japanese employed large White-Phosphrous
bombs dropped from above against B-29 and DID score some kills that way.

there were also fragmentary bombs retarded with parachutes dropped into bomber formations.

I don't think barage balloons count as that wouldn't be "air to air", however dangling cables with or without explosives have been employed from both Zepplins and MANNED Hot-air balloons (WW1)

AllanD

One method that has been planned but not executed is the system for the F-106.

"The F-106 was equipped with the Hughes MA-1 integrated fire-control system, which could be linked to the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment network for ground control interception missions (allowing the aircraft to be steered by ground controllers). It was armed with four Hughes AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missiles in its internal weapons bay along with a single GAR-11/AIM-26A Falcon nuclear-tipped, semi-active, radar homing missile, or an 1.5 kiloton MB-2/AIR-2 Genie air-to-air nuclear rocket intended to be fired into enemy bomber formations."