allardjd 1,853 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 Who knew? Wellingtons were used as minesweepers. Interesting article with some photos. In one case a Wellington, which had a famously strong structure, survived a 10 g acceleration from a mine detonated while flying below the 35' safety minimum and was determined upon subsequent inspection to be undamaged. https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2019/06/17/how-fords-flathead-v-8-helped-save-lives-as-an-aerial-minesweeper-during-world-war-ii/ John 2 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,283 Posted June 24, 2019 Report Share Posted June 24, 2019 Thanks John, never saw this one before and I am always amazed at all the things we all tried during the war to give us the edge. Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) Both Us and the Germans used a similar system. The aircraft carried a huge magnetic ring underneath which was used to detonate mines. We used Wellingtons and Whitleys whilst the Germans used a variety of aircraft, often HE-111s and BV-138s although JU-52s were also used in some areas. Edited July 1, 2019 by dodgy-alan Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/minesweeping-aircraft.29707/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 1 hour ago, dodgy-alan said: ...JU-52s were also used in some areas. Auntie Ju ought to have been able to set off magnetic mines all by herself, probably from an altitude of 500', without needing all that magnetic crap. It's not like she needed more drag or anything to make her slower or uglier. John 2 Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 On 01/07/2019 at 17:54, allardjd said: Auntie Ju ought to have been able to set off magnetic mines all by herself, probably from an altitude of 500', without needing all that magnetic crap. It's not like she needed more drag or anything to make her slower or uglier. John Although of course aluminium isn't magnetic. I can imagine doing that job in one of those would be somewhat buttock clenching as they were rather vulnerable when our fighters were about. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Yeah, I knew the JU-52 isn't any more magnetic than any other aircraft, despite another of it's nicknames - Iron Annie. She just looks like it. Pretty amazing that there was actually an earlier single-engine version of it. Anyway, not enviable duty on one of those, whether sweeping mines or the more traditional trash-hauling. John Link to post Share on other sites
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