Brothers in arms.

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

The Fieseler Fi103 V1 and the Republic/Ford JB2 Loon. The V1 earned a fearsome reputation when more than 10,000 of them were fired at Britain with devastating effect. They may have been crude, but by and large they worked! They were known to the Brits either Buzz-Bombs or Doodlebugs. They had a peculiar rasping engine noise and Londoners soon worked out that if one was overhead and that noise stopped, you RAN because it was on it's way down!  The RAF managed to shoot down large numbers of them, but later evolved a method of tipping their gyros by getting a wingtip of the fighter under the wing of the V1 and tipping it off course. it took a lot of skill and nerves of steel to do it but they saved thousands of lives by doing so. When several captured examples fell into Allied hands, they were transported home and examined. In America the vehicle was reverse engineered by Ford to produce the JB2 Loon. Whilst superficially it resembled the earlier V1 it was fractionally bigger all round and there were a few other obvious differences, (The front engine pylon being the most obvious). Internally they were made from better grade materials and had a more reliable engine. They were going to be used against Japan but the war ended before they could be used. However post war many were used for experimental work and later as target drones. They were the forerunners of todays computer controlled Cruise Missiles and have rightly earned their place in the annals of aviation achievements. Both these models are in 1/48 scale.

Thanks for viewing.

[rosariomanzo 545]

Nice work!

[J G 927]

Nice models, nasty buggers though..

 

One of my dads school friends mother was killed by the first one of so many that hit the Wimbledon area, and dad was nearly killed by one whilst on Wimbledon common.  I had no idea that so many were launched towards Britain.

 

It makes you realise that Islamic extremist suicide bombers are just a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things. There morons think they can change our way of life by blowing themselves up. How stupid can you get?

 

Sorry, I bit off topic there.  

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

28 minutes ago, J G said:

Nice models, nasty buggers though..

 

One of my dads school friends mother was killed by the first one of so many that hit the Wimbledon area, and dad was nearly killed by one whilst on Wimbledon common.  I had no idea that so many were launched towards Britain.

 

It makes you realise that Islamic extremist suicide bombers are just a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things. There morons think they can change our way of life by blowing themselves up. How stupid can you get?

 

Sorry, I bit off topic there.  

My dad was almost killed by a V1 as well, he had been in a cinema near his home in Leytonstone. Apparently he came out, walked round the corner when there was an almighty bang. He turned round to see the cinema explode as a V1 landed right on top of it!  They were pretty lethal weapons but heralded the way forward in modern warfare.