Hanglands
07-15-2007, 11:04 AM
Hi,
Some time ago I read about Turbin lights. They were an idea used for night fighter support, and were, I would guess, used as a means to avoid having to fit radar to all/many night fighters.
The idea was a failure and was eventually binned.
I forgot about it until I met this man down at Legends Aviation in Kent :
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/ChickenHawk_2006/TerryClarke.jpg
He is Flight Lieutenant William 'Tom' Clark DFM, of 219 Squadron. He was W/op Gunner on Blenheims originally, and later Mosquitos.
The second time I met him, he told me his story of Turbin lights. This is pretty much how they are used :
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/ChickenHawk_2006/turbinlight.jpg
A Mosquito (Think Bostons used too) fitted with a Turbin light finds a German aircraft by radar. The Turbin aircraft has luminous paint on the upper surfaces of its wings so that A Hurricane can fly above it and follow it. Once the Turbin plane is within range and directly behind the invader, the Turbin light is switched on and the Hurricane goes in for the kill.
I tried to re-enact this scenario in Il-2. Unfortunately, landing lights are not fitted to the Mosquito, so after finding an alternative aircraft and spending an age lining up on it in a pitch black sky, I found that the light only illuminates ground objects. You cant illuminate anything that is not on the ground. Damn!
So, anyway, Tom Clark spoke with some dispair evident in his voice about when they came and stripped everything out of his Mossie and replaced it with one whole ton of batteries, and a Turbin light.
He said the worst thing about it all was flying in such close formation with fighters in the pitch black.
Here is about the only web link I can find for them : http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/85/a4167885.shtml
Once again, courtesy of the Beebs Peoples War Pages.
Regards.
Some time ago I read about Turbin lights. They were an idea used for night fighter support, and were, I would guess, used as a means to avoid having to fit radar to all/many night fighters.
The idea was a failure and was eventually binned.
I forgot about it until I met this man down at Legends Aviation in Kent :
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/ChickenHawk_2006/TerryClarke.jpg
He is Flight Lieutenant William 'Tom' Clark DFM, of 219 Squadron. He was W/op Gunner on Blenheims originally, and later Mosquitos.
The second time I met him, he told me his story of Turbin lights. This is pretty much how they are used :
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/ChickenHawk_2006/turbinlight.jpg
A Mosquito (Think Bostons used too) fitted with a Turbin light finds a German aircraft by radar. The Turbin aircraft has luminous paint on the upper surfaces of its wings so that A Hurricane can fly above it and follow it. Once the Turbin plane is within range and directly behind the invader, the Turbin light is switched on and the Hurricane goes in for the kill.
I tried to re-enact this scenario in Il-2. Unfortunately, landing lights are not fitted to the Mosquito, so after finding an alternative aircraft and spending an age lining up on it in a pitch black sky, I found that the light only illuminates ground objects. You cant illuminate anything that is not on the ground. Damn!
So, anyway, Tom Clark spoke with some dispair evident in his voice about when they came and stripped everything out of his Mossie and replaced it with one whole ton of batteries, and a Turbin light.
He said the worst thing about it all was flying in such close formation with fighters in the pitch black.
Here is about the only web link I can find for them : http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/85/a4167885.shtml
Once again, courtesy of the Beebs Peoples War Pages.
Regards.