Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Us Fighter Designations
Message-ID: <1990Aug30.030354.29959@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 30 Aug 90 03:03:54 GMT
References: <1990Aug10.010748.29824@cbnews.att.com> <1990Aug28.030941.22149@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 32
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)

> From: attcan!ron@uunet.UU.NET (Ron Joma)
> adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:
> > In the "633 Squadron" books, mention is made several times of German fighters
> > having their guns angled up by about 2 degrees.  The idea was to force pilots
> > to fly under their targets, primarily bombers with less defensive firepower
> > underneath than above.  Of course, the "633 Squadron" series is fiction, but
> > does anyone know if the Germans really did do this?
> 
> There is mention of this technique being used by the Luftwaffe night fighters,
> the so called schragge musik, literally jazz music, where the gun was pointed
> up about 20 degrees, being mounted behind the pilot on ME 110's.  The idea
> was to fly close and underneath an intruder and then fire away.  Dangerous
> but effective when a target was aquired.

Schragemusik was designed into the He-219 "Uhu", which may have been the best
purpose-built night fighter of the war.  It also had four or so 20mm cannon
installed under the nose in a pan for more punch.

One variation on schragemusik was a photoelectric cell facing upward.
When it found its light blocked, it triggered the cannon, or in some
systems, air-to-air rockets.  This is said to have had drastic effect
on a number of innocent clouds.  It doesn't seem to have seen major
service.

------------
  The only drawback with morning is that it comes 
    at such an inconvenient time of day.
------------