Dam Busters Group Build

[Hman]

I was thinking along these lines.




• Mission take out a Dam


• 1950-1960 time period


• Any contemporary airframe/weapon system/solution is eligible


• Along with a back story!

Any takers...

[Weaver]

Interesting idea: why not make it 1920-1940 and 1950-1960, thus allowing a wide range of aircraft EXCEPT any that could actually have done the real dams raid?

One for the Canucks: Canadian Dept. of Waterways DHC Beaver with a really, really small bouncing bomb for taking out beaver dams blocking rivers......

[Hman]

I like your thinking:thumbsup:

Come on everyone ideas please!

[pyro-manic]

Nuclear Highball?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Attack Squadron VA-195 assigned Carrier Air Group 19 (CVG-19) aboard the USS Princeton (CV-37) successfully attacked and breached the Hwachon Dam during the Korean War on 1 May 1951.  The attack was made with Mk 13 aerial torpedoes carried by AD-4 Skyraiders and the delivery profile was very similar to what would have been performed to attack a surface ship. 

Dambusters 1951, The Shooters in 1/48 Scale by Joe Lyons (model of an AD-4 armed with fire bombs and a Mk 13 torpedo)

The VA-195 Dambusters (skyhawk.org) (history of VA-195)

The Dambusters At Hwachon (Mark L. Evans "The Dambusters At Hwachon". Naval Aviation News. via FindArticles.com.)

[TsrJoe]

NA.39 Buccaneer with 'highball' pallet and little fairing front and rear. (an overall white airframe and an orange band on the bomb of course!) 

from the drawing iv seen it didnt show if the whole unit was enclosed or wither it was open to the airstream similar to the Mosquito, im guessing the latter would be a tad more obvious for a model tho 

cheers, Joe

[GTX]

How about a subtle whiff - Halifax instead of Lancaster on the original raid?

Regards,

Greg

[Weaver]

How about a subtle whiff - Halifax instead of Lancaster on the original raid?

Regards,

Greg

Good idea, or how about a Stirling, since the whole raid was carried out at low-level?

More radical alternative, if the bouncing bomb had failed: a Sunderland alights on the lake, fires a humungous torpedo from a fast taxi and then lifts off again......

[PR19_Kit]

Good idea, or how about a Stirling, since the whole raid was carried out at low-level?

More radical alternative, if the bouncing bomb had failed: a Sunderland alights on the lake, fires a humungous torpedo from a fast taxi and then lifts off again......

Doing the raid with Stirlings would have been interesting. They'd have had to carry the bomb in bits, lower it from the bomb bays (the Stirling had lots of long narrow bomb bays...........) assemble it hanging out there, and then drop it.

I like the Sunderland idea though, you can just imagine them winding those humunguous torps out of enlarged hatches under wings before loosing them off.

[GTX]

Only problem with the Torpedo idea is that the Dams were protected by Torpedo nets which is why the bouncing bomb was created in the first place.

Another idea - Mistel Type attack - say a Spit on top of a explosive laden Stirling or even Wellington.

Regards,

Greg

[PR19_Kit]

Only problem with the Torpedo idea is that the Dams were protected by Torpedo nets which is why the bouncing bomb was created in the first place.

But the operative word here is 'HUMUNGUOUS'.

Think an X-Craft submarine under each wing of the Sunderland, with a very powerful engine to punch clean through any conventional torpedo net.............

[GTX]

I'm also tempted to use 617 Sqn Lancasters with Grand Slam in Tiger Force markings to attack Korean dams in 1945/46.

Damn fine idea that!

One could also do something similar - say a Avro Lincoln to do something similar in the Korean war.

Regards,

Greg

[kitnut617]

Just traded my Contrail 1/72 Lincoln vacuform, it even had a Grand Slam included on the sheet and it would appear that it was enclosed in the bomb bay.

[kitnut617]

I'm also tempted to use 617 Sqn Lancasters with Grand Slam in Tiger Force markings to attack Korean dams in 1945/46.

My Dad was serving in 617 during the last 18 months of the war, and he told me he got as far as India with them when the war ended.  He told me all the ground crew flew out in the Lancasters which were Mk.VII's painted white with black undersides.  His highlight of the trip out was to sit in the dorsal turret for an hour or so, with strict instructions 'not to touch anything'

[Weaver]

Good idea, or how about a Stirling, since the whole raid was carried out at low-level?

More radical alternative, if the bouncing bomb had failed: a Sunderland alights on the lake, fires a humungous torpedo from a fast taxi and then lifts off again......

Doing the raid with Stirlings would have been interesting. They'd have had to carry the bomb in bits, lower it from the bomb bays (the Stirling had lots of long narrow bomb bays...........) assemble it hanging out there, and then drop it.

Okay you got me, I forgot that....   However, the dambusters Lancs were hacked about quite a bit to carry the bomb: presumably (this being a Whiff after all) the Stirling could be hacked about some more, or maybe in Whiff World Stirlings had a better bomb bay design to start with.......

I like the Sunderland idea though, you can just imagine them winding those humunguous torps out of enlarged hatches under wings before loosing them off.

Or just carry them under the wings to start with. Make them big enough and they could be remote controlled, with automatic wire-cutters on the nose. Don't have to be fast either: it's not like the dam's evading.....