I've just come across a vague mention that VIII Bomber Command of the 8th Air Force used special aircraft to assist in bomber formation assembly after take-off. Once the formation had assembled they then returned to base.
The aircraft were supposedly painted in highly visible, almost garish, colours to help identify them. I had not heard of that before.
How did it work? Were the aircraft 'time-expired'? Who flew them - crews on a break/day off from Ops? Newbies (for formation practice)? Dedicated crew? And how were they allocated? One per Base? Did the Ninth and Fifteenth Air Forces also make use of them?
Did XXI Bomber Command also use them in the Pacific?
Formation Assembly Aircraft, 8th AF
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Re: Formation Assembly Aircraft, 8th AF
You could say 'garish'!
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Re: Formation Assembly Aircraft, 8th AF
This article should be of some help:
Polka Dot Warriors
http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... riors.aspx
Polka Dot Warriors
http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... riors.aspx
Re: Formation Assembly Aircraft, 8th AF
Great site Orwell, thanks for the link. Answers my questions on who flew them, how they were allocated and how many per Group. Nice.
Surprising just how many of the B-24 assembly ships were survivors of the Ploesti raid.
This site http://www.8thafhs.com/aircraft.php#assembly infers that assembly ships were a creation of the 2nd Air Division in 1943, and that it was the B-24 units that made the biggest use of them. There certainly seems to be many more photo's of various B-24's in assembly disguise than B-17's.
This http://www.internetmodeler.com/2008/aug ... sembly.php is the only book I've found that seems to cover the subject of Assembly Ships. Have to see if my local Library can get their hands on it.
If anyone knows of any other books that deal with the Assembly Ships I would greatly appreciate posting it here.
Surprising just how many of the B-24 assembly ships were survivors of the Ploesti raid.
This site http://www.8thafhs.com/aircraft.php#assembly infers that assembly ships were a creation of the 2nd Air Division in 1943, and that it was the B-24 units that made the biggest use of them. There certainly seems to be many more photo's of various B-24's in assembly disguise than B-17's.
This http://www.internetmodeler.com/2008/aug ... sembly.php is the only book I've found that seems to cover the subject of Assembly Ships. Have to see if my local Library can get their hands on it.
If anyone knows of any other books that deal with the Assembly Ships I would greatly appreciate posting it here.