The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-12-06
LEARN
TO aim BEHIND
ENEMY PLANES
BY WALTER CRONKITE
United Press Staff Correspondent


United Press Staff Correspondent
A U. s. Bomber Division Head
quarters, Somewhere IN England
(UP)-The United States Eight Air
Force has come to the startling con-
clusion that at least half the time
the best way to shoot down enemy
fighters is to shoot cehind them.
This deduction, calculated to
render a couple of million American
duck hunters insomnia. has come
after long research by ballistic ex-
perts, physicists and gunnery Off
GERS studying a theory long &C.
ceputed by the Raj.
The conclusion that incoming
enemy fighters should be trailed
instead of led by the defensive gun
ner has fairly simple explanation.
Whereas a duck hunter shooting
at feathered target Is stationery,
a 21-year-old American gunner
shooting at an aluminium, fabric,
flesh-and-bone target is on a
bomber moving some 200 to ESQ
miles per hour.
This movement of the American
gunner's platform" as the gun
merry officers call half-million-
dollar airplane, imparts a certain
catapult action to the bullet leav-
ing the 50-califer muzzle.
To this catapult action the gum
merry officers have given the name
filing"
The line of flight of a load of
buckshot from the hunters gun
is reasonably straight so that the
hunter aiming at a duck on the
wing shoots ahead Of the target.
If he's lucky, the line Of flight of
his buckshot and the line of flight
of the duck will meet nj mid-air
somewhere, and his dinner guests
that night will fill their cavities
with tasty game-and lead pellets.
But he doesn't have to contend
with this moving platform" and
fling" business. If he did, he'd
learn, as the Air Force has, that
when you shoot from, say, a 240-
miles-per- hour bomber the bullets
from your gun don't follow a
straight line of flight but are flung
AOA WdlO 4dA AL dNVdllSV Va yOu4
target.
Thus the way to hit an incoming
Focke-Wulf IS not to aim ahead TO
him but actually to aim behind
him. Then the bullets are flung for
ward enough to meet the enemy.
If that sounds complicated, hold
onto your hat. Things get worse
instead Of better. Because there are
exceptions to the rule.
In the first place this all applies
to aircraft attacking from some
where in the rear. If the attacking
plane is coming from somewhere in
front the gunner has to give him
a little more than normal amount
of lead again to compensate for
that filing" Also, if the attacking
plane is coming in from deal level
directly at the nose or tail, no lead
or trial Is necessary.
Eighth Air Force now Is trying OF
get all this across to their Fortress
and Liberator gunners whit SIM
pie, amply illustrated booklet COM
piled by DR.. Edwin Hewitt CHS East
Chestnut ST. Chicago, physicist
and mathematician now working in
a civilian capacity with Eighth
Bomber Command, and young
Capt. Merlin D. Larson of SWea
City, Ia, gunnery officer of this
division.
Our biggest problem in selling
this idea to the gunners is the fact
that American boys, either by prac-
tice or just inherently, are marks
men," Larson says. They've been
hurting with 22s II 20 gauges all
their lives and all their lives
they've been leading the target.
ut is pretty tough telling them
not to. at least half the time = in
fact, to do just the opposit. We've
got the aunsWer Trough in SIMPLE
slogan that applies to every case
except the dead level nose or tail
attack.
THE slogan is always aim be-
tween the incoming fighters and
your own tail" Our boys are find
ing out it works. And so is Jerry"