Chapter 1187 Landing in North America 3

The high-low double formation tactics invented by Lieutenant Colonel Novotny made its debut in the "Newfoundland Air Battle" on April 8, and achieved satisfactory results. The Germans' 12 Me262T squadrons were divided into 36 high-low double formations of 4 aircraft, and each high-low double formation was dedicated to attacking one F7F. First, the two Me262Ts flying in the front and high altitude launched the attack. They relied on their excellent high-altitude performance and speed to fly over the target and launch a dive attack - the F7F had no machine guns on its back. If it wanted to make a feint attack, it would not be able to fly at an altitude of 10,000 meters, so it was left to be beaten. In the blink of an eye, seven or eight F7Fs were hit by the Me2 machine guns and fell straight down with black smoke.

The F7F, which reacted faster, began to dive, and ended up hitting the muzzle of the "low group" of the high-low double formation of the Me262T. The F7F piloted by the farsighted Tom unfortunately crashed into two Me2-caliber MK108 aircraft carriers and was blasted into a sieve, then fell down while spinning.

Captain Bush was lucky (the luck of two US presidents) and was not targeted by the Me262T, but he witnessed with his own eyes that one of his wingmen was turned into a fireball by two Me262Ts flying like lightning.

"It's no match at all!" Captain Bush gritted his teeth and muttered to himself.

The F7F is also a very good heavy fighter, perhaps the best of its kind. But at very high altitudes it is no match for jet aircraft, which are almost 300 kilometers per hour faster than it and can easily seize advantageous positions and fire. Moreover, the Me2 cannon is too brutal, and the F7F can't withstand it no matter how strong it is.

Escape! Must escape to medium and low altitudes! Captain Bush quickly made up his mind. While reporting the Me262 ambush to his superiors via the radio, he drove the F7F into a rapid dive, trying to get rid of the Me262T's pursuit.

All the surviving F7F pilots in the sky had almost the same idea, so the encounter at 10,000 meters quickly turned into a one-sided pursuit. From time to time, a diving F7F was hit by the Me262T's machine gun, or crashed with thick smoke, or turned into a fireball in the air. Terrified screams kept coming from Captain Bush's headphones. Some were desperate howls from the pilots of the hit planes - this was not over Newfoundland, there was the endless North Atlantic Ocean below, and the water temperature was still very low, and it was difficult to save the pilots who fell into the water! Others were pilots who were frightened by the death of their comrades and were shouting.

However, Captain Bush did not panic. He was an old bird who had fought in the air war of attrition in the Hawaiian Islands. He had shot down and damaged 27 Japanese planes, and he himself had been shot down by the Japanese 5 times. He had long forgotten what fear was.

At this time, the real crisis had already appeared. Captain Bush's eyes suddenly began to turn red, and his vision became very blurred - this is the so-called "red vision", a physiological phenomenon caused by the overload caused by the accelerated dive of the aircraft. If the "red vision" is further aggravated, it is very likely to cause fainting. At that time, even without the attack of the German Me262, Captain Bush's plane would crash because there was no one piloting.

Knowing that he might faint, Bush did not immediately pull up the fighter plane that was diving at high speed, because he knew that the black vision and red vision (which are prone to occur when suddenly pulling up after a large-angle dive) phenomenon are not only for American pilots, but also for German pilots. Now it depends on who can't bear it and pull up the plane first!

In addition, the F7F has excellent diving performance and a very strong body, so it is no problem to rush to a speed of 900 kilometers per hour. Although the Me262T can theoretically dive faster, the aircraft and pilots have a limit to their endurance. So when it comes to diving ability, the Me262T is not stronger than the F7F.

So Captain Bush's choice was completely correct, and he achieved the expected results later. The two Me262Ts chasing behind him dived to an altitude of about 7,500 meters and then pulled up their noses and flew away - in fact, these Me262Ts received orders from Little Hersman to support the Me264 fleet that was about to be attacked by the P-47.

At an altitude of about 7,200 meters, Captain Bush, who was almost fainting, finally pulled up his F7F, not flying level, but continuing to descend at a smaller angle and slower speed. Then he looked back and saw that there was no trace of the Me262 in his dark eyes, so he breathed a sigh of relief and finally escaped death!

Being ambushed by a Me262 jet fighter at an altitude of more than 10,000 meters should be the most feared thing for all American pilots. But where did they come from? This place is close to Newfoundland, and there are no German-controlled islands nearby.

Where did these jet planes that are as big as the F7F come from? Did they take off from the German aircraft carriers?

Captain Bush, who had not yet fully recovered from the black vision, was dazedly thinking about the origins of these damn Me262s when someone shouted in his headphones: "Enemy plane! It's a Fokker plane!"

Fokker plane?

Captain Bush, who was drowsy, suddenly got a start. As a veteran of the Pacific battlefield, how could he not know the reputation of the Fokker aircraft? The Fokker Zero (Americans also called the Japanese Zero the Fokker aircraft) was an ace model that could defeat the world in the early days of the Pacific War. In the Atlantic battlefield, the Fokker 636 once again reproduced the Fokker myth. It is the king below 5,000 meters, and at medium and high altitudes of 5,000-7,000 meters, the Fokker 636 is still one of the best fighters. As for above 7,000 meters, the king is undoubtedly the Me262 jet fighter!

"Captain, Fokker aircraft, 9 o'clock direction, climbing." Captain Bush's navigator Sergeant Halton shouted loudly.

Captain Bush looked to the left and found 4 Fokker 636s climbing, about 6,000 meters away.

The climbing performance of the Fokker 636 is very good, which is unmatched by the twin-engine heavy aircraft such as the F7F. As for the dogfight, even the P-51 couldn't handle it, let alone the F7F? Its only weakness is that its high-altitude performance is not particularly ideal, but...

Captain Bush didn't know that the Me262 in the high altitude had flown away. But even if he got the report, he didn't dare to fly too high. Those terrible jet planes have already beaten him out of his psychological shadow.

"Captain, they are almost climbing over our heads and are going to dive and attack!" Bush's navigator Sergeant Halton shouted again.

Bush, who was still a little dizzy, knew that he couldn't climb like his opponent, let alone dive again. First, his body hadn't recovered yet, and second, he would be no match for the Fokker aircraft if he rushed to medium and low altitudes. But as an old bird, Bush still had a way. He looked at the altimeter: 7100 meters. This is the airspace where the F7F can reach the maximum speed-Bush was driving a medium and high altitude F7F, not a medium and low altitude F7F used to attack surface fleets, so this plane can fly at the fastest speed at an altitude of 7400 meters.

In addition, both engines of the F7F are equipped with combustion-supporting devices, which can obtain short-term additional power by adding a mixture of water and methanol to the engine cylinders. However, this system of "doping" the engine is not effective at all altitudes. The airspace of 7,000-9,000 meters is the altitude at which it works.

Through the afterburner of the combustion-supporting device, the F7F driven by Captain Bush can reach a top speed of nearly 760 kilometers per hour in 10 minutes, which is enough to get rid of the pursuit of the Fokker 636 that mainly flies at medium and low altitudes (the top speed of the Fokker 636 is not slower than that of the F7F, but the top speed is 6,000 meters. Above 7,000 meters, its engine performance has declined).

So Captain Bush immediately made the most correct choice-to fly at high speed.

"Nick, sit tight, we are going to fly!" Bush turned on the combustion-supporting afterburner system, and the aircraft engine suddenly roared loudly, and the speed of the propeller also increased sharply, generating huge forward momentum. In the blink of an eye, the Fokker aircraft that tried to bite the tail was thrown away. Although during this process, two Fokker aircraft that used dive acceleration chased for a while and fired a 20mm cannon, they did not hurt Bush at all because of the distance.

However, not all F7Fs made the right choice at the first time, and not everyone was as lucky as Bush. Therefore, Fokker 636 achieved good results in the hijacking at an altitude of 7,000 meters. The F7F fleet was hit hard again when it was just beaten by Me262 at an altitude of more than 10,000 meters. In just over ten minutes, 70 or 80 F7Fs were beaten and smoked. The results of these Fokker aircraft even exceeded the previous Me262!

The more than 100 Me262s that hijacked the F7F fleet encountered the P-47D that was about to attack the Me264 fleet. Although the P-47D's high-altitude performance is much better than that of the F7F, it is still not worth it to encounter a jet aircraft at an altitude of more than 10,000 meters.

The P-47D, which was originally prepared to act as a hunter, suddenly became the prey and had no intention of attacking the Me264.

At the same time, more than 300 Me264s that were originally flying at an altitude of 7,500 meters suddenly began to dive at a 45-degree angle and rushed to the medium and low altitude below 5,000 meters.