Page 10 - Aerotech News and Review, January 7, 2022

High Desert Hangar Stories
World War II Operation Pinball:

How to shoot down a perfectly good aircraft

by Bob Alvis a chance at survival. When the word
special to Aerotech News started filtering back to the United
States that better training was needed
One of the least-known stories of if we were to have a chance at victory,
World War II is a program that was so American technology started to come
radical it can leave the reader today up with more realistic training, includ-
wondering how such a program ever ing film and electronics to try and cre-
got approved — and more than that, ate a more realistic combat simulation
how they ever found the pilots to fly it. experience. Many looked like nothing
A bit of early history of World War more than arcade games, but at least it
II recalls that bombers flying over Eu- was an effort to try to do a better job of
rope in the opening rounds of bombing training our airmen.
campaigns were getting a shellacking Misgivings about the effectiveness
by enemy fighters. Gunners on the of gunnery training extended all the
bombers were entering the combat way up to the highest echelons. Gen.
arena without adequate training in Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, the Army Air
air-to-air combat. Gunnery training in Forces’ big boss, complained in a let-
the United States was pretty static and ter to Training Command that “reports
didn’t do much to mimic actual com- are still being received which indicates
bat conditions. Riding on flatbed trucks a serious lack of gunnery training for
and shooting at targets with shotguns our aerial gunners ….” Planners and
was the lead up to sitting in the back instructors were trying, as attested by
of an AT-6, shooting a tow target. All the constant changes in curricula and
over the Southwest at Army airfields procedures, but frustrations continued
like Vegas, Kingman and Yuma, the to mount and combat personnel still did
young gunners did their best to take not live up to expectations.
their training to the enemy — but the In 1943 and 1944, the programs
reality was when the planes started fir- limped on. Only by sheer determina-
ing back and they were employing air tion did the gunners manage to start Courtesy photograph
combat maneuvers, they had to quickly making a dent in the enemy’s air forc- The Bell RP-63G King Cobra that was part of Operation Pinball sits on display at the Parade Grounds at Lackland Air
adapt to combat in a hostile environ- es, but something needed to change, as Force Base in Texas.
ment. The learning curve was harsh, mission requirements would send the
and the losses of aircrews and planes seasoned gunners home having flown gunners for combat. He began a quest Defying the traditions of ordnance de- On the parade grounds at Lackland
all pointed to the lack of realistic train- up to 35 missions in the latter part of that no Air Force reservist would ever velopment, Fairchild and two converts, Air Force Base, Texas, stands a Bell
ing. All that stood between the Luft- the war. attempt. He was zealous to a fault and Paul Gross and Marcus Hobbs of Duke RP-63G King Cobra. Painted in the
waffe and total annihilation were these So begins the amazing story of Maj. so dedicated to his radical concept that University, embarked on a three-year standard colors of a silver warbird of
brave young airmen, who did their Cameron D. Fairchild, who figured he risked rebuke and worse, to see that struggle which eventually ended up be- World War II, the paint job does noth-
best to learn fast and give their planes there must be a better way to train our his proposal received proper attention. ing Operation Pinball. ing to reflect on its mission that it flew
in the last year of the war, along with
31 other Cobras. These planes, coupled
with a miracle of bullets developed at
Duke University, were a triumph of
technology. The ceramic bullets manu-
factured by the Bakelite Corporation,
also known as “frangible” bullets, were
strong enough to be fired from machine
guns at realistic velocities, but they
shattered on impact with the aluminum
armor on the planes.
The heavily armored Cobras were
decked out with lights on the nose and
wings that flashed when the plane was
struck, making the plane look like a fly-
ing pinball machine when a good gun-
ner was at the trigger. The plane was
perfect for this role, as it was fast and
light and could fly realistic fighter at-
tacks, yet had the armor to protect the
plane and pilot from countless fran-
gible bullet strikes.
So, what could go wrong? Well —
things did go wrong, many times, as
flying a plane into a hail of bullets was
not what many pilots would want to at-
tempt! But they did find the pilots to
fill these aircraft and in the next issue,
I will continue this story and tell a few
tales about those pilots and a bit more
about the technology that made these
missions one of the most bizarre, little-
Courtesy photograph known stories of World War II.
The Bell RP-63G, on display at the Parade Ground at Lackland AFB, Texas, was originally painted in the paint scheme used for Operation Pinball. It was later Until next time, Happy New Year
decided to repaint the aircraft with a more traditional scheme.
and Bob out …
Aerotech News and Review
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