Mike Rothery -> (5/17/2001 10:51:00 AM)
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quote:
Originally posted by Del:
How do you modify an 88 to change from an AA role to an AT role? You lower the barrel and chamber the proper round. That's all. How do you change it back to an AA role? You elevate the barrel and chamber the proper round. It's not rocket science.
Sorry but your wrong :)
If the 88 is deployed for AT work, and you then want to change to an AA role, do the following;
1. Check that you loaction has all round visibility, and if not then move.
2. Go to the rear and collect the AA predictor, bring it forward and set it up.
3. Change from an 8 man crew to an eleven man crew, and move the crew to different positions on the gun.
4. Lay out a heap of HE time fuse shells ready to set with the fusing machine.
5. Wait for the enemy aircraft to show.
There are two issues to think about....firstly can an 88 set up for AT work quickly switch back to an AA mode?
secondly, is there any point in having any heavy FLAK gun in SPWAW?
The answer to both is, no.
Now before I get the next counter argument, let me counter it before you start. :D
Why not set up your 88's always with the predictor attached, and the HE ammo layed out? That way you're ready for any eventuality.
Why not? because the predictor was not issued per gun, but per section of guns...all the guns in the section would always have to be within about 50m of the predictor. Why not? because if you are going to lob shells at tanks, then they are probably going to shoot back. The last thing you want is a heap of unnecessary equipment to pack up when you need to scoot, and lots of shells lying round waiting to get hit by something.
Please guys, you have to undertand that an 88 was not just a bigger version of a 40mm Bofors gun....they work on an entirely different concept. If you don't understand go find a book on the subject. The ammo in the 88 was time fused....you have to predict (about 10-15 seconds ahead of time) the distance from the gun you want the shell to explode.
Ask yourself this, if the 88 was able to shoot at low flying aircraft, why bother to have 20mm and 37mm FLAK guns? Why not just standardise of the 88 that can do all the AT work at the same time?
Each AA gun in the Germany line up; 20mm 37mm, 88mm, 120mm had its own niche. Sure thay each overlapped a bit, but you needed all of them to achieve a complete AA solution. The light FLAK couldn't hit anything more than a couple of thousand feet up....that's were the 88 comes in up to its ceiling, then the 120mm for the really high altitude stuff. Likewise the big guns were hopeless at the low and fast targets...sure they could lob some shells, but with no chance to hit. The standard 88 FLAK section had, by 1944, its own light FLAK to protect it from strafers.
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