COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER FOUR TYPHOON
Weston super Mare, and the Typhoon was obviously an excellent gun
platform even in rough air. You soon came to terms with the rudder
loads needed to avoid skidding in a dive - essential to prevent the
shells drifting sideways - and to counter the asymmetric effect of an
occasional stoppage. The flat trajectory and visible impact of the
20mm ammunition made for rapid aiming adjustments and accurate
shooting. It was a satisfying start.
In addition to the standard mix of gunnery, formation, combat,
and low flying there were a couple of dive bombing sorties without
bombs. By quizzing the others beforehand, and following them
carefully through each simulated attack, a basic drill began to emerge.
Run in was at 8000ft, with sections in finger four, changing to
echelon at the last minute. The formation leader rolled almost vertical
as the target disappeared below his wing, allowing the nose to fall
away until he could bring his sight onto the aiming point. Properly
executed this was a precise and comfortable manoeuvre which would
line up the target exactly on the desired heading - important if it was
a bridge or a ship, with only minimum positive 'G' adjustments to
centre the gunsight bead.
'Aiming off was required to compensate for the trajectory after
release. As the Typhoon pundits put it:
"Continue the dive until approaching a height of about 4000 feet,
pull through the target, pause briefly and press the tit. If the dive is
shallower pull through further and pause longer."
Once again there was a marked difference between the well
understood techniques of flying training and the less certain approach
to applied flying. My unofficial and impromptu conversion to ground
attack was in no way an OTU. However it highlighted, yet again, the
limitations and the problems of operational training.
Almost immediately after my defection to ground attack one of the
fighter recce squadrons began to re-equip with camera carrying
Typhoons and I was rostered to deliver the first of these to Odiham.
There was a deep depression heading in from the Atlantic but the
warm front, so the Met man said, was not expected to cause any
problems until mid afternoon. Through the window behind him, as he
sat over his charts, the cloud was thickening fast and the windsock
pulled and trumpeted.
If I was to make Odiham today, whatever the local experts might
think, there was no time to lose.
Airborne soon afterwards I wondered if the most ancient Typhoons
41