Re: Joe Doesn’t Like What We Practice…

[Damian (Instructor)]

While this may look like a non sequitor, it illustrates to me some of Damian’s points.

My father was a B-17 tail gunner in WWII. He told me the key to being a good aerial gunner was not accuracy with the machine gun, because it was very hard to hit a moving airplane with a machine gun from another moving airplane. The key, he said, was to spot a fighter plane a long way off and fire a few rounds with tracers so the fighter pilot knew he was was being watched. Then he would go off looking for a target that was unaware of his presence and not likely to shoot back. The plane that finally shot Dad’s plane down after 36 missions got the jump on them out of a cloud and hit a wing tank before they saw him coming.

Secondly, Dad did shoot a Messerschmidt down. He said fighters usually were shot down not by accurate targeted shots but by spreading a spray of machine gun bullets in the plane’s path. This illustrates what Damian is saying about more strikes missing than hitting. You just have to put enough out there that something connects.

So, even in air warfare, the principles of DISTANCE and MOMENTUM VS. SPECIFIC DEFENSES applied, exactly like hand to hand self defense. Just the details of the setting and weapons differed.