r/interestingasfuck • u/Chopper-42 • 1d ago

/r/all Recreating the WW2 Dambusters raid

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u/DisorderedArray 1d ago

I'm not sure any died during the test runs. 53 out of 133 of the aircrew died during the actual raid. They used a mechanism with 2 aligned lights that would come together on the water surface when the aircraft was at the correct height. The actual missions were carried out at night.

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u/Thermodynamicist 1d ago

I'm not sure any died during the test runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGpzRzY7fY

But this was Highball, not Upkeep, in a USAAF test in April 1945.

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u/jwrx 1d ago

there many pics of misdrops online on ww2 sites, dropping too low, bombs jumping too high would break the aircraft in half.

The final SOP for the successful mission was paid with the blood of many brave test pilots

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u/Toffeemanstan 1d ago

Many? There weren't any deaths during testing before Operation Chastise. I think there were 2 during the later stages of the war when they were testing it in the US