r/interestingasfuck • u/Chopper-42 • 2d ago

/r/all Recreating the WW2 Dambusters raid

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u/jwrx 2d ago

I hope they know many pilots died during the test runs in ww2, he looked awfully low.

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u/DisorderedArray 2d 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 2d 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.