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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWWII aviation question.
Re-watching "Twelve O'Clock High" for the umpteenth time. Can someone tell me why the ground crew at the base shoots flares into the sky as the bombers are returning. Does it have something to do with planes that may be in distress?
Rhiannon12866
(204,799 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)I've tried the Internet with no luck. My dad flew bombers in WWII but he's long gone. This is bugging me for some reason. Thanks.
Rhiannon12866
(204,799 posts)I've always said that DUers know everything! And kudos to your Dad. Wow! Mine missed the war, was only 13 when it started, but not the draft. He served in the Navy, was the radio operator on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. He had numerous stories about planes trying to land...
sarge43
(28,940 posts)"If you didn't see it done, you wouldn't believe it could be done."
Rhiannon12866
(204,799 posts)sarge43
(28,940 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2016, 02:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Anyone's guess how that would end.
Brother Buzz
(36,388 posts)They attempt 'Controlled Crashes'. Some are more controlled crashes than others.
Rhiannon12866
(204,799 posts)Which happened in spite of the hooks, dangerous business.
Brother Buzz
(36,388 posts)Any landing you can walk away from is a good one! Gerald R. Massie, U.S. Army Air Forces photographer.
CTyankee
(63,893 posts)sarge43
(28,940 posts)B-25B, medium bombers used carriers
Brother Buzz
(36,388 posts)I know, Picky, picky, picky.
sarge43
(28,940 posts)Still a ballsy thing to do. Not much distance to get to air speed carrying that much weight. I imagine it was a moment watching one of those brutes dip below line of sight off the deck and wondering if the next thing you hear is "splash". The engines must have been wound up to the max.
BlueCollar
(3,859 posts)Was important.
Green flare = safe to land
Red flare = abort landing, runway fouled
White flare = go around
Not sure though...ill look into it at work today. Lots of aviation history buffs.
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)Of course the movie was in black and white, so impossible to discern color.
sarge43
(28,940 posts)Signaling "casualities onboard" to "bingo fuel" (just enough left for one landing pass) and much more.
Everyone could see them, especially important on a wave off. Radios could be out or radio silence ordered.
The green, red, white signals was fairly standard, but depending upon the situation there was countless variations.
The US pistol model number was AN-M8 (Army/Navy Model 8). They're still around and in use. They have the kick of a .45.
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)Air Traffic Control normally used a system of signaling lights and radio calls, but it was common for radios to be knocked out by enemy fire or simply broke, and many smaller aircraft didn't have radios at all. The normal communication for NORDO aircraft was via light gun signals. A red flare from the tower meant all aircraft should cease landing operations and await further instructions. Green flares meant landing operations could resume. Although virtually the same system of light gun signals is still in use today at every control tower in the world, flares fell out of favor several years after WWII.
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)Thanks for your response.
El Supremo
(20,365 posts)If you pay attention, the flares were fired in front of bombers who were following too close to the plane landing in front of them. So they were wave-offs.
It is so refreshing to see a movie that isn't total 'blow 'em up, shoot 'em up' and actually has good dialog and acting.
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)El Supremo
(20,365 posts)I think someone mixed up 12 O'clock High with High Noon.
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)I have Direct TV and it was on one of the premium channels, I think. Isn't "High Noon" a western?