Air Warfare in WW2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: A rocket-powered manned flying bomb

The Okha was a true piloted missile, or, to be more precise, a 1200 kilogram bomb fitted with basic flying surfaces and three powerful rocket motors with a pilot station included almost as an afterthought. It was designed to be released from a bomber and steered to the target by the pilot who was blown up with it.

It is believed that about 190 were launched against allied ships, although they were minimally effective, sinking or damaging less than 15 of them. All of the other options were used as suicide aircraft at some time during the kamikaze campaign.

Answer: The bouncing bomb used by the Dambuster Raid

Naturally, it was the bouncing bomb used in the Operation Chastise raid against three dams in Germany, the Moehne, and Eder Dams, which were breached and the Sorpe dam, which was less heavily damaged. The idea behind the bombs was that they would bounce to their targets, sink and detonate against the dam walls, the explosive power amplified by the concussive force of an underwater explosion.

Although mainly achieving the aim of the mission, the operation was very costly in aircrew lives, with 8 of the 19 Lancaster bombers failing to return from the raid. The Vickers Wellesley and the Victory bombers were genuine Wallis projects. I made up the aerial torpedo.

Answer: The Heinkel He162 lightweight jet fighter

The He-162 people's fighter was intended to be a cheap lightweight jet aircraft, made out of non-strategic materials (mainly wood) and designed with a single turbojet engine mounted above its fuselage, a design choice that made it impossible to bail out of with any chance of survival. Due to this attribute, a primitive ejection seat powered by compressed air was designed for the craft.
A long design program a lack of parts and pilots meant that the aircraft didn't enter service until mid-April 1945, by which time the war was very nearly over. Postwar tests with captured aircraft proved it to be an excellent design, however, very easy to fly and with few vices.

All of the others mentioned made it at least to the prototype stage - look them up to get an idea of the desperation that the Luftwaffe was experiencing in 1944-45.

Answer: Breda Ba.88 Lince

The Ba.88 was a beautiful aircraft that was unfortunately not able to perform the job it was designed for under any circumstances. Although the prototype aircraft performed well, every instance of military equipment being added to the design degraded performance a little bit more, to the extent that some aircraft were unable to take off in extreme heat (a common factor of the deserts they were intended to be used over, curiously) and they ended their days as decoys, hoping to lead attacks by Allied aircraft away from more useful craft that could actually perform their role.

I am not scoring cheap points off the Italian Air Force; all three other aircraft listed above did useful service often in difficult circumstances. The Lince was just a disappointment because it looked like it should be capable of so much better.

Answer: No forward-firing armament

The Defiant was a peculiar design, looking somewhat similar to a Hawker Hurricane that someone had dropped the gun turret off a light bomber onto. Purpose, in this case, led design; the doctrine called for an aircraft that could outpace an incoming bomber and deliver concentrated fire into its vulnerable spots with the turret. Sadly, though, the Defiant had not a single gun facing forward, a weakness that would be capitalised on in its brief career as a day fighter.

The design was soon relegated to jobs like night fighter, target tug and trainer.

Answer: PZL P.11C

That the PZL P.11C scored so many kills against technologically superior German fighters is more a of a testament to their superbly trained pilots than the aircraft itself. Slow and desperately under-armed with only 2-4 rifle calibre machine guns, the revolutionary (in 1934, when it was introduced) gull wing allowed for exceptional maneuverability which guaranteed it would always win a turning fight, if not outnumbered. Sadly the Polish aircraft invariably were.

Of the other options, the PZL.38 and PZL.50 were replacements for the PZL.11 that didn't make it into production in time to participate in the war, and the PZL P.24 was an up-engined, up-graded version that did not see service in the Polish Air Force, but was bought by the air forces of Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Answer: Brewster F2A Buffalo

Probably not nearly as bad as it has been portrayed, the Brewster F2A was a sound aircraft in the hands of an experienced pilot as its service with the Finnish air force proved. Like all short, broad aircraft of its type, however, it could be very unforgiving of novices and soon earned a reputation as a 'man-killer'. It fared badly with the US Navy and Marines, RAF and Dutch East Indies Air Force mainly due to the lightweight, highly maneuverable Japanese fighters with veteran crews.

Over Finland, however, it did extremely well, losing one aircraft on average, for every 32 kills it made; in fact, Finland's two top scoring aces, Hanno Wind and Ilmari Juutilainen, scored a large proportion of their victories while flying the Buffalo.

Answer: Yak-1

Specifically, she flew two different YaK-1s both named after their airframe numbers, 'Yellow 44', an early model 'razorback' type, and the bubble-canopy YaK-1b 'White 23' in which she was shot down and killed on 1st August 1943. She shot down between seven and twelve aircraft depending on which accounts you refer to, including the 11-kill ace Oberfeldwebel Erwin Meier.

In 1990 Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev made her one of the last appointed Heroes of the Soviet Union, in honour of her wartime achievements. There is an excellent book about her by the aviation historian Bill Yenne called 'The White Rose of Stalingrad' if you would like to read more.

Answer: Focke-Wulf Fw189

Looked at from above, the nickname becomes obvious as the wings, twin booms and connecting tailplane form a frame shape. The Fw189 'Uhu' (Eagle Owl) was an efficient reconnaissance aircraft with surprising maneuverability which enabled it to often get out of trouble when attacked by Soviet fighters.

It was built in Germany and in captured factories in France and Czechoslovakia, and even saw limited postwar service with the reformed Norwegian Air Force.

Answer: Fokker D.XXI

The D.XXI was, despite some obsolete touched like the fixed landing gear and slightly inadequate armament, a good design, light, tough, and highly maneuverable. It saw service with the Dutch, Danish and Finnish Air Forces, staying in service with the latter until 1948.

The Dutch aircraft served well in 1940, particularly against the Ju-52 transport, claiming 37 shot down over the five day campaign. The 13 Danish machines were destroyed on the ground or captured, but it was with the Finns that they saw the greatest success, competing on roughly equal terms with the Soviet Air Force for most of the war.