[bearoutwest]

It didn't need to be a damaged V-1 to head for the East Sussex village. A very effective disinformation campaign by double-agents working in England for the Allies were feeding V-1 target damage assessment to the Luftwaffe, indicating heavy damage when the V-1s were falling short. Successive waves of V-1s were then programmed with the same fuel burn times resulting in large numbers undershooting London. Though I'm not sure if it would have have any effect in early August.

Let's explore the mechanics of wing-tipping a V-1 to discuss possible scenarios as to why MacKerras may have crashed afterwards.

Wing-tipping can be done to any aircraft - not just V-1s. So if a RAF pilot came across a Fw190 after the pilot had baled out and the Fw190 was still flying straight and level, it could be made to crash by wing-tipping it. The technique is more effective against V-1s because the V-1s are directionally stabilized in flight by a internal gyroscope. Tipping the V-1 topples the gyroscope, causing essentially mechanical confusion as to which way is up, resulting in the V-1 crashing. It is less effective - for example - against the Fw190, as aircraft are inherently stable in some flight conditions, and thus the wing-tipped Fw190 may just change direction and re-establish a state of stable flight in a different heading.

Wing-tipping is carried out by placing your wing-tip under the other aircraft's wing-tip and using the boundary layer of moving air over your wing (e.g. Tempest) to nudge the boundary layer of moving air under the other wing (V-1). Ideally to prevent structural damage to your Tempest wing-tip, there should not be any mechanical contact between wing-tips, only between the boundary air layers.

What could go wrong?
V-1 interceptions are at reasonably high speeds - of the order of 400mph. Wing-tips will be bouncing up and down slightly in normal flight.

1. If the Tempest pilot mis-judges the wing-tip locations due to turbulent air, possibly the Tempest wing-tip is placed over the V-1 wing-tip. Downward movement of the overlapped wing-tips would cause the V-1 to roll towards the Tempest. V-1 collides with Tempest - pilot incapacitated - V-1 flies on to impact ground - Tempest stalls and crashes.

2.Tempest pilot places wing-tip correctly under V-1 wing-tip. Rolls away too enthusiastically - V-1 gyro topples and the V-1 goes on to crash. Tempest goes into a high speed stall. If the Tempest is at too low an altitude, it may impact the ground before the pilot can recover.

(High speed stall occurs when the aircraft is rolled in a turn too quickly and the wings are aligned vertically. The wing dynamic lift vector is at right angles to the wings, so pointed sideways with no force opposite to the weight. If left in this state too long - possibly mere seconds - the momentum of flight is overcome by the weight downwards with no restoring lift force upwards. The aircraft stalls, possibly entering a spin and crashes.)

3. Mechanical damage to Tempest wing due to collision with V-1 wing or excessive applied force during wing-tipping. Loss of a chunk of Tempest wing at high speed, causing unplanned roll motion, resulting in high-speed stall, spin, crash.



Hopefully I haven't just given you some red herrings to set you off in the wrong direction.
...geoff