Armed training aircraft

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Actually firing from airborne aircraft was part of the training of almost any military pilot, and still is. Here you have to separate real trainer, for example Tiger Moth, that were used to teach men how to fly, and then the real war machines that were used for advanced training. All sides used outdated fighters and bombers for this part, that was centered on combat activities and flying high-performance (that is, compared to the primary trainers) aircraft.

As for using these "school" aircraft in combat, each German operationnal training unit had an "alert Staffel" that was used for patrols and local defence, and they shot down several tens of Allied aircraft during the war. The best aircraft and pilots (usually a mix of instructors and trainees close to be sent to operationnal units).

During the Battle of Britain the 7 OTU (Operationnal Training Unit) of the RAF also used Hurricanes to chase German aircraft and scored at least one victory.

Also a Japanese Army instructor claimed a victory over Japan in 1945 with a training version of the Ki-27 Nate, that had only one machine gun. He was an ace from former units.