MovieChat Forums > The Dam Busters (1955) Discussion > Most innovative bomber of WWII

Most innovative bomber of WWII


In my opinion the most innovative bomber of WWII was the Armstrong Whitworth Mole. Best known for the twin engined “Whitley” Armstrong Whitworth also produced the lesser known “Mole” as an experimental aircraft in 1941 to protect London’s Metropolitan underground system in case of invasion. Equipped with very short but broad wings for added lift this twin engined plane was equipped with one right-hand drive engine & one left-hand drive engine to counteract the effect of torque. With a two man crew, pilot in front bomb aimer behind him, the aircraft was designed to fly through the tunnels on the London Underground system & with the aid of photocells & an analogue computer bomb-sight could fire bombs through air-shafts to the street above using compressed air. The aircraft was tested in secret on 2nd January 1942 at 2 am when it successfully flew from Bethnal Green to Bank on the Central Line but was never put into service partly because Britain was not invaded & partly due to take-off & landing problems in the confines of a tunnel.

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Rather dwarfed by double scale version of the Typhoon, the Hawker Tsunami. Already capable of carrying a bombload not far short of a B17, once the Typhoon had been extended in all directions and equipped with a 48 cylinder Napier Sabre, a squadron of Tsunami could carry enough water in drop tanks to flood any chosen part of Germany, making dambusting unnecessary. Sadly the aircraft never flew on an actual raid as no one could be found who was brave enough to start the engine.

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[deleted]

The Japanese "Tikki Wikki Tonoki Kokki 242" rocket aircraft.
Due to a shortage of raw materials it was made of a paper based solution very similar to papier mache, it used the same engine as the Ohka manned flying bomb, it made its only flight on 2nd February 1945 when Japenese test pilot Captain Hisname Tojo took the aircraft to an altitude of 45,000 feet however designers had overlooked the fact that paper can burn quite easily once it gets hot enough, married to the rocket engine this is exactly what happened and Captain Tojo died in the ensuing fireball. After a review a 2nd aircraft was ordered but the war ended before it could be produced.

"We have 650 planes!"
"Yes, and they have 2,500"
"Well they wont all come over at once"

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Ok lads you caught me out. I was hoping no one was savvy enough about aviation to catch me out. alfa-16 had the best come back with his Hawker Tsunami. I laughed so hard I wet myself though Ty-Fry-Typhoon's "Tikki Wikki Tonoki Kokki 242" rocket aircraft was also amusing. I wonder what Barnes Wallis would have to say about all this?

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I..... I googled Whitworth Mole..... I should have known.

"We have 650 planes!"
"Yes, and they have 2,500"
"Well they wont all come over at once"

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Most innovative bomber of WWII - southwestern71

Yes, but all the innovative bombers here were no match for a weapon designed to stop aerial bombardments: the LePage Glue Gun, which could freeze an entire formation in mid-flight.

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"We hear very little, and we understand even less." - Refugee in Casablanca

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the b-17 will always get through

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