User:Cherie happy/Coffin Corner Bombing Formation

COFFIN CORNER BOMBING FORMATION B-26 MARTIN MARAUDER WORLD WAR II
The smaller and lighter two-engine, B-26 Bombers had much more maneuverability than the bigger, heavier bombers and if necessary could get in a very, very tight flying formation, almost wing tip to wing tip. It was in a step pattern from front to back, so that the lead plane's bombs wouldn't fall on the following planes. And that step pattern followed progressively from the front of the formation to the rear.

In bombing missions over Europe the anti-aircraft fire (ack-ack) was always a problem. Flying at ten or fifteen thousand feet, at 150 to 200 mph, in about thirty seconds the ack-ack would be right up in the bombing formation. However, thirty seconds was often enough time to employ evasive action. If the formation kept flying in a straight line, the ack-ack would hit, so the formation turned about forty-five degrees (right initially, then forty-five degrees to the left, or visa versa.) A glance back at where the formation would have been without the turn there were visible ack-ack bursts.

Unfortunately, the whole formation never got completely out of the way; the planes on the far outside of the formation sometimes remained in harm's way. Those outside planes in the formation were called the “coffin corner.” Each time a bombing mission went out the planes in the formation were assigned a different spot in the formation. Crew members knew that, eventually, their plane would be assigned to the “coffin corner.”

COFFIN CORNER B-26 BOMBING FORMATION

'COFFIN CORNER' - MILITARY SLANG