Piper L4 and B 52, the two toughest American aircraft

Carrier of atomic bombs B-52 and Piper L4 Grasshoper, two aircraft that can send a lot of tons of destructive iron to a designated target.

Fortunately, as far as Piper is concerned, he has already completed his active service and the pilots will demonstrate his excellent flight characteristics only at the Aviation Days.

But this has not been the case in the past…

 

It is generally believed that the Piper L4 served as a reconnaissance, courier and training aircraft. And that is true. But the main work for which this machine was accepted by the US Army after demanding tests was the artillery spotting for artillery. Until then, the US military did not use any aircraft, it was the prerogative of only the US Airforce and the USMC (United States Marine Corps). And so each artillery battalion during World War II had its own air section, which consisted of several pilots, observers, mechanics and other technical personnel, including aircraft, service and transport vehicles. Today, we turn curiously behind a small green plane and its buzzing and soothing sound of the Continental C65 engine, but in times of war, German soldiers in the trenches did not like this sound. If they didn't hide, the only things they moved during his flight were the eyeballs. The reason was simple, they quickly discovered that the little green creature could wipe them off the face of the earth. This aircraft was equipped with a simple but effective weapon and that was a walkie-talkie! The accuracy of American artillery was deadly. The crew of the Piper L4 - Grasshopper (meadow horse) transmitted by radio accurate information about the position of the enemy and the artillery sent their missiles there. They were able to hit a relatively small target from their 105 mm howitzers, such as a German machine gun nest or a tank, so it was almost a suicide for an infantryman, just for fun to shoot a low-flying plane! At the line of the war front, these aircraft were in the air all day and served as the Eyes of Artillery. It is surprising how few of these aircraft were shot down by the enemy. It was for the following reasons. L4s flew at a height of 450 m, which was a small height for effective flak, but a relatively large height for effective shooting of infantry small arms. From the height, then, thanks to their camouflage and low flight speed, these aircraft were almost invisible to the fighters. (I can confirm that during the flight around the airport circuit no one can see me in Piper from the surrounding planes and I have to report my position all the time).

 

It is proven that apart from the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, there was no aircraft during World War II that could send more destructive forces to the target than a small canvas-covered Piper L 4 Grasshopper.

 

And there is one lesson to be learned:

 

Although something at first glance looks very inconspicuous and ordinary - it can be a nice bitch!