ww2 navy aircraft floatation devices..... experimental

[tom d. friedman]

i've , seen many pre -war pics of wildcats, vindicators, avengers dauntllesses etc, etc, with deployable inflating ditching bags on impact w/ the water. a novel approach for crew survival, & aircraft recovery. why wasn't this implemented during the war?? it could have saved countless lives, not to mention salvageable aircraft.

[Dana Bell]

Hi Tom,

The floatation devices were too heavy - the weight was more effectively used for armor to keep the aircraft from getting shot down in the first place. (The same thing happened with most of the auto-deployable lift rafts.) Also, in most combat losses, it seemed wiser to get out of the aircraft at altitude than to ride it down.

The decisions seem to have come down through 1941 and 1942 - I haven't found a single document that served as the milepost, "from this date forward..."

Cheers,



Dana

[shrike]

I recall reading once that operational paranoia played a part as well. The idea that an aircraft with floatation bags could get away and be recovered by the enemy.

[tom d. friedman]

that makes sense, a valid point.