Dave, Thanks a lot for the link, always been in the back of my mind, just goes to prove that no question is a stupid one because someone else is bound to want to know also……

Ok, 1000 bombers converging on top of one target within say a 30 minute window, that’s a hell of a lot of aircraft to dodge, it would be crazy to fly blind in such conditions… I used to fly quite often at night as a Police pilot and night is night, unless it is a full moon (Which bomber op’s were mostly suspended) you have no chance of seeing other aircraft that are unlit.

I’m learning a lot from the forum but finding it hard to believe that the RAF didn’t employ some kind of night aircraft marking system.

There are too many variables to ensure the safety of individual aircraft flying solo not to collide with other aircraft on the same mission… Wind conditions, Air pressure differences (Altimeters), engine performance, instrument calibration (ASI), stop watch calibration….. Even the width of a pencil line on a chart will put u miles of course if not plotted accurately.

So were bombers fitted with station keeping lights?

If you think of 1000 bomber raid, each one taking off individually at say 15-30 second intervals, spacing would be about 1 mile apart, which means that the bomber stream would stretch back 1000 miles, and a raid to Berlin say, would take a whole night to get all the aircraft over the target.

Lots of night bomber footage shows the close proximity to other aircraft but flying at night with no lights and no night vision goggles must have been just as scary than being shot at by the AAA gunners….