How One Major's "Insane" Bazooka Mod Made His Cub Destroy 6 Panzers — From The Sky скачать в хорошем качестве

How One Major's "Insane" Bazooka Mod Made His Cub Destroy 6 Panzers — From The Sky

Why Major Charles Carpenter mounted 6 bazookas on his unarmed observation plane during WW2 — and destroyed 6 German Panzers from the sky. This World War 2 story reveals how an unauthorized field modification turned a defenseless Piper Cub into America's only airborne tank killer. September 20, 1944. Major Charles Carpenter, artillery spotter pilot, Fourth Armored Division at Arracourt, France. His battalion had lost 41 Sherman tanks in three weeks. German Panthers were killing American crews before they could fight back. Carpenter grabbed 6 M9 bazookas and welded them to his L-4 Grasshopper's wing struts. Every training manual said observation planes must remain unarmed. Command called it "insane" and "unauthorized." They were all wrong. What Carpenter discovered that morning wasn't about following regulations. It was about using terrain and speed in a way that contradicted everything the Army taught. By the end of that day — the day German commanders started calling him "der verrückte Major" (the Mad Major) — other L-4 pilots started mounting bazookas. And they survived. This technique spread unofficially through Patton's Third Army, pilot to pilot, saving hundreds of American tank crews before appearing in any training manual. The principles discovered at Arracourt continue to influence modern attack helicopter doctrine today.