Quote Originally Posted by Franconicus
That reminds me of two other strange systems:

Before WW2 the Soviets had a big bomber (I think it was the biggest then, cannot remember its name). The problem with the strategic bombers was that the escort fighters could not protect them, because they were only short range. Russian engineers solved this problem this way. The bomber carries some fighter and releases them in case of attack.

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I believe the US did something similar with an airship and several biplane fighters attached - very Jules Verne. The germans had a system of a Me 109 on top of a Ju88 - the bomber was unmanned and packed with explosives - it was called a Mistel. The combo flew to near the target, the remote controlled Ju 88 was then detached and flown to the target - sounds great, but wasn't a sucess. - Have a look here for all permutations of Mistels - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/V...tel/mistel.htm

There are loads of weird and wonderful german planes on http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/index.html - I recomend a look - there is even a jet powered flying wing, which looks like something from Indiana Jones!!