Longest bomber raid of war

[drgondog]

Originally Posted by syscom3

The Frantic missions distances were dictated in part on the endurance of the escorting fighters. While the P38's and P51's in the PTO were capable of some really long distance missions, that was in part due to the unique enviornment of the the theater, where the fighters could use a mission profile to conserve fuel to and from the target.

The fighters in the ETO didnt have that luxury.

Syscom - true. OTH the mission profile enabled the Mustangs to cruise at optimal from UK to western Poland or Czechoslovakia where they would relieve the Penetration escorts. When my father led the Frantic VII escorts the R/V with the 4th FG was around the Stettin/Torun area and then to Warsaw and Piryatin. I don't know how far the mission was in exact mileage but he had 8 hours in log book.

The 355th also flew one of the longest missions in the ETO on May 13 to Posnan and back ~ 1425 miles. I think that ETO record was broken later by the 20th or 55th when they still had P-38s.

[Njaco]

Christ! 8 hours sitting in one position in minus freezing temps, sweaty face masks, smells and thats just inside the machine! My hats off to them!