Chapter 88 super amazing fuel tank

The bomber and the torpedo plane arrived at their destination almost simultaneously.Due to the close following, in the eyes of the Japanese, even the bombers came earlier than the torpedo planes. The bomber squad consisted of four Army Predators.However, this time the bombers did not use bombs, but torpedoes. Each "Predator" had a torpedo hanging under the fuselage. This was the first time that an Army aircraft used torpedoes to attack targets. The attack targets of the bombers were no different from those of the torpedo planes. No matter how big the cruisers were, they couldn't arouse their interest. The pilots swooped straight at "Akagi".

Under the leadership of Captain Collins, the squad leader, the four "Predators" first turned to port, and then turned sharply to the right to avoid the fleet's dense anti-aircraft artillery fire.The bravery of the U.S. military pilots greatly surpassed the flying skills. Facing the wall of anti-aircraft artillery, one pilot shouted: "Wow, if only Mom could see me now!" When the Japanese gunners fired, they saw these big twin-engine bombers so close that they could estimate the size of the white star emblem on the wing. Mobile units fought countless battles, but never before experienced.

Six Zeros dived from an altitude of 700 feet. Before entering the attack route, a Marauder at the tail of the bomber squadron was shot and crashed.However, the density of these "Zero" types was still too high, and as a result, they hindered each other and could not aim. Three planes including Collins took the opportunity to break through the fighter line of defense and fired torpedoes at "Akagi". The torpedo launching device of the "Predator" was temporarily modified, and the pilots were not familiar with it at all. They kept trying to activate the device, but they were still unable to determine whether the torpedo had been dropped.

In fact, it had been dropped a long time ago, but due to the long distance and the slow speed of the torpedo, "Akagi" dodged 2 rounds, and the other one was blown up by the "Flying Dragon" machine gun. It's not over yet.Collins and his teammate Lieutenant Murray pulled the plane up and passed over the "Akagi" while violently strafing the flight deck of the aircraft carrier with machine guns.According to Murray's recollection, this was the moment when he felt the safest during the whole battle. Two Japanese anti-aircraft gunners were injured by machine guns, and an anti-aircraft gun on the aircraft carrier was also damaged and could not rotate for half an hour.

When Collins and Murray retreated, they were chased by a group of "Zero" tail-biting. When encountering a group of fighter jets, no bomber is an opponent. The main function of the "Predator" is not to fight hand-to-hand combat in the air. Once it is fought, the firepower configuration is particularly annoying. Among them, the two turret machine guns of Corinth are constantly malfunctioning. The bullet belt of the tail machine gun can't be moved, and the machine gunner has to feed the bullets himself, and the machine gunner lacks sufficient shooting training, so he often can't aim correctly and can't shoot well.

Things were even worse for Murray.There was no fixed machine gun on his plane, and the only self-defense weapon was a tail machine gun, which was stuck and could only fire intermittently. It didn't take long for the two "Predators" to be severely damaged. Murray's fuselage was hit by hundreds of bullets, and the fuel tank was full of holes.Ounessis, who was driving the torpedo plane, had some luck with the magic money.Collins and Murray were full of praise for the fuel tank afterwards, thinking that it was the fuel tank that saved their lives. The "Predator" is equipped with a leak-proof fuel tank. After being hit by a bullet, the special rubber filling will automatically expand and block the punctured hole. At the same time, the flame retardant will quickly mix with the oil to form an incombustible of liquid.

Without this precious fuel tank, the plane would have caught fire and exploded. Now that they were fine after being hit by so many bullets, Collins and Murray became more courageous. They fought back while running, and Murray said regretfully: "If I had a fixed machine gun, I would have killed the enemy's fighter several times. Beat it down." When the two bombers staggered and returned to Midway like drunk, they were beyond recognition and turned into two piles of scrap metal, which could no longer fly without major repairs. Collins and Murray did not see the third Marauder return.After the three planes dropped the torpedoes, the pilot of the "Predator" did not pull the plane up, he chose a more heroic and heroic attack method.