Description
This was not a task that a pilot could tackle fresh from flying a standard solo fighter, so training rigs were made that retained the cockpit, left out the explosives for obvious reasons, but otherwise had the same flight characteristics as the more dangerous “live” version. The crew in the bomber were there just in case there was a problem and to regain control of the aircraft after the fighter separated in a simulated attack, allowing the re-use of the “bomb-plane” for subsequent training missions. Just like the actual mission, the fighter was then supposed to fly back to base to carry out successive missions until they were considered competent, when they would get to fly one of the more explosively converted bombers on a real mission over enemy territory.
