escort fighter

(redirected from Bomber escort)

escort fighter

[′es‚kȯrt ‚fīd·ər]

(aerospace engineering)

A fighter designed or equipped for long-range missions, usually to accompany heavy bombers on raids.

References in periodicals archive ?

It also mentions that a rough landing on an icy runway caused some damage to the plane in 1942, and, following repairs, it was delivered to RAF Cosford, before being sent out to RAF Kenley to begin bomber escort duties.

MYSTERY OF THE MISSING SPITFIRE

Eaker decided to move the 332nd Fighter Group from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Air Force and give it a new bomber escort mission.

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., as a Tuskegee Airman

In 1944, the P-51 replaced its fellow Heritage Flight fighter, the P-47, as the primary bomber escort. While the Thunderbolt was a tough and capable dogfighter, it did not have the range to escort the B-17s and B-24s all the way to Germany.

Formation of a legacy: heritage flight merges airpower past and present

The unit moved to England where it transitioned to P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, providing bomber escort support.

Fighter Squadron reactivated at Homestead

Joining the US Army Air Force in 1942, Gilbert was posted to a squadron stationed in southern Italy in late 1943, from where he "ew Spit-res and later Mustang ghters on bomber escort missions over Austria and southern Germany.

Plot to blow up London thwarted by heroic pilot

Joining the US Army Air Force in 1942, Gilbert was posted to a squadron stationed in southern Italy in late 1943, from where he flew Spitfires and later Mustang fighters on bomber escort missions over Austria and southern Germany.

Plot to bomb Lodon was thwarted by heroiic pilot

Ultimately, the Mustang would emerge as the air forces' dominant fighter because engineers at North American Aviation made the field modifications needed to make it work as a long-range bomber escort before any of its competitors did likewise with their own models.

The Messerschmitt hunters: US bombers were easy prey for the German Messerschmitt--until Chuck Gumm and his fighter group showed up in their new P-51 Mustangs

In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner last year, he described how he had flown 250 types of planes and had a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe.

CARNAGE AS RACE PLANE HITS STANDS

The squadron moved around to RAF Gravesend, RAF Tangmere, and finally ended up at RAF Church Stanton (later renamed as RAF Culmhead), where they were assigned to provide bomber escort missions over France and Germany.

Twins over Dieppe: Canadian brothers in the RAF: aviation buffs since childhood, two Alberta boys join the fight and first taste the dangers of aerial warfare over the beaches of Dieppe

Holton told the Montgomery Advertiser that "well-meaning and highly placed speakers have beguiled audiences with the phrase 'the Tuskegee Airmen flew 200 bomber escort missions without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft gunfire.'"

Historians question record of Tuskegee Airmen

During the period from June 1944 through April 1945, the 332d Fighter Group flew primarily bomber escort missions for the Fifteenth Air Force.

False claims about the Tuskegee Airmen

Mr Ayerst, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in December 1944, flew Spitfires on intruder sorties over France before and during D-Day and on bomber escort duty against Germany's V-weapons sites and in support of mass daylight raids.