Airborne/paratrooper deployments of WWII

[RedLeif]

Airborne Landings during WWII
All right folks I could use your expertise. Would the pilots of the aircraft approaching the coordinates of a combat dropzone be flying
A) into the wind - to increase lift and help stabilize the plane as the center of gravity changes as the jumpers exit?
B) perpendicular to the front lines of the opposed forces?
C) a cardinal direction e.g. East?
D) other - to many factors to consider or most favorable for the conditions at the time etc.

If any of you are or were paratroopers or pilots I'd really appreciate your advice on this. I was a sport jumper (152 jumps) but 1 Caravan or Twin Otter of modern ram-air equipped sport jumpers is NOTHING like a combat jump of WWIII with hundred of planes, round basically uncontrollable parachutes and people shooting at you!

I'm specifically curioius about WWII doctrine so if any of you have a field manual title I should find and read that would be helpful too.

Thanks
RedLeif

[opsctr]

RedLief... The drops I planned many years ago were very different from those of WW2 but many of the same considerations had to be taken into account with one major exception, ...the number of aircraft in the stream. The following numbers are from memory so they may be off a little. It took lots of C-47's to move a battalion of infantry in 1945. These days you're looking at a similar bunch of aircraft to drop a Brigade.

C-47 26 troopers
C-119 60 troopers
C-130 90 troopers
C-141 150 troopers
C-17 100 troopers

Static line drops with today's T-10 Charlies (still round) are normally from low altitudes over areas deemed suitable for landing as close to the deployment area as possible while maintaining some level of safety for the troopers being dropped.

Elite Paratroops are very expensive to train. Commanders normally don't want to "spend" them too cheaply.

The AC approach is normally designed to allow as much space for the deployment as possible taking into account wind direction over the DZ, ...the terrain, ...and estimated enemy positions. Plus what it will take to get the troopers into combat. It can be a near run thing during daylight hours, ...difficult in the dark, ...and was nearly impossible in the dark under fire during D-Day since formation was so critical because there were so many AC trying to keep their units together.

You might look at FM-90-4 initially. I think FM-10-500-1, FM-55-9, FM-63-2-1, and FM-71-100-3 (I think I have these numbers correct) will also help fill in the blanks if you have the basics of Battalion & Regimental infantry command down pretty good.

Hope this helps a bit... Small unit insertion is quite different because stealth is extremely important for obvious reasons. Will

[RedLeif]

Thanks for the leads and info Will

RedLeif

[Hugewally]

A) into the wind - to increase lift and help stabilize the plane as the center of gravity changes as the jumpers exit?

I can't see that ever being a concern.

[Cav Dog]

A) into the wind - to increase lift and help stabilize the plane as the center of gravity changes as the jumpers exit?

I can't see that ever being a concern.

Changes in aircraft CG isn't really a concern with military jumps from cargo A/C because of the small mass of troopers exiting relative to the weight of the transport. I suppose it could be a concern in some smaller special ops type of jumps from small aircraft, but the pilots would be trained to compensate. Not that different than expending ordnance. Knowing wind velocity and direction over the DZ is crucial because it gives the troopers an idea of how to land and which way to go if they miss the DZ. Part of the pilot's mission planning is accounting for the wind when determining when to drop to minimize this type of error. But DZs were and are missed all the time.

[Hugewally]

I meant to say just for the lift/CG aspect of the question as the wind always has to be taken into account for them to LOT.