Originally Posted by
Sagrilarus
Aircraft can fly sideways pretty doggone well. If you look up crosswind landing on Youtube you can see examples of it even with big jets.
The D.R.I was particularly notorious for being able to fly "sideways" in order to put gunfire on its opponent. "Sideways" is an exaggeration for sure, but we're talking well off of pointing in the direction of travel. This isn't in a vehicle who's bearing is changing, this is kicking the rudder over to point in a different direction than the one you're traveling in. Direction of flight is well off the centerline of the airplane.
"'To my amazement he kicked on full rudder, without bank, pulled his nose up slightly, gave me a burst while he was skidding sideways and then kicked on opposite rudder before the results of this amazing stunt appeared to have any effect on the controllability of his machine." That's a quote from Bowman, speaking of Werner Voss' flying capabilities in a D.R.I.
There's no compelling reason a bomber can't do the same, but of course it's all a matter of each individual airplane's design. And bigger ships will do it slower than smaller. But a quick trip through YouTube will show you exceptionally large aircraft holding significant sideways flight for extended stretches in order to keep themselves on their approach in a crosswind.
S.
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