I know jeeps are technically armor, but these pertain to aircraft. I know “follow me” jeeps were used to lead aircraft back to the hangar or parking space in WWII, but did they lead them onto the runway as well?
also, after the tube/mortar(?) like rockets that had 3 tubes in a pryamid shape were fired, were they dropped or not? I know these were used on P-47s
Tubes…they were retained I believe to be reloaded.
“Follow Me” These vehicles were primarily used for arriving aircraft. However, if a pilot was unfamiliar with an airfield that had a complex layout of ramps and taxiways, he/she could request a lead to the departure end of the runway.
It is called a progressive taxi, usually done on the radio with a ground controller but during periods of radio silence, vehicles were employed. Also I have seen the Transit Alert crews (these are the guys who drive the “Follow Me” vehicles) lead aircraft that are not normally operated out of their particular field. I once rode with the TA guys as we lead a KC-135R down a narrow taxi way…inspecting the taxiway and adjacent turf for things it might “suck up” into its low slung engines. Good thing we did too, we found some empty burlap sandbags laying in a spot that those huge motors would have injested for sure.