Quote:
Originally Posted by Omphalos
That sums up everything! 
The alloys in the Aluminum were extremely flammable and some planes went down simply from the fires themselves spreading so fast. |
Not true!
I think Oleg was thinking of the He-70:
He-70 Wiki
Quote:
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The He 70 airframe was made out of so-called "electron metal", a very light, yet strong alloy of magnesium, which burns spontaneously in air when heated, and is only exhausted when covered in sand. A single hit from a light machine gun usually set the entire plane ablaze, killing the crew.
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It is MAGNESIUM, which is NOT Aluminum.
I have seen plenty of pictures of burned remains of aircraft, but the wing tips and tails do not suffer burn damage.
Only where fuel, oil, and other combustible material exist is the aluminum melted.
Standard aircraft design, even at that time, was to eliminate any combustible structure and skin in the engine area. Common safety practice.