Way OT but some might know...

[Bob Womack]

The innovations involved in the Dambusters raid were pretty astounding - converging, downward-pointed lights for an altitude guide, a bomb that was spun up so that when it reached the dam it ran down to the base of the dam where it could do its greatest damage.

Bob

[RJW NZ]

And here's another great bit of stiff, ever heard of a disney bomb, or tarzon?

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Bunker_buster

[RJW NZ]

it just gets better and better;



Posts: 1




Re: Disney Bomb
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2009, 08:11:20 am »

Hello!
I wonder if you know, that end of january 2009, there has been an intact Disney Swish bomb taken away by the French Army on the roof of the great blockhaus in Eperleques (France).It was there unexploded for more then 60 years.The big action took 6 days!The owner of the blockhaus has many pictures and videofootage of the operation and hopes that the bomb will come back in his possesion!
See this Youtube video: no link, ry search

also, typing in disney bomb brings up several related links.

http://br.truveo.com/Disney-Rocket-Bomb/id/1719244819

[jjroth]

who developed the skip-bomb.
He originally concived the deep penetrator, but with no aircraft capable to carry it, he did design a six-engined bomber. but couldn't be build with material shortages.
The 617 Squadron, performed a most important mission on D-day, they were tasked with flying over the Channel, off Calais, dropping "Window" (e.g.: Chaff")
to cause the nazi's to think the invasion fleet was coming in there.

In Ontario,Canada, a local TV station, TVO, plays the movie aroung the Fall time period. Was able to VCR it.

[John Kepler]

I have not read of any American WWII era bombs equivalent to the British tallboy or grand slams,

Sure we did! You need a trip to the National Museum of the US Air Force! We manufactured copies of both the Tall Boy and the Grand Slam!

and I doubt that we had any aircraft capable of carrying them.

We made this little airplane you may or may not have heard of called the "B-29" that was more than capable of carrying large bombs, including the Tall Boy, which it did on numerous occassions.....post-war, they were carried in the B-36. It was not only capable of carrying them, but was able to drop them from the altitudes that Dr. Barnes-Wallis intended!

[John Kepler]

Didn't the dam busters use a drum shaped bomb that was spun up and then skipped into the dam?

Yep! But you don't put together a Squadron of "All-Stars" for a single mission, and then throw them away! Guy Gibson's 617 Squadron, 5th Bombing Group, became legendary for "special missions" with special weapons throughout WW II....dropping Dr. Barnes-Wallis' OTHER creation (he designed the "dam-busting" skip-bomb, in addition to the "Wellington" bomber for DeHavilland), the "Earthquake" bombs. 617 Squadron sank the "Tirpitz", destroyed the sub-pens at La Harve, and breached the Dortmund-Ems canal. Their "day job" was highly specialized pathfinding and target marking for 5 Group (earning them the nickname from the "real" RAF Pathfinders as the "Lincolnshire Poachers")...a bombing organization that became VERY adept at starting Firestorms....5 Group led the attack on Dresden...guess who led 5 Group to the target and accurately marked it?

[John Kepler]

The 617 Squadron, performed a most important mission on D-day, they were tasked with flying over the Channel, off Calais, dropping "Window" (e.g.: Chaff")
to cause the nazi's to think the invasion fleet was coming in there.

Not just "dropping Window", but doing so in a VERY precise way to simulate a large fleet advancing toward the Calais beaches at 10 knots! It involved multiple aircraft flying in critically timed "race-track" patterns at a VERY precise speed just above the wave-tops to fox the Hun radars, popping VERY rapidly up to a specific altitude, release the window, then drop back down to the wave-tops; all at PRECISELY the right place and releasing the Window at PRECISELY the right time, repeating that same precision flying pattern every 2 minutes for 8 hours IN THE DARK! Not only did they do it, they did it right and had the Huns in a confused panic for days!

[John Kepler]

BTW, the US late WW II TARZON (TAll-boy Range and aZmuth ONly) guided bomb used a US-built "tall boy" as it's base.