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Very small butterfly bomb wings.

I got these today and they have me baffled. Never seen anything like it before.
They are a set of relic butterfly bomb wings. If it wasn't for the fact that they are so obviously old and relic I'd think someone had welded a couple of large bottle tops onto the end of wing support of a standard butterfly bomb.

The "wings" are 40mm in diameter and the overall length is 110mm,

I've added a few photos including one next to a standard set of sycamore wings (for scale).

The are fixed rigidly to the support and don't move (weren't designed to by the look of it).

Has anyone any better examples they can show or information about them?
Are they for a butterfly bomb or something completely different.

Dave.

HI Dave
I have managed to locate a picture of a set of wings that are very close to yours.
Once i can macro the image on its own i will post it and then make the comparisons.
WATCH THIS SPACE:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

Best phil
 
I got these today and they have me baffled. Never seen anything like it before.
They are a set of relic butterfly bomb wings. If it wasn't for the fact that they are so obviously old and relic I'd think someone had welded a couple of large bottle tops onto the end of wing support of a standard butterfly bomb.

The "wings" are 40mm in diameter and the overall length is 110mm,

I've added a few photos including one next to a standard set of sycamore wings (for scale).

The are fixed rigidly to the support and don't move (weren't designed to by the look of it).

Has anyone any better examples they can show or information about them?
Are they for a butterfly bomb or something completely different.

Dave.

Had a little Dig around today and came up with these?
Although they are different there is still no real similarity to yours Dave.
Any thoughts:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

Best phil
 

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Thanks Phil, they look like a set of American wings that are fully open but would fold, the fuze certainly looks American - do you have access to them or is it a photo you have? The wings on mine are 40mm so very small. Am in the process of restoring them so photos to follow soon next to the other ones of mine.
Ta,
Dave
 
Hi Phil
Will be visiting chatham on wednesday will look through their records for anything on these small drouges
 
Thanks Phil, they look like a set of American wings that are fully open but would fold, the fuze certainly looks American - do you have access to them or is it a photo you have? The wings on mine are 40mm so very small. Am in the process of restoring them so photos to follow soon next to the other ones of mine.
Ta,
Dave

Hi Dave

This is a photo from a book that i had about SD2s,which i had hoped would
have turned up a bit more.

Will keep looking

Best phil
 
Hi Dave

This is a photo from a book that i had about SD2s,which i had hoped would
have turned up a bit more.

Will keep looking

Best phil

Phil is that a published book? If so what is the title, I'd be interested in getting a copy.
If you look at the paddles on the photo the way they fit to the main support is just like some of the American ones, also if you look at the way the metal is bent on the end paddles it is very similar to the one "butterfly" posted a while ago. Perhaps the Germans produced a version like this? The plot thickens.
Dave.
 
Phil is that a published book? If so what is the title, I'd be interested in getting a copy.
If you look at the paddles on the photo the way they fit to the main support is just like some of the American ones, also if you look at the way the metal is bent on the end paddles it is very similar to the one "butterfly" posted a while ago. Perhaps the Germans produced a version like this? The plot thickens.
Dave.


Dave,
Will sort you out a copy tomorrow,will drop it off with Mick on Monday with the fuzes i owe you. ;)

Waff
 
re; photo posted by phil
I can confirm that these wings are the same as the American M83 that I have. I believe it to be a later example of the American version as the earlier ones are almost a direct copy of the German SD2. I don't have any hard based evidence to pove this, but from what I have observed would assume this to be the case. Does anyone have any information relating to the M83 wing arrangements that would confirm my thoughts?
Also a book was mentioned about SD2's, would also be intrested to see a copy of this book, could someone put the author and title in the thread so anyone else intrested could obtain a copy too-thanks
regards
Kev
 
Phil is that a published book? If so what is the title, I'd be interested in getting a copy.
If you look at the paddles on the photo the way they fit to the main support is just like some of the American ones, also if you look at the way the metal is bent on the end paddles it is very similar to the one "butterfly" posted a while ago. Perhaps the Germans produced a version like this? The plot thickens.
Dave.

Hi Dave
This was from book that had a couple of pages on SD2s or bombs in general.
I only have the photo copies from the pages unfortunately,and not much else:sad:

Best phil
 
Hi All
have just read through a load of DUBD reports on bombs etc and all that have been listed on the SD2 were what was already known, ie 2 types of drouges the complete 4 piece type and the 2 piece,which were found in North Africa (see a previous report i mentioned this report)if they were experimental then its possible that nothing was ever written about them.
will keep looking
 
I'm sure some of you guys wouldn't agree with what I've done now..........I've restored it (more like preserved it) .....it was that or leave it to fall to bits!!
The next part to this story is I dipped the rusty wings in......yes you've guessed it......hammerite rust remover. The completish wing ended up looking like a tea strainer, the other one, well, I won't go there. Anyway the only way forwards then was some Araldite filler and paint.
The end result is something that's not going to fall to bits and is as good as anyone seems to have at the moment at least.
I've taken a few photos next to a single end paddle from a normal sized set of wings just to avoid any confusion.
Look forward to seeing if anyone digs out any information about these ones.
Dave.
 

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Hi checked through the Sd2 paperwork yesterday at Chatham and nothing is written down about them . if they as i suspect were prototype wings then its very likely that there wouldnt be anything written about them until the tests were complete or were going to be produced.
steve
 
Some original documentation regarding the variations in "Butterfly Bomb" wings. I also have some documentation on the 41A fuze if anyone is interested.

Regards

TimG.
 

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Thanks Tim, great, its always nice to have some of the original information.
Dave.
 
Some original documentation regarding the variations in "Butterfly Bomb" wings. I also have some documentation on the 41A fuze if anyone is interested.

Regards

TimG.

Tim,
I agree with Dave original information is great, thanks for posting.
Would be very interested to see the info on the 41 fuze and any other information you have on butterfly bombs.
Regards
Kev
 
Been watching this thread with a great deal of interest...
My thoughts..
1, the drouges/wings are too small to slow the bomb down or to arm the Fuze.
2, could these be for a completely different Submunition altogether that weighs a great deal less than an SD2 ?

Sorry to anyone if im stating the obvious.
 
Been watching this thread with a great deal of interest...
My thoughts..
1, the drouges/wings are too small to slow the bomb down or to arm the Fuze.
2, could these be for a completely different Submunition altogether that weighs a great deal less than an SD2 ?

Sorry to anyone if im stating the obvious.

Hi Nismosonic, yes my thoughts exactly.
It got me thinking was there ever a mini butterfly bomb as there was a minimills grenade....could be a daft idea but then can't think of a better one.
Dave.
 
Been watching this thread with a great deal of interest...
My thoughts..
1, the drouges/wings are too small to slow the bomb down or to arm the Fuze.
2, could these be for a completely different Submunition altogether that weighs a great deal less than an SD2 ?

Sorry to anyone if im stating the obvious. [posted by Nismosonic]


Thats a very interesting theory you have there.
Just a thought, the very small cut-down wings were experimental and are regarded as not being efficient in arming the bomb. Could these be another unsuccessful experiment?
It would be interesting if Dave could take a photo of the 'unidentified wings' next to a set of the very small cut down wings to show a size comparison. If the Germans were already experimenting with such small wings on the SD2, then there is nothing to suggest that these weren't also for the 2Kg bomb? - possibly running alongside the same experiment to drop on aircraft, maybe then slowing down the bomb to prevent ground penetration was not such an issue, more just a case of arming the fuze?
Its all guesswork on my part, just a thought.

Any chance of a comparison photo Dave?

regards
Kev
 
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