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bomb fuzes
- Thread starter senna
- Start date
Ik was niet helemaal volledig zag ik, het betreft Amerikaanse 500 lb periode 1944. In de documentatie wordt aanggeven 500 G.P.L.D.
At the start of WWII, the US had 3 series of bombs in service - the pre-war USAAC 'MK' series (which were sometimes referred to as "streamlined"), the pre-war USAAC 'M' series (usually referred to as "cylindrical"), and the USN 'Mark' series (also usually referred to as "cylindrical").
I went through the US pre-war and war-time 'Bombs for Aircraft' manuals and could not find any mention of a 'Low Drag' bomb type.
The USAAC pre-war "streamlined" 'MK' series of GP bombs only came in 100 lb, 300 lb, 600 lb, and 1100 lb sizes - none were of the 500 lb size.
The only war-rime 500 lb GP bombs made by the US were from either the USN 'Mark' series or the war-time 'AN-M' series, all of which were of the "cylindrical" type.
In the mid-1950s, the USAF and USN started looking at reducing the drag of the WWII "cylindrical" series by replacing the "box" tail with a longer conical "streamlined tail" with fins but no outer "box". The first of these did not enter service until 1958-59 (I think).
The first mention (that I have found) of a US series of bombs specifically called "Low Drag" is in the early-1960s, when the USAF and USN developed and adopted the MK 80 series of LDGP bombs. This series was specifically designed to decrease the drag factors at high subsonic (and super-sonic?) speeds. These LDGP bombs were sometime referred to as GP,LD and similar in various literature. Ironically, these bombs had a shape similar to the pre-war USAAC 'MK' series of GP bombs, but with a higher length:diameter ratio.
Insofar as there were no "streamlined" GP bombs of 500 lb weight used in WWII, I do not think the G.P.L.D. your are asking about can be referring to a US General Purpose Low Drag bomb.
When looking through the bomb fuze section in the manuals, I found reference to "Short Delay", "Medium Delay", and "Long Delay" fuzes.
"Short Delay" seems to refer to delays of .01 sec to .25 sec.
"Medium Delay" seems to refer to delays of 4-5 sec or 8-15 sec.
"Long Delay" fuzes could be set for a delays of 1 hr to 6 days.
There was also a delay fuze specifically referred to as "45 second Tail Fuze" which, as its name implies, detonated after 45 sec.
All of the above fuzes were tail fuzes.
Possibly some other more informed person on the forum can shed some light.
I went through the US pre-war and war-time 'Bombs for Aircraft' manuals and could not find any mention of a 'Low Drag' bomb type.
The USAAC pre-war "streamlined" 'MK' series of GP bombs only came in 100 lb, 300 lb, 600 lb, and 1100 lb sizes - none were of the 500 lb size.
The only war-rime 500 lb GP bombs made by the US were from either the USN 'Mark' series or the war-time 'AN-M' series, all of which were of the "cylindrical" type.
In the mid-1950s, the USAF and USN started looking at reducing the drag of the WWII "cylindrical" series by replacing the "box" tail with a longer conical "streamlined tail" with fins but no outer "box". The first of these did not enter service until 1958-59 (I think).
The first mention (that I have found) of a US series of bombs specifically called "Low Drag" is in the early-1960s, when the USAF and USN developed and adopted the MK 80 series of LDGP bombs. This series was specifically designed to decrease the drag factors at high subsonic (and super-sonic?) speeds. These LDGP bombs were sometime referred to as GP,LD and similar in various literature. Ironically, these bombs had a shape similar to the pre-war USAAC 'MK' series of GP bombs, but with a higher length:diameter ratio.
Insofar as there were no "streamlined" GP bombs of 500 lb weight used in WWII, I do not think the G.P.L.D. your are asking about can be referring to a US General Purpose Low Drag bomb.
When looking through the bomb fuze section in the manuals, I found reference to "Short Delay", "Medium Delay", and "Long Delay" fuzes.
"Short Delay" seems to refer to delays of .01 sec to .25 sec.
"Medium Delay" seems to refer to delays of 4-5 sec or 8-15 sec.
"Long Delay" fuzes could be set for a delays of 1 hr to 6 days.
There was also a delay fuze specifically referred to as "45 second Tail Fuze" which, as its name implies, detonated after 45 sec.
All of the above fuzes were tail fuzes.
Possibly some other more informed person on the forum can shed some light.