Evening star., 1928-11-18

! more height. All the same, we have
succeeded in crossing the lines and
passing their searchlight barrage with
out further damage, which is at least
some consolation. We have escaped
from the enemy. But what will happen
when we negotiate our forced landing ?
Only l,600 feet up. Suddenly to our left
blaze up the three familiar landing
flares OF an emergency landing ground
The distance, indeed, is still somewhat
great in proportion to our height, but
the calmneSS and sill of the pilot
| overcome this difficulty too. We land
fairly between the white lights. Back
| on Mother Earth once again, thanks
to our good luck and our gallant pilot"
At the end of the World War equi =
ment designed in this country for car
rying bombs Of different sizes had not
been constructed in large enough guam
titles or in sufficient time for use in
the theater of the war. Although this
| country had no great amount of expert
ence with aircraft and armament at
this time, 1t was. on the other hand,
not handicapped by precedent or obso-
lete equipment which might hamper the
design and construction. The bombing
equipment in use during the war in
England, France, Italy, Russia, Ger
many and Austria was not flexible
In so far as its ability to carry different
sizes and carry all bombs by one mech
anism. In order that an airplane might
carry different sizes and types of bombs,
the bomb rack, as the carving and re-
lease equipment Is called in this coun-
trv would need to be removed from the
alrplane and replaced by another rack.
This change required considerable time
and accurate readjustment of the oper-
| ating controls, besides not ~ermittin '
large airplaneS to carry in one load a
variety OF types of bombs best suited to
the targets to be demolished.
Bomb Release Improved.
American engineers, therefore, sought
to remedy this condition by the de-
velopment of equipment that would be
mo: univer al. This was accomplished
In a most satisfactory manner by de-
signing releasing unit, called a
shackle. which was attached to each
bomb by means of two lugs or ewes
the spacing of the lug being the same
on the American 100, 300. 600 or l.lOO
pound weight. This one shackie will
carry any of them INTERCHANGEABLE. In
addition to providing ideal stability with
one standardized unit. the use C. the
two lugs caused the bomb to be carried
horizontally. This Is the ideal posi-
tion at the instant of release, because
the bomb Is pointed in the direction
which it, as well as the airplane is
travelling at that time.
AS the bomb falls its speed of descent.
| starting from zero. increases very rapid
ly, and when that speed downward
equals its speed forward, as furnished
by the airplane, the fins or stabilizers
on the bomb cause it to become inclined
at an angle of As degrees with respect
to horizontal plane. AS the speed
downward increases, the bomb auto
matically and smoothly changes its di-
rection to correspond with its momen-
tary direction of fight. BY causing the
bomb to start its flight properly its
| speed through the air will be uniform
and its flight will be accurate The
smaller bombs of several European ma
| tons throughout the war were carried
vertically. At the instant of release
the position, being at right angles to
| their direction of travel, is violently
altered by the air pressure, which causes
| them to wobble, tumble and oscillate
for long time after release with the
resultant variation to true fight and
great inaccuracy.
New Racks Are in Use.
Since the war bomb racks have been
designed to carry one bomb at time Of
various Sizes two bombs. three, or four
or any number up to 20 on one rack
! simply by providing hooks for support
ing the Shackles and fingers to trip
the shackle figure. In the majority Cf
cases no special braces are required to
prevent the bombs from swaying since
the Shackles stand at an angle Of ap-
proximately As degrees. thus causing the
bombs to bear against the side support
with force equivalent to their own
weight. The long 2,000-pound bombs
are carried by means of shackle built
| into and as a part of the rack struc-
ture. This rack gives also combina-
tion hoist support whose hoist units
are detachable to save weight.
During the war the racks weighed
approximately one-sixteenth of the
weight Of the total load of bombs car
ried. The European racks that carry
more than one bomb at time now
weigh about one-tenth of the bomb
load. American racks, which are much
more universal, being made of high
grade heat-trested steel and duralumi-
mum, weigh from thirteenth to
oue-flftieth of the bomb load. depending
upon the type of rack and the bombs
carried. The release handles are, in the
| majority of cases, very simple. being
universal since the bomb control systems
have been simplified and universally
applied.
Armament in general, and aircraft
armament in particular. is a rapidly
changing and intensely interesting
science, the development of which S
progressing most rapidly Bombs and
their carrying and releasing equipment
are available for many type of ma
their power of destruction hundreds of
miles from the airdrome is beyond the
realization of the majority of readers.