PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb
View Single Post
Old 3rd May 2011 | 09:46
  #39 (permalink)  
Pontius Navigator
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2002
: Military (Retired)
Posts: 16,700
Likes: 54
From: Lincolnshire
Originally Posted by XV490
Interesting, too, to hear of "The Arch B*stard" - a moniker for Gibson I hadn't been aware of.

Can someone confirm that the post-Dams raid Highball bouncing bombs were nearer to being spherical than the Upkeep weapons?
Yes it was spherical whereas the final Upkeep bomb was cyclindrical. If you watch the programme again you will hear a reference to the wooden casing and the bomb being spherical. The wooden case was discarded early on - they said.

One thing I didn't pick up from the programme was the problem they had with balance on the wartime bomb. As it was spun so the explosive had a tendency to unbalance the bomb.

Dr Hughs discovered the need for a balanced bomb but did not touch on the wartime problems.
Pontius Navigator is offline  
Reply