Heinkel He 111 question

[rotornut]

While looking at a number of WWII videos of Heinkel He 111s in action I saw something I'd never noticed before. The bombs appear to leave one at a time instead of in a group as when dropped form a Lancaster, for instance. Also, the bombs seem to leave rear (fins) first as if there is some kind of magazine as opposed to a bombay in more conventional bombers. Does anyone have any information on this?

[BeauMan]

An interesting link was posted on Fly Past forum today, which links on to Norwegian crash sites. A couple of images which go to illustrate the bomb racks in He111's.

This one has a shot of the bomb racks from the mostly intact example which was pulled from Lake Jonsvatnet in September this year... http://home.no.net/kjellsor/jonsvatnet.html

And this one shows the racks still in situ in the wreck of a Heinkel in Sweden... http://home.no.net/kjellsor/sitas.html

Hope that helps.

BM

[rotornut]

Many thanks for this and for the fascinating photos:ok:

[TwoDeadDogs]

Good question there. How did they arrange the lighter 50 kg bombs? I recall film of He.111s dropping sixteen of those, in one long "stick"....Another question..when the bomber was used as a transport aircraft, were the racks stripped out and seats fitted?
regards
TDD

[rotornut]

Yes, I watched a video last night where a 111 dropped a long stick of smaller bombs (50 kg ?). I couldn't count the number but it was defintiely more than 8.

[G085H1TE]

Good question rotornut. It's something that I have noticed myself and it's fascinating to watch the bombs drop out and flip themselves over.

I've always thought it interesting that British bombers generally had their bomb bays in a separate section of the fuselage under the floor of the crew compartment, whereas others (such as the HE111 and the B17 ) had the bombs stored in racks right up inside the fuselage. Didn't the HE111 have racks in the wings as well? Or did I just make that up?!

I suppose it was this feature that made the Lancaster so versatile and able to accomodate such massive bombs.

[rotornut]

I once saw a film of a stick of bombs right after they were released from a Lanc. They all stayed in a tight group including the big "cookie". Whenever, you see films of bombs released from Heinkels (and perhaps Do 17s), the bombs appear to be wobbling around quite a bit. However the Stuka is another story...

[TwoDeadDogs]

Hi all
As far as I am aware, stowing the bombs vertically and getting the wobbly drop characteristics as a result meant no real difference to the bombing accuracy. It would be all rather academic to the recipient, at any rate. Some Heinkels carried the SC2500 bomb, one of, on a special pylon under the belly. Others carried four 1000kg bombs on a multiple adapter across the belly. Given the multiplicity of ordnance the Heinkel was adapted to carry, it was a pretty versatile aircraft, by any standard.
regards
TDD

[henry crun]

TwoDeadDogs: Are you sure about the 4 X 1000kg bombs ?
All the sources I have read put the max load at 2000kg

Just a tad under 9000lbs seems too much that aircraft

[TwoDeadDogs]

Hi there
i thought they put the 1000kg bombs on the underside because they couldn't fit the standard 500kg bombrack.Maybe it was only two at a time. How much did a V-1 weigh? I have seen a photo of a Heinkel carrying two torpedos, which are more than 500kgs apiece. Didn't they carry one SC2500 on some raids? Not to mind the parachute mines they dropped in the Thames estuary.
I stand to be corrected, naturally.
regards
TDD

[Spodman]

The vertical storage makes sense really, keeps the weight more central to the c of g. If they dropped them all out together they'd clang together is a moderately alarming fashion...:ooh:

[TwoDeadDogs]

Hi there
i often wondered how the bloody things didn't go off when seen bumping off each other when dropped, in the old footage, until an ex-RN/FAA mech regaled me with tales of rolling modern bombs for Sea Harriers around the deck of an aircraft carrier during the Bosnia affair. Initially, they were all as cautious as hell but after a while, no one gave a toss.
regards
TDD