Italeri P-47N bombload

[comrade harps]

A much maligned kit, but with an interesting sprue of ordnance that includes a 1,000lb bomb to which you can attach a pair of small beams each carrying four 20lb frag bombs.

I've never seen this combination anywhere else, so is this a real or imagined arrangement? It looks vaguely whiffy.

Either way, how would it work? 

Any info or opinions appreciated.

[pyro-manic]

Hmm - sounds quite odd. IIRC Mirages had bomb racks attached to drop tanks - I assume there would just be an extra set of release controls. Perhaps it gave more flexibility in attacking targets? A nice juicy tank or road/bridge/train etc you give it the 1000-pounder, or if you run into a concentration of infantry on the way to the main target you drop the frags?

[GTX]

Have you got any photos?  I may have seen something like that but need to confirm we're talking about the same thing.

Regards,

Greg

[Jschmus]

I found a review on Modeling Madness by Scott Van Aken which mentions that bomb arrangement, but nothing else about it.

[philp]

Found this pic of the instructions.  Haven't found any photographic evidence yet.

With the arrangement, would have to drop the frags first and then the 1,000 lber.

[GTX]

That's what I thought.  Whilst not exactly the same, this is something similar:



So it may not be whiff at all.

Regards,

Greg

[Maverick]

If it were dropped en-bloc, one would assume it would be a fairly widespread frag weapon.  Perhaps it was developed as an anti-infantry option?

Regards,

Mav

[rickshaw]

It would appear it was an effort to add greater anti-personnel effect to large blast bombs.  Perhaps they found the bombs were less than effective against personnel and they decided this was one way of enhancing their effectiveness quickly and cheaply?   Bomb fragmentation, like shell fragmentation is still pretty much a "black science" which relies a great deal on luck rather than necessarily design to achieve its ends.  The Germans (who else?) made the first scientific efforts to try and determine how to get equalised fragmentation from shells with their work on AA artillery.   They found that grooving the inside of the case ensured a good, equal spread of fragments but machining thousands of AA artillery rounds was beyond their capabilities.   Post-war, it was believed for a long time quicker and easier to add fragmentation effects to the explosive and simply make the case a means of carrying it.   This was down with bales of pre-cut wire.  Along came Gerard Bull (who else?) who revived the idea of pre-grooving shells but his ideas on this, unlike his other ones on streamlining,  weren't taken up.   Nowadays its still a case of relying on luck as to how shells/bombs fragment.

[NARSES2]

Thats an interesting photo Greg - do you know what aircraft is carrying that load ?

I've a memory of a photo somewhere of napalm tanks fitted with fragmentation bombs as per the Italeri P-47 1,000 lbs, for the life of me can't remember where

[rickshaw]

If the bump near the tail wheel is, as I believe the wastegate from the turbocharger, it's a P-47.

[NARSES2]

Could be, it's unusual to see that load out on the fuselage pylon ?

[Maverick]

The Jugs routinely flew with various ordnances on their centreline, so I guess hanging some extra stuff of a bomb isn't too much of a stretch.  That being said, it's starting to get iffy with the ground clearance.

Regards,

Mav

[comrade harps]

So, it is plausible, if a little unusual.

The kit's arrangement is a bit different from the photo, but different schemes may have been experimented with, perhaps as field mods? I have seen pics of Jugs with frags on small beams, but never attached to another bomb before. Good get.

I might not build my Jug with this bomb/frag combo, but it's useful info to find out.

Thanks for sharing.

[dumaniac]

get into it Comrade - I wanna see the plastic!

[GTX]

Thats an interesting photo Greg - do you know what aircraft is carrying that load ?

Chris,

It's is a P-47.

Regards,

Greg