Tear Down of a Bomb Release Controller and Bomb Shackle on from U.S. Air Force Bomber

[@briang3025]

Your videos tickle this old bomb loader’s heart..

[@MrStanwyck]

Thank you for putting this up on KZbin Eric. I’ve always been interested in how the bombs were released.

[@FlynBrian]

Very nice detail on this release mechanism.

[@dukecraig2402]

The B17 had 4 racks to hold bombs but it had 42 bomb stations throughout them, only 12 stations could hold the typical 500 lb general purpose bombs that were the most common used but the stations between them could hold smaller 100 to 300 lb bombs. The all in maximum internal bomb load of a B17 using all 42 bomb stations was 12,600 lbs (as per a document from Boeing). The all in maximum bomb load with external wing racks was 17,600 lbs. (Internal load plus one 2,000 lb bomb per external rack, the external racks with the 2,000 lb external bombs and internal load configuration was used early on by 385th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force on German sub pens on the French coast and inland targets in France, that configuration was also used in the Pacific early on while B17's were still used there) The channel WWII US Bombers has a video titled "B17 Bombing, Fuses, Shackles and Bomb Release Units" that has pictures from the Boeing literature that shows the locations of all 42 bomb stations in the racks, their rating of 12,600 lbs maximum internal bomb load is shown in a Boeing document in another video from that channel, he has an excellent series that covers bomb ballistics after dropped and other subjects like the Intervalometer which depending on setting would either drop all the bombs at once in a salvo or had settings that could drop them timed to create a path of bomb impacts on the ground with variable settings to make the path longer or shorter, the Intervalometer worked in conjunction with the Norden bombsight so the aiming point would be the center of the path instead of the near end. He also has videos on the B17's accuracy record, the Norden bombsight and the use of the H2X ground scanning radar bomb aiming system used when overcast skies prevented optical sighting. At 2:40, it's B29 SUPERFORTRESS, not B29 Liberator.

[@miken7629]

Looked up your video because I was watching video of the Bell X-1, first supersonic flight, and they used bomb shackle to hold and release the plane from the carrier aircraft. Just wanted to know how they did that.

[@marianharwood3910]

This is a great video, but the different functions of the two levers is not adequately explained. The forward lever releases the bomb and the rear lever arms it. During the bomb run the bombardier will arm the bombs by a switch that sends a signal to move the rear lever forward. The statement at 5:49 that the rear lever on the rack moves "simultaneously" with the release lever is not correct. Just because the manual trip function on the controller makes both levers move, does not mean that is how it normally functions. Release can occur with the rear lever in either the rear (safe) or forward (arm) positions. The bombardier (or pilot) may choose to release the bomb in an emergency with the arm lever to the rear and the arming wire will not be retained. If the arming wire falls with the bomb, it will not arm and will it not explode on impact. Note that both the rack and the controller are clearly labeled "forward" because of this important difference in function of the two levers.