Comments by "Simon Nonymous" (@Simon_Nonymous) on "The Drydock - Episode 200 (Part 1)" video.

  1. Quite so - they used the new SABS bombsight which had to be calibrated to the Tallboy's trajectory, and the mission wasn't to unload on an area but to aim for a pinpoint target, so a small change of doctrine as well as a change in technology.
    4
  2. David, what you write about averaging out any minor errors in the flight of a projectile is correct and very well explained - it's the same with diabolo air weapon pellets being fired from a rifled barrel. However I am sure I read in Flowers and elsewhere that the fins were a redesign to prevent tumbling experienced with initial straight fin designs. I am trying to find out how fast it would be spinning on impact, as I imagine that this gyroscopic effect would help keep the bomb stable? If I find out I am wrong - I'll stick an edit on the end of this :-)
    2
  3. I've just checked in Stephen Flowers' book "the operational history of Barnes Wallis' bombs", which is pretty thorough, and he writes that the fins were at first straight, but oscillation led to the trial and then use of the angled fins to use the gyroscopic effect to stabilise the bombs especially as they passed through the sound barrier. I can't find any data on how fast the bomb was spinning when it hit though.
    2
  4. Very well put.
    2