Picture of the day

Damn shame, and a sad loss of life for folks who just wanted an airplane ride.

The original Nine-O-Nine was an incredibly lucky airplane.

nine_o_nine_2crews.jpg


This from Wikipedia:

A former navigator of the 91st BG, Marion Havelaar, reported in his history of the group that Nine-O-Nine completed either 126 or 132 consecutive missions without aborting for mechanical reasons, also believed to be a record. M/Sgt. Rollin L. Davis, maintenance line chief of the bomber, received the Bronze Star for his role in achieving the record.

Her first bombing raid was on Augsburg, Germany, on February 25, 1944. She made 18 bombing raids on Berlin. In all she flew 1,129 hours and dropped 562,000 pounds (255,000 kg) of bombs. She had 21 engine changes, four wing panel changes, 15 main gas tank changes, and 18 changes of Tokyo tanks (long-range fuel tanks).

After the hostilities ceased in Europe, Nine-O-Nine was returned to the United States on June 8, 1945, consigned to the RFC facility at Kingman, Arizona on December 7, 1945, and eventually scrapped.
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tiriaq said:
The giant spring didn't propel the bomb. The thing is a spigot mortar. Spigot mortars were made in various sizes, some quite large.
The propulsion cartridge is inside the tail of the bomb. When the trigger is pulled, the "bolt" hurtles forward, and the spigot enters the tail of the bomb, and strikes the cartridge. The bomb is blown off the spigot, while at the same time the spigot is blown backwards, compressing the recoil spring, and re-cocking the "bolt", ready for another bomb to be laid in the trough.
Hand launched rocket launchers were an option being developed about the same time. US with the 2.36", Germans with the 88mm. Developing rocket motors that were safe and reliable in different temperatures was a bit of a challenge. The PIAT projectile used the same shaped charge technology as the rockets. It was a primitive thing that served its purpose, but became obsolescent quite quickly.
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A WW2 vet once told me that the recoil of the PIAT would make him slide backwards. He was a skinny fellow.

Why such a big spring? It is just a firing pin hitting a primer, right? Why not a spring with a cocking handle?
 
From,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAT

"The PIAT was based on the spigot mortar system, and projected (launched) a 2.5 pound (1.1 kg) shaped charge bomb using a cartridge in the tail of the projectile."

" the PIAT possessed hollow tubular tails, into which a small propellant cartridge was inserted, and shaped charge warheads.[6] "

" The moving spigot rod in the PIAT design was unusual, and served to help reduce recoil sufficiently to make it a viable shoulder fired weapon.[3]"
 
Sharps '74 said:
The PIAT was a stop gap weapon at best.

I was trained on the US 3.5 rocket launcher and it didn't inspire much confidence as you watched it's projectile wobble in an arc to the target like a lobbed soft ball.
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If the PIAT was considered a stopgap weapon why did they not just adopt the 2.36" rocket launcher and not bother with the PIAT? It would have been too easy, right? Were the Brits & some UN forces still using them in the Korean War, about which time they were withdrawn from use.
 
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Ganderite said:
A WW2 vet once told me that the recoil of the PIAT would make him slide backwards. He was a skinny fellow.

Why such a big spring? It is just a firing pin hitting a primer, right? Why not a spring with a cocking handle?
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If you ever saw the heavy spigot mortars of WWI, you will notice that all of them had very heavy and rugged base plates whether they were all steel or made with timbers formed into something resembling cribbing. Never mind that some of them were the size of about a shopping cart. The cribbing or heavy baseplates were needed to absorb the recoil as in Newton's (supposedly discredited) Laws.
 
sail32 said:
From,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAT

"The PIAT was based on the spigot mortar system, and projected (launched) a 2.5 pound (1.1 kg) shaped charge bomb using a cartridge in the tail of the projectile."

" the PIAT possessed hollow tubular tails, into which a small propellant cartridge was inserted, and shaped charge warheads.[6] "

" The moving spigot rod in the PIAT design was unusual, and served to help reduce recoil sufficiently to make it a viable shoulder fired weapon.[3]"
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OK. That I can understand.

I used to fire thousands of rounds of 12 ga from the hip. By shoving the gun forward and then pulling the trigger, the recoil just stop the gun from moving. No real recoil. That big rod did the same thing. Tamed the recoil - some.
 
diopter said:
With the way the video is edited, not sure it indicative of the reality. (jab at reality shows intended)
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diopter, I watch the vid first ( a few times stopping it at the explosion) My first impression was...the footage of the explosion was not cause by the PIAT!!!
Then I read your text...I must agree with ya...HOLLYWOOD!!!!
 
Ganderite said:
OK. That I can understand.

I used to fire thousands of rounds of 12 ga from the hip. By shoving the gun forward and then pulling the trigger, the recoil just stop the gun from moving. No real recoil. That big rod did the same thing. Tamed the recoil - some.
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Maybe there was some trick to handling a PIAT to lessen the felt recoil. If there was, I never came across it. I fired a PIAT six times over a two day period. Once to get an idea of trajectory and the other under stress the next day.

The first one really hurt. The others weren't as noticeable until the last two and the pain was almost unbearable. My right side was black and blue from my the bottom of my rib cage and up the side of my neck. My shoulder and arm were useless for the next couple of days and my upper arm was numb.

As for the spigot resetting the spring, MAYBE. It really depends on how solid the butt is held against the shoulder and of course how much resistance the body of the person using it is providing. Likely that's why it was used mostly from prone positions. The PIAT I used failed to re #### 50% of the time. That may have been due to very poor storage conditions and being close to thirty years old.

I was impressed with how well the shaped charge worked on target. Penetrated light armor pretty well if hit straight on.
 
Thx Sail32.That definitely looks like a Hawker Henley except for rear canopy.Close relationship to Hurricane clearly visible here.

iu
 
Canary Girls: WW 1 Women Who Turned Yellow (Click)

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Female munitions workers guide 6 inch howitzer shells being lowered to the floor at the Chilwell ammunition factory in Nottinghamshire, UK. July 1917
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Munition workers in a shell warehouse at National Shell Filling Factory No.6, Chilwell, Nottinghamshire in 1917.
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Women workers preparing nitre to be taken to the Gretna munitions factory.
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Female workers painting aerial bombs in a factory, June 1918
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Female workers in the Finishing Room, No. 14 National Filling Factory, Hereford.
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