Terminal velocity of bombs?

In article ,
BackToNormal writes
"In the Spring of 1941, he (Barnes Wallis) was ready to unveil a bomb
which was as unique as it was powerful, the 10 ton earthquake bomb. An
aerodynamic masterpiece, it would break the sound barrier on its
descent, while its offset tailfins would make it spin like a giant
dart".

According to Brickhill in The Dam Busters, the offset fins were added
after the test Tallboy went supersonic, wobbling off target as it did
so. Barnes offset the fins to stabilise it (the original reason for the
back spin on the 'bouncing bomb').

The Tallboy and Grand Slam were extremely aerodynamic and built to very
tight tolerances. Tirpitz received three direct hits and at least a
dozen very near misses, from bombs dropped from 16,000ft.

--
John

John Halliwell wrote:

In article ,
BackToNormal writes
"In the Spring of 1941, he (Barnes Wallis) was ready to unveil a bomb
which was as unique as it was powerful, the 10 ton earthquake bomb. An
aerodynamic masterpiece, it would break the sound barrier on its
descent, while its offset tailfins would make it spin like a giant
dart".

According to Brickhill in The Dam Busters, the offset fins were added
after the test Tallboy went supersonic, wobbling off target as it did
so. Barnes offset the fins to stabilise it (the original reason for the
back spin on the 'bouncing bomb').

Interesting. The program I saw showed a design drawing incorporating the
offset tailfins. I'm sure the program makers were saying THAT design was
the one presented by Barnes to Whitehall in 1941 (and he had proposed as
a weapon in 1939).

ronh
--
"People do not make decisions on facts, rather,
how they feel about the facts" Robert Consedine

After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police,
BackToNormal blurted out:

Was half paying attention to a TV doco on the Dambusters a few mins ago
and thought I heard the narrator say the Earthquake bomb designed by
Barnes Wallis broke the sound barrie on its way down.
Comments anyone?

Try http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/termv.html

After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police,
BackToNormal blurted out:

Comments anyone?

Also try this http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml

BackToNormal asked:

Comments anyone?

How 'bout this
http://www.saltspring.com/brochmann/...Ball-1.00.html

When dropped from (IIRC) 40,000' it was supposed to become supersonic
(original design spec). As it was dropped from a much lower altitude
(20,000'??) it didn't(?).

The Tallboys and Grandslams had a well designed ballistic shape and
could accelerate to these velocities

BackToNormal wrote:

Was half paying attention to a TV doco on the Dambusters a few mins ago
and thought I heard the narrator say the Earthquake bomb designed by
Barnes Wallis broke the sound barrie on its way down.
Comments anyone?

ronh

"Kerryn Offord"
The Tallboys and Grandslams had a well designed ballistic shape and
could accelerate to these velocities

Seems to me I heard somewhere that a high altitude parachutist was going
to try and break the sound barrier! Anyone know anything about this?

Ed

After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police "Ed Majden"
blurted out:

Seems to me I heard somewhere that a high altitude parachutist was going
to try and break the sound barrier! Anyone know anything about this?

Try this
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/inter...754911,00.html

"Juvat"
After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police "Ed Majden"
blurted out:

I don't get this "Victoria's Secret Police" crack! Please enlighten
me????

Ed Majden implored me thusly:

I don't get this "Victoria's Secret Police" crack! Please enlighten
me????

Oy...imagine if you will that somebody is interrogating you, perhaps
the Gestapo, perhaps the KGB. No a pretty thought.

Now imagine scantily clad lingerie models trying to get something from
you...

YMMV