Hi Olafo,
I'd just like to add one word of caution to your finds. Even though the blue
bombs are practice bombs, they may not technically be "inert". All the
practice bombs I have seen demonstrated have a shotgun shell charge inside.
This shell is meant to explode on impact, which doesn't destroy the bomb, but
is designed to make a white puff of smoke to aid the scorer who is in the
tower that you saw, determine exactly where a particular plane's bomb struck.
All the pilots are graded on their practice drops.
We have a practice range here in New Jersey, which is unknown to just about
everyone. It is on land that's technically owned by the US Navy, but the
range is operated by the New Jersey Air National Guard. Squadrons from all
over the Northeast fly into here for practice bombing and gunnery practice. I
have been fortunate enough to be in the tower during operation. The place is
laid out just like a cold-war era Soviet airfield with "runways" bulldozed
into the earth, and actual captured Soviet tanks and anti-aircraft platforms
scattered throughout. IIRC, a top score is a practice bomb that lands within
50 ft of the target. If you think that sounds difficult, and it is, I have
seen these practice bombs actually strike the target directly and bounce off.
Another word of caution in case you're around when the aircraft are shooting-
the "guns" 20 and 30mm etc, are shooting live rounds, and security would have
to be tight to make certain you're not in line with the approach. The gun
target here looks like a giant white sheet with a red bullseye painted on it.
There's a pit dug next to it, and from the angle of the aircraft's approach,
much of the rounds fall into this big pit. (At least that's the plan).
Best regards,
George S.
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|