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Two Stuka bomb questions


Rob de Bie

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In this thread

the following great photo was posted:

 

north-africa-war-theater-german-luftwaff

 

It raised two questions:

 

1. both bombs have a metal strap / band with pivots on the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. I tried to find more information on these straps, but I found nothing, not even in this extensive US manual on German weapons (https://books.google.nl/books?id=lWzV-xUdkpMC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=OP+1666:+German+Explosive+Ordnance&source=bl&ots=-fqRuLaMmR&sig=ACfU3U26uZx95Si1T7HgwZalutN1CEU4vQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj37KSx_ZzqAhVPDuwKHXfeCOQQ6AEwBXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=OP%201666%3A%20German%20Explosive%20Ordnance&f=false). Maybe because I don't know what the straps / bands are called. Were they exclusive for the Ju 87?

 

2. what bombs are seen in the above photo? The rear one looks a lot like the SC500 from CMK set 7184, of which I assembled one.

 

stuka-23.jpg

 

Thanks in advance!


Rob

 

 

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The band has the locating lugs for the Stuka’s swing arm and just clamps round a standard bomb. The bomb on the right is most likely a SC500 as noted by Holzhamer but the one on the left is more likely a 250 going by its size, probably a SD but there are no markings visible.

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1 hour ago, Tail-Dragon said:

Everything you ever wanted to know (re: German bombs, at least) is available here. A downloadable PDF ...

 

German Explosive Ordinance PDF

 

Thanks! I noted the contents are the same as the OP 1666 manual that I linked to in the first post. The images are much better in OP 1666

 

Rob

Edited by Rob de Bie
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2 hours ago, Ferrata said:

The band has the locating lugs for the Stuka’s swing arm and just clamps round a standard bomb. The bomb on the right is most likely a SC500 as noted by Holzhamer but the one on the left is more likely a 250 going by its size, probably a SD but there are no markings visible.

 

Thanks! I tried to use the lengths measured in the photos to see if it's an SD500 or SD250. The forward bomb is 92% of the length of the SC500 in the rear, ignoring perspective that I cannot calculate. OP 1666 says the SC500 is 80", making the forward bomb 74". Or smaller if perspective is accounted for. But the SC250 is 64.5", and the SD500 is 82". That's quite a difference with the calculated 74".

 

Your reference to the SD500 had an unexpected benefit: the drawing contained the 'Stuka' suspension details that I was looking for! See here:

 

https://books.google.nl/books?id=lWzV-xUdkpMC&lpg=PA102&dq=OP 1666%3A German Explosive Ordnance&pg=PA22#v=onepage&q=SD500&f=false

 

It's page 22 if the link does not show a page of the manual. They use the terminology 'suspension band' and 'trunnion bolt', and the band has an opening for the standard suspension lug. If someone knows the German words, I would be happy to learn them.


Rob

Edited by Rob de Bie
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That's a fascinating picture, down to the Mercedes truck rather than the more familiar Opel Blitz.  However it is also a fairly odd selection of stores.  There appears to be a fuel tank  positioned to go on the centre-line?  Was this possible?  Could the 500kg bomb be carried on one of the wing positions?  Maybe on the R, which could carry a fuel tank, possibly heavier than 250Kg?  Or could this be preparations for a parade of some kind, and  inspection by higher authority? 

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On 10/27/2021 at 7:09 AM, Finn said:

Rob here is a German manual on bombs, scroll down for the SC 250 & SC 500, some nice drawings with dimensions and on pg 113 some different tail sections:

 

http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/dluft43001942.pdf

 

from here:

 

http://www.lexpev.nl/manuals/germanyold.html

 

Thanks Jari! I found some more goodies there. - it's a great site! The SC500 manual has a list of mounting devices (like 'Schloss  500/XII' ) but so far I have found more on the Stuka-specific bands with trunnions.


Rob

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On 10/27/2021 at 12:46 PM, Graham Boak said:

That's a fascinating picture, down to the Mercedes truck rather than the more familiar Opel Blitz.  However it is also a fairly odd selection of stores.  There appears to be a fuel tank  positioned to go on the centre-line?  Was this possible?  Could the 500kg bomb be carried on one of the wing positions?  Maybe on the R, which could carry a fuel tank, possibly heavier than 250Kg?  Or could this be preparations for a parade of some kind, and  inspection by higher authority? 

 

As the original poster I have to report that I know almost nothing of the Stuka, so I cannot answer any of your questions. I selected this kit so I could build something without drowning in research, as so often happens with other projects 🙂

 

Rob

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On 10/27/2021 at 6:46 AM, Graham Boak said:

... However it is also a fairly odd selection of stores.  There appears to be a fuel tank  positioned to go on the centre-line?  Was this possible?  Could the 500kg bomb be carried on one of the wing positions?  Maybe on the R, which could carry a fuel tank, possibly heavier than 250Kg?  Or could this be preparations for a parade of some kind, and  inspection by higher authority? 

Nothing odd about the variety, SD250 and SC500 were pretty common payloads in North Africa (the ordnance -- and fuel -- was delivered by Ju 52, and there was a limit as to how much could be expected.  The second mission in North Africa in Feb. 1941 required the Stukas to first fly back to Sicily, to tote their bombs to Libya).

 

The 300 liter tanks were carried (only) beneath the wings; stencilled instructions advised attaching the tank empty, then tightening the central belly-strap once filled.  It's common to see a pair stashed in a Stuka revetment in North Africa.  The larger ordnance could also be used as an anchor for the underwing tie-down rings.

 

The Ju 87R-2, R-4 and R-5 remained in service in North Africa late into the summer of 1942, the first Ju 87Ds in theatre (with the former II/StG 2, now III/StG 3 since January 1942) were flying from Sicily against Malta and the convoys.

 

GRM

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Thanks, but my point was not about the presence of the bombs in Africa, but whether they'd be seen together on the wing.  I think the SD500 was a centre-line store only, and the SD250 more commonly so but it may have been possible to carry one on the wing.

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Ah, now I see.  The wing stores were restricted on the B/R to SC 50s (or, on occasion, a bundle of SD10s), or the 300 liter tank.  In the photo at the head of this thread, they're already in place.  The Ju 87D series could carry SC250s beneath the wing (one under each), but I can't recall seeing it done in North Africa.

 

Looking over Luftwaffe reports of ordnance expended, I was rather surprised to see the SC500 used as often as it was.  Often the Staffelkapitän or other flight leader, with the others carrying the SC250s.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Today I found a video on Youtube that shows unique footage of the adventures of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 'Immelmann' from ~1939 to ~1944. Among many other interesting details, it shows a mechanic carrying two Stuka bomb rings at 15:03:

 

https://youtu.be/Z_ticBaqL5A?t=903

 

I combined three screen shots. One can see an opening for the standard bomb lug, two trunion pins at either side, and at the bottom a tightening mechanism using two bolts.

 

stuka-24.jpg

 

This answers many of my initial questions.

 

I heard the following German descriptions, with their approximate translation following OP 1666:

 

  'Bombenring' =  'bomb suspension band'

  'Oese zur Anbringung' = 'bomb lug'

  'zwei zeitiche Stutzen die in die Wurfgabel eingelegt wurden' = 'two trunnion pins that attach to the bomb trapeze'
 
Further Google searches with these German words yielded nothing unfortunately.

 

Rob

Edited by Rob de Bie
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Thanks for posting that link -- a neat variety of 'home movies', most with III/StG 2, others with I/StG 2.  Some is from the estate of Valerian Dill; that's him chalking the shark's teeth on the SC50s, and the Flak-whacked tail of WNr.6250 was his "T6+FS", 31.Oct. 1941 on a mission to Beresnjaki.  He went MIA 23.Feb. 1942 near Boroda.

 

      Some of them are anachronistic, with 1943 footage followed by some from 1941.

 

      One narration goof:  the Bf 109E seen between 15:52 - 16:17 wasn't flown by Lothar Lau, but rather the Staffelkapitän of the 2./JG 1 (later 8./JG 27), Oblt. Walter Adolf (a future Ritterkreuz recipient, and killed 18.Sept. 1941 while leading the II/JG 26 after their early conversion to the Fw 190A-1).  Note the unique round pennon on the antenna mast.

 

GRM

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