War....this is how to develop fast Mars technology.

Especially the live one that they left on display at the gates of a base until recently.JimC wrote:The WW2 British Grand Slam, as delivered by the Dam Busters did a pretty fair job...
The one-time delivery system approach isn't really that efficient.piscator wrote:...for a bunch of pudwhacks who lacked the faith to carry out a kamikaze bombing...
Ha ha ha ... I read the account of that. Trouble is, quite a few people who have actually worked for the RAF in the field of bomb disposal cite several reasons why the story doing the rounds of various Australian websites is, well, apocryphal. There was a standard procedure in place for dealing with live ordnance, which involved removing all fuses, detonators and similar equipment (very carefully I might add), then hooking up a steam generator to perform what is, in effect, an organic chemistry steam distillation of the explosives out of the casing. It would take a fair amount of time to steam distil 10 tons of Torpex out of the casing, but the bomb disposal people would probably have gone ahead anyway. The RAF would not have transported a live 10 ton bomb 200 miles along British roads, with the attendant risk of it detonating whilst the transporter was moving through any inhabited areas. Additionally, there's some dispute about the nature of the roadworks alleged to have taken place that purportedly started this particular ball rolling. For that matter, anyone genuinely selecting a Grand Slam bomb casing for a gate guardian, would pretty much make sure that it wasn't filled with 10 tons of live Torpex before it was propped up. It would be pretty obvious to whoever was doing the original mounting work, that something was amiss if it wasn't an empty casing.klr wrote:Especially the live one that they left on display at the gates of a base until recently.JimC wrote:The WW2 British Grand Slam, as delivered by the Dam Busters did a pretty fair job...
Bugger, I was wondering why wiki didn't mention it. Anyway, thanks for clearing it up.Calilasseia wrote:Ha ha ha ... I read the account of that. Trouble is, quite a few people who have actually worked for the RAF in the field of bomb disposal cite several reasons why the story doing the rounds of various Australian websites is, well, apocryphal.klr wrote:Especially the live one that they left on display at the gates of a base until recently.JimC wrote:The WW2 British Grand Slam, as delivered by the Dam Busters did a pretty fair job...
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Who cares if you win?klr wrote:The one-time delivery system approach isn't really that efficient.piscator wrote:...for a bunch of pudwhacks who lacked the faith to carry out a kamikaze bombing...
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