Hamilton High School - Hamiltonian Yearbook (South Hamilton, MA)

Page 29 text:

The big bombers arc designed to eai ' ry distance into enemy territo ' y in order to borSi railroads, and other objects oi - ' a type we have two of which Lieoh is hca??d, world ' s biggest, although it is not now in r ly the length of a city bJ.ocir, v’ iohs P-3 tons of bombs. Its four 200C hrOe motor? 11,000 gals, of gas carry it 7,000 miles heavy load greatly rclaoos this figure. hu g e ’Lord? i a [■; i ■ e ‘i - orstroy f aoti.)ries , ha’’’- ' j ::; impii’tanoe,. Of tnis ' ■. ' lie Douglas B--I9 :’-.s the ■r-oductior.. It is near- tons, and can carry ±8 carry it at POO ir.op»h without landing, but a ,} 1 The Booing B-17 ' title of Flying Fortre piil rtlt, two way radi well armored, and ver can carry several to return without landing, oquipfiicnt;, they ?Kr. f cannot score hits from altitude. s ere already famous in this war under the ssc This type is equipped with an automatic otclophonc, and other advancements. They arc y well fortified with heavy gun pov cr. They ns of bombs to a target 1500 miles away, and Because of supercharged motors and oxygon ].y high out of anti-aircraft range, but they •such an Medium bombers are sndLi. - cr, but faster, me cing oPem. deadly in quick raids on bridges, towns, tioops. .cd isupplics. The Martin J3-26 is probably the best rnown of ' . nid type. It has two 1339 h-p, Tratt Whitney motors which carry it faster thf.r most pur- suit ships. BcC ' iuso of ibs speed, its high altitude fly- ing, its armor a.nd firing pow- er, it is the finest of its type in the vrorld. The divebombers have been made famous by Grcrma.ny in the present war. They arc light, and carry fev; bombs, but their aim is deadly, Qur Navy he.s a typo v.m.th twice the load and range cf any similar pln.no. They arc operated fro i nircraffc carrion ' s, and th?y cicout enemy forces before ' ' rmblng. They are also very effective in offensive coastal patrol operations against subs because they can stay aloft for a long time without refuel. ing. It The Feeling off of this type of ship is very interesting, j They dive, one a.ftcr the other, at full speed towards their target, [This speed is to avoid anti-aircraft fire, but it must be reduced Iso that the planes will not be falling faster than the bombs to be released. Largo wing flaps, ond pulling slightly out of the divc 0 this. Since the plane is only a few hundred feet from the tar- et« I tL.

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The anti-aircraft gunc £H‘‘e tlirei -inch guns and have a range cf.. between thirty thousand and forty thousand feet. They fire ashrap- nel or high explosive shell which is timed to burst at or near the airplane. The burst of one cf these shells will wreck a bomber within a radius of one hundrec). and fifty feet. These guns are armed automatically by the Mechanical Range Finder and Computer; and they are capable of firing about twenty-five shells per minute as the breech blocks close automatically when the shells are inserted; and open automatically when the empty shells are ejected. The anti-air- craft gun can be transported from place to place very rapidly on their own mobile trailers and are set up on folding steel platforms in a few seconds .all ready to fire. The brains of the Coast Defense guns aere the Anti-AircraJ’t Range Finder and the Mechanical Range Computer called the Jui.e Box The Range Finder enables the spotters to determine the horizontal and vertical position of enemy airplane bombing formations. The telescope sights are focussed on the attncking planes; and by a sy- stem of triangula.tion, the height and horizontal positions rre de- termined, The results obtained on the Range Finder -are transferred to the Mechanica], Computer which •• ' .bsorbs all nhe information gathered from the range finders, the sound detectors, and; at night, the searchlights. In the irt ' sterhous parts os! its interior the computer works a problem of rapid calculation that is like na.giq and the result is the exact range, a-ltitude, speed, and dimensional position of on- coming planes. This is Cone In a few sooondEJ, and then 1he calcula- tions are electrically transmitted to the Automatic Fuse Timer and aiming dials on the anti-aircraft guns. The new Gai’ar.d ,50 caliber rifle l ill eventually replace the Springfield rifle ir our armed forces. It is semi-automatic which means that the soldier only has to oull the trigger for each shot and the gases from the burnt po ' -rdcr operate the mechanism. This mechanism ejects zhe empty shell, replaces a new cartridge in the barrel, and closes the breech ready for the next shot. This rifle weighs nine and one-half pounds The clip holds eight cartridges; this is three more than the Springfield rifle holds, VThen al l the cartridges are fired, the empty clip is autom.atically ejected and the soldier replaces it with a full one. In this way, an almost continuous fire can bo kept uo with from twenty to one hundred armed shots a minute. Also, the kick is less and many shots can be fired because the shoulder does not get sore or lame. The hand grenade or plneapr: lo is still very ■ effective be- cause it throws shrapnel with a terrific force when it explodes, A small trigger is held back by a pin; when the pin is removed, the trigger ignites a slow-burning fuse which sets off the high ex- plosive. The new method cf throwing the grenade is similar to the way a football is thrown. The sixty millimeter mortar is used for blasting enemy trenches and machine gun nests. It throws a three and a half pound shell loaded with high explosives a distance of nineteen hundred yards.

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Another type of naval bomber is thewturpodo bonbing; plonp, ’Of which there is a squadron of 18 on each aircraft carrier Their mission is to search for enemy ships, dive to within 100 feet of them, drop a torpedo in line with the ship, and climb rapidly to avoid collision v ith the exploding ship. As they are proving very effective, the importance of this type of plane is rapidly increas-- ing. The bomb sight is another very complicated mechanism. The U. S. has a famous sight which, after being set by the bombardier, guides the plane itself to the proper place, and automatically re- leases the bomb Great accuracy is obtained in this way. Photography from planes, as a part of scouting, is very im- portant in modern warfare. Flying Cadets choosing this line of v;ork are especially trained in a course of aerial photography. The success of bombing raids is completely dependent upon the maps which are made from the photographar taken on these scouting trips, for the bombers have to fly over strange territory after dcirlci Those photographers, in order to be successful, must fly low over Y ell fortified targets in the broad daylight. Thus, aerial photo- graphy is a difficult and dangerous job, but no cos say for successful bombing raids. The wing mountings of .50 calibur machine guns arc very in- teresting and complicated. They arc air cooled, and fully auto- matic and arc usually electrically controlled by a button on the stick v hich the pilot presses. They permit great firing range and pov cr for the fev seconds in which the pilot can use them. An especially interesting gun is mounted in the Airacebra in- terceptor plane. The motor is behind the pilot, and the propeller is drive n by a shaft, passing under the pilot to the nose of the ship. This shaft is hollov , and a 37 m.m. cannon sheets through it, Now we shall be concerned v ith the individual in the air corpa The Army Air Corps has a nev system for deferred service. The prospective cadet signs up while ho is still in school or college and is not taken intil he has completed his scholastic odnoation unless an emergency arises to necessitate his being taken. This eliminates the prospect from the draft. Cadets arc from 18-26 years of ago when taken. They must pass a physical test of high stand- ing, and be of about average hoiglit s.nd weight. The flying officers arc divided into throe groups. The bom- bardier is the one v ho is responsible for the bombing ‘operations. The navigator’s training period as a cadet is 29 v ccks; 3 weeks longer than that of the bombardier. The pilot’s job is well Imovm to all. He goes through 36 weeks of intensified training. These three groups receive {|p75 per month during training, and $245.00 p r month upon being granted a commission.