Description
The CP/RA Disney bombs were 16 ft 6 in (5.03 m) long and weighed 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg). The diameter of the body of the bomb was 11 in (280 mm), while the diameter at the tail was 17 in (430 mm). They were composed of three sections. The forward section was the warhead—an explosive charge of 500 pounds (230 kg) of shellite, contained within an armour-piercing casing of thick steel and fitted with two British No.58 MK I tail Pistol fuzes at the base (i.e. furthest from the nose). The second section was made up of nineteen rocket motors from the ] - essentially metal tubes filled with cordite. In the third rear section, a tail cone contained the circuit that ignited the rockets. This was powered by a small generator with a vane spun by the airstream going past the falling bomb. Rocket ignition was controlled either by a time-delay switch, or a barometric switch. There were six small fins at the rear of the bomb for its stabilisation. The bomb was suspended from the aircraft by two weight-bearing lugs. Three arming wires also connected the bomb and the aircraft; as the bomb dropped, a brief tug from the wires would arm the warhead fuzes and the rocket-ignition circuit, and unlock the electrical generator, allowing it to spin freely.
| Diagram and close-up of a Disney bomb | |||||||||
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For accuracy, the bombs had to be dropped precisely from a pre-determined height (usually 20,000 feet (6,100 m)). They would free-fall for around 30 seconds until, at 5,000 feet (1,500 m), the rockets were ignited, causing the tail section to be expelled. The rocket burn lasted for three seconds and added 300 feet per second (91 m/s) to the bomb's speed, giving a final impact speed of 1,450 feet per second (440 m/s; 990 mph), approximately Mach 1.29. Post-war tests demonstrated the bombs were able to penetrate a 14-foot-8-inch (4.47 m) thick concrete roof, with the predicted (but untested) ability to penetrate 16 feet 8 inches (5.08 m) of concrete.
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