How are bombs winched into a Lancaster

Here are bombs falling from Lancaster ED908. As I understand it the US bombs are those with the box-style tail fins (the 1,000lb bombs on the left): the British tail fins are circular – as in the three 500lb bombs in the fourth row (one of the four was hung up). In the centre are two 1,000lb bombs, one bomb of each type. Both of these types can be seen in antoni’s pictures above.

Interesting film – http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c3_1384725382

About 14 min mark shows loading bombs…

Would I be right in thinking those bombs are US made bombs? They look very similar to those loaded into B17’s.
This thread is fascinating. While there are many films showing bombs being loaded there seem to be very little, if any pictures or film of what’s happening inside the Lanc.
Thanks for posting.

Interesting film – http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c3_1384725382

About 14 min mark shows loading bombs…

About half way down this page (acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com) there is good photo of the previously mentioned hand canked trolley for the likes of the Tallboy.

Thanks for the info Air Ministry, presumably this was also used for the internal winching by that time as suggested by Hampden98 ?

Thanks,
Greg

[ATTACH=CONFIG]222673[/ATTACH]
These trollys only came into service during the early summer of 1944, it was all done by hand winding of bomb hoists before then.

Interesting thread and thanks for the replies.
So the winches are placed inside the aircraft and powered by a generator via the crew entrance. Never knew that.
I always thought the winches were integral to the aircraft.
Makes sense to use the trolley to winch up the heavier bombs. I doubt you could safely handle the swing on the cables.

Anyone have a detailed photo of the generator?

BTW I read somewhere that the bomb cradles were designed before the Lancaster and didn’t fit very well.

Thanks for the correction – I was viewing the central rib in the Lancaster bombbay door and interpreting it as the kink of two separate doors.

[QUOTE=If this is a manual process how exactly does a Blockbuster or Tallboy get winched up?
22000lbs is surely to heavy for a manual process?[/QUOTE]

The Grand Slam had a trolley with four hand operated winches at each corner, I have pic somewhere if I can find I will post it up.

There was an armorer up there with a winch that was moved between the various mounting points as the bombs were loaded.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/loading-bombs

Same sort of winch was used to lift the Tallboy up, although a number of them were mounted on the frame carrying the bomb, and it was all done from outside the aircraft in that case.

There is also a composite photo of the whole setup (edit: for regular bomb loading), but I can’t find it at the moment.

Btw, I don’t think that is a Halifax that was posted by Antoni. It would have the split bay doors.

Two ex WWII type winches a 4000lb and a 1000lb were used to raise and lower the Main Engines on the Victor Mk 1 and 2 versions. The 1000lb was also used to lower the very large bomb Bay tanks of the three point aircraft. They were Known as Bomb Winch’s. I don’t have a picture but used both when I was at RAF Marham with the Tanker Wing

The two photographs are from a series taken by the PAF Photographic Unit of 300 Squadron Lancasters BH-F LL804 and BH-B (?) being loaded .

As I understand it, there were bomb hoist points fitted in the Lancaster’s fuselage floor with a removable central plug leaving a space for the cable for the “lifting hole”. As was explained to me by Peter (thank you Peter!) on another thread, the plug would be removed and the cable from the winch would be fed through the hole, attached to the bomb, and then the bomb would be winched up by hand until it could be connected to the bomb rack in the bomb bay.

Attached is a photograph of a bomb hoist point salvaged from Lancaster ED908 and a picture of the fitting in the underside of Lancaster NX611.

Are you sure? The bomb doors and structure look like a Lancaster to me (see http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/RCAFRoyalCanadianAirForceMuseum/HandleyPageHalifax/images/19HalifaxBombBayDoors.jpg or http://www.vintagewings.ca/Portals/0/Vintage_Stories/News%20Stories%20H/Britain%20Remembers/BritainRemembers34.jpg for a Halifax bomb bay).

There would presumably have been something heftier for the Tallboy or Grand Slam. Or even the 8000lb.

PS Not that it matters in context, other than the title, but the second photo is a Halifax.

Recalling from years and years ago (probably something I have read in one of the ‘Lanaster at War’ books – they had available individual bomb winch units that could be placed inside (on the aircraft floor over the bomb bay) to winch up the bombs in to each position.

I always wondered about the winch mechanism – was it a single one that could be set to lift at each bomb station, and where was it controlled from?

daniel

“Do these trolleys make my bomb look fat?”…

Might give an idea…

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=346_1174817139