Bomber Doors

[R 105]

Don't much care about the doors on the Lancaster and how fast they do or don't open. I want to see the wings come off them when they are used as dive bombers. No 4 engine bomber from any country could take the stress on the air frame in this type of use.

[Masherbrum]

Don't much care about the doors on the Lancaster and how fast they do or don't open. I want to see the wings come off them when they are used as dive bombers. No 4 engine bomber from any country could take the stress on the air frame in this type of use.

[waystin2]

Don't much care about the doors on the Lancaster and how fast they do or don't open. I want to see the wings come off them when they are used as dive bombers. No 4 engine bomber from any country could take the stress on the air frame in this type of use.

Methinks this is a separate wish sir.

[trigger2]

Yes, but the impact into the doors could make the bombs a dud and cause ALOT of damage to the machinary required to open the bomb bay doors...

I'm trying to research the time it took for the Avro Lancasters bomb bay doors to open, give me a little time and I'll post it.

Amazing video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22HbiJzFaM

Landing gear should be about 4 seconds, shown at 25 secs in here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQkWSSLQQd8
From what I've been able to pick up is that the bomb bay doors (taking the word of someone, estimation) should take about 4 seconds to open. I'm gonna keep researching and will update again when I get the real numbers.

[Karnak]

Don't much care about the doors on the Lancaster and how fast they do or don't open. I want to see the wings come off them when they are used as dive bombers. No 4 engine bomber from any country could take the stress on the air frame in this type of use.

AH models overspeed/overstress failures.  Lancasters could, with full bomb loads, be thrown about quite a bit.  Read about the "corkscrew" evasive they used against German nightfighters.

[TonyJoey]

 

[Beefcake]

When I was at one of those Warbird shows a few years ago I remember watching a B25 making low "bombing" passes in front of the crowd. The one thing that amazed me was how fast the B25 bomb bay doors opened, it had to be no longer than a second.

[Swoop73]

Some bomber doors are amazingly quick. I can testify, however, that a B17's take about 10 seconds. 5 years ago I had the privilege of standing in the right side bay door of the Collings Foundation's "Nine-O-Nine" with my feet braced against the hinge brackets on either side. 6,000 ft. over Nashua, New Hampshire the hydraulic pump came on and the massive door began to open. With only the edges of my sneakers maintaining purchase we flew another 3 miles where I dropped through over Pepperell Airfield. There were 6 of us....3 on each side. Yes we had parachutes. I remember looking up and seeing a B17 getting small very fast.....The same thing thousands of crewmen would have seen in 1943. Unforgettable experience.

[Karnak]

Not sure if the clip is sped up or not, though it doesn't look like it, but at 55 seconds into the video for the Wierd Al song "Christmas at Ground Zero" there is a shot of a B-29 opening its forward bomb bay doors.  I'd say it takes less than a second in that case.

[trigger2]

Amazing video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22HbiJzFaM

Landing gear should be about 4 seconds, shown at 25 secs in here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQkWSSLQQd8
From what I've been able to pick up is that the bomb bay doors (taking the word of someone, estimation) should take about 4 seconds to open. I'm gonna keep researching and will update again when I get the real numbers.

Could be anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds. Depends on so much, state of the hydraulics, engine revs at the time or damage to the aircraft.

Some crews did not like to fly with the doors open for any length of time so would open them at the bare last second and allow the cookie to open them up as it fell through them.

[killerdude8]

I would think the weight of the bombs would burst open the bomb bay doors, unless they are surrender leaflets.   

I watched a program on a Lancaster dropping bombs through another plane and what happened is that the people who loaded the bombs didnt lock them into the rack properly and they fell into the bomb bay doors. When they opened the BB doors they all fell and hit another plane underneath so....      the weight of the bombs will NOT burst through the BB doors

[salun]

How big where the bombs? A 250 lbs might not but im pretty sure the doors would be scrap metal if they had a 4000 lbs bomb.

[Karnak]

I watched a program on a Lancaster dropping bombs through another plane and what happened is that the people who loaded the bombs didnt lock them into the rack properly and they fell into the bomb bay doors. When they opened the BB doors they all fell and hit another plane underneath so....      the weight of the bombs will NOT burst through the BB doors

That sounds very wrong to me.  To make the doors and hydraulics that strong would have taken a lot of weight for something that is basically an aerodynamics feature.  Weight is a precious commodity and would not be wasted on something for which a light skin and framework with minimal hydraulics would suffice.