Well, it seems there is more to it than what I realized. I can say this, in todays USAF, we dont use any mechanical fuzes that offer a detonation (or functional delay, synonymous) delay of over 2 seconds. Our mainstay mechanical fuzes, the M904 and M905 have detontion delays of up to 1 second. And this wopuld be practical. It allows a GP frag bomb to get well inside a target before functioning.
Gatso, I was lookign at some of the examples you posted linkls to and found something quite interesting.
There was moderate light flak and as they released their bomb load the Blenheim was seen to burst into a mass of flames and crash into the sea. The returning crews speculated on the cause of this crash and although flak was the most obvious cause it was thought that the intensity of the fire was not likely to have been the result of the light flak that was encountered. It was considered possible that the crash could have been caused by a faulty or incorrect pistol fuse on one of the bombs which had exploded immediately on release instead of with the normal 11 second delay required for low level operations of this type.
This implies that the 11 second arming/detonation sequence of the zuze begins upon release. Instead of the impact of the weapon starting the detonation sequence, the fuze begins its arming
and its detonation process when its dropped. The 11 seconds is used up in free fall, and if timed correctly by a skiled pilot, could work well. I was under that impression (too much assuming) that the 11 second detonation delay began once the bomb impacted. Which of course I contend would not work for reasons I already stated above.
Another example found in one of those links you posted (thx by the way)
Originally posted by gatso
This is LW ans not 11 secs but is another source:
All detonators on the (89) B fuze circuit are instantaneous while the detonators on the (69) D fuze circuits have delays varying from 1 to 6 seconds
From here Gatso
Gatso, this weapon is a cluster bomb. The 6 second delay fuze allows the weapon to seperate from the AC, and dependant on altitude release, the dispersion of the bomblets. this fuze only functions to open the dispenser.
Each aircraft carried four 1,0001b (450 kg) bombs with 11 second delay action fuses.
same type of fuze I believe. The fuze begins its detonation sequence upon release (much like a standard US hand grenade). The altitude of the AC and the target are determined to allow the bomb to drop safely from the AC, arm, impact and penetrate the target, and finally detonate inside the target. Pretty neat.
ANyway, that is how I believe the 11 second delay RAF fuze functions.
Her is how the delay of a standard mechanical fuze functions in the US military.
M904E2/E3/E4 MECHANICAL IMPACT NOSE
FUZE
The M904 (series) fuze (fig. 1-1) is a mechanical impact nose fuze used in the Mk 80 (series) low-drag general-purpose (LDGP) bombs. The M904 (series) fuze is installed in the nose fuze well of the bomb and requires the use of an adapter booster. The fuze is detonator-safe, and it contains two observation windows through which you can determine the safe/arm condition of the fuze. There is no special locking feature designed into the fuze for shear safety if the bomb is accidentally dropped. However, detonation is unlikely if the collar (forward end of the fuze) is sheared off by the accidental drop before arming is complete. The fuze may be configured for a number of preselected arming and functioning delays needed by a mission. There are nine arming delays from 2 to 18 seconds in 2-second increments, and any combination of six functioning delays from instantaneous to 250 milliseconds (0.250 seconds) may be selected. An internal governor, driven by the permanently mounted arming vane, allows relatively constant arming times at release speeds ranging from 170 to over 525 knots. Functioning times are determined by the installation of an M9 delay element. Any one of six delay elements may be installed. Each delay element is identified by the functioning delay time stamped on the element body—NONDELAY (instantaneous), 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, or 0.25 second.
