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Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944 ...

Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:40 pm

Originally posted by Mark Allen. Original comments will be merged with this thread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu
The photos below are likely VMF-114 Corsairs, September 1944.

Also these two videos below are very nice additions to the thread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUD8aQL7QvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqFAoHouE4Y

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Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:09 pm

Great shots Mark! Thanks for posting!
Notice the dive brakes deployed on the Corsair in the second photo.
Jerry

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:28 am

The relationship between the tanks and the planes that dropped them surprises me. The tanks are fully rotated and almost underneath the presumably relatively slow moving planes.
Am I reading the angles wrong or is there another explanation?

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:36 am

Looks like Dante's Inferno. I wonder what it looks like today? Thanks for the pics Mark

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:37 am

Rick65 wrote:The relationship between the tanks and the planes that dropped them surprises me. The tanks are fully rotated and almost underneath the presumably relatively slow moving planes.
Am I reading the angles wrong or is there another explanation?


I don’t believe there were any fins on them as they had no need to aerodynamically land nose first. They simply burst open upon impact.

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 10:47 am

A great photo resource below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/122923075@N06/page1

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 10:55 am

Craig59 wrote:
Rick65 wrote:The relationship between the tanks and the planes that dropped them surprises me. The tanks are fully rotated and almost underneath the presumably relatively slow moving planes.
Am I reading the angles wrong or is there another explanation?


I don’t believe there were any fins on them as they had no need to aerodynamically land nose first. They simply burst open upon impact.

That is correct.

Image

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:32 am

Craig59 wrote:
Rick65 wrote:The relationship between the tanks and the planes that dropped them surprises me. The tanks are fully rotated and almost underneath the presumably relatively slow moving planes.
Am I reading the angles wrong or is there another explanation?


I don’t believe there were any fins on them as they had no need to aerodynamically land nose first. They simply burst open upon impact.


If you watch napalm videos, the tanks separate and then act unpredictably. Sure, they fall, but with a tumbling motion that makes them behave like knuckleballs. I'm surprised fins were never added to make their behavior more predictable.

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:46 am

I seem to recall that the tumbling of napalm tanks was actually desired. The tumbling caused greater dispersion/splattering of the gel. Some later versions had fins, but most did not.

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:28 pm

Another aspect is the drop altitude with finned napalm tanks. The A-26A crews at NKP preferred the finned variety over the HCM Trail in Laos. Unfinned required them to get down to about 300 ft for any hope of hitting a target. Fins gave directionality and allowed a dive angle to a higher altitude for the drop. This is better for working in the dark around mountains and jungle. Considering all the BB’s that could you hole your airplane at 300 ft, anything would be good that allowed a safer height. Different war, different conditions usually bring desirable improvements.

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:23 pm

Thought they were just standard long range drop tanks repurposed for Napalm.

Re: Dropping napalm on 'Bloody Nose Ridge' Peleliu Sept 1944

Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:44 pm

Spitty wrote:Thought they were just standard long range drop tanks repurposed for Napalm.


They were, but with all of the other specialized gear we sent to war, it is interesting that they chose that application to use an off-the shelf adaptation.
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