BOMBING WEEK - Royal New Zealand Air Force

- the Squadron also uses the leg for yet more bombing practice.
Before the aircraft depart Whenuapai they are loaded with small dummy
bombs (BDU48s) that are dropped at sea in the Western Sector 40nm west
of Whenuapai. The BDU48s have a small explosive charge that explodes
on impact with the sea’s surface. And how do they know if the BDU48s
are on target? The Ordnanceman lies on the fl oor in the Orion’s rear galley
and observes through the fl oor window. He judges the impact visually
from the smoke.
Meanwhile, at Ohakea’s Bomb Store, NCOIC Explosives, Storage and
Preparation SGT Karl Brown and a six-man team take the individual MK82
bombs (see information box) and add their spring-loaded aluminium tails,
booster components and timing mechanisms. It’s meticulous work, but given
the material they are handling, so it must be. Safety is a key word.
With each weighing in at 500lbs the general purpose bombs are ‘pretty
grunty’ and will ‘make a decent hole’ says SGT Brown. If there’s any
question of the mechanism being compromised the bomb is taken out and
returned he says. That’s not to say failures don’t happen, there’s nearly
always one. There are many variables that can affect a bomb’s performance
he says – including atmospheric conditions, speed of the aircraft
and angle of descent.
The Orion P-3K can take up to 18 x 500lb bombs at a time but for this
exercise they’ll be carrying only four – two on the outer wings and two in
the bomb bay. Once ‘prepped’ and checked, the bombs, on special racks,
are slowly and smoothly towed to where the aircraft, due to arrive from
Base Auckland, will be ‘bombed up’. Again this is done at a remote part
of the airfi eld. The aircraft arrived, taxied into position facing the wind (so
the cooling engines get a good airfl ow) and a red fl ag was placed ahead of
it indicating that the armourers are at work. A safety zone in force around
the Orion meant other aircraft and personnel give it a wide berth as the
crew of a Base fi re tender kept watch from a respectable distance.
www.airforce.mil.nz
AFN69, APRIL 06
NCOIC SGT Karl Brown installs the MK82 bomb’s trigger mechanism.
No.5 Squadron Armourers LAC Tristan Lohmuller (Left) and AC Ed
Garvey survey their work ‘bombing’ up the P-3 Orion at Ohakea.
OH 06-0098-01
OH 06-0098-11
13