MattP Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Just a couple of questions about the load-outs of the B-26Ks 'Nimrods' used in Viet-Nam. I know that they carried BLU-27 napalm tanks, but did they also carry the SUU-11 mini-gun pods? And besides the SUU-14 bomblet dispencers, which CBUs did they carry? Any help appreciated! TIA Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I doubt it, as the B26K as well as the Farmgate birds had gun noses. Yet I could be wrong. Eight fifty caliber machine guns packed in a tight cluster presents a serious piece of fire power. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
don f Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Just a couple of questions about the load-outs of the B-26Ks 'Nimrods' used in Viet-Nam. I know that they carried BLU-27 napalm tanks, but did they also carry the SUU-11 mini-gun pods? And besides the SUU-14 bomblet dispencers, which CBUs did they carry? Any help appreciated! TIA Matt Matt, I can't comment regarding the use of the mini-gun pods. Here's an excerpt from a private message that I received from Mr. Tom Wickstrom years ago when I was researching Nimrods in SEA: "I was in the aircraft in 67 and 68 at NKP and at that time the favorite configuration was wall to wall Napes on the wing stations, funny bombs and frags in the bomb bay. Of course, we didn't often get our druthers. If going to Barrel Roll, the outer station on each wing held flares, the inner six a combination of whatever else was available including Nape, CBU, Iron Bombs and Funnies. For Steel Tiger there were no flares. Actually as far as a model goes, you could hang just about anything on the wings and the Aircraft probably would have flown in that configuration at one time or the other . When we first started using the funnys, only two were in the bomb bay. Carlos Cruz and Bill Potter figured out how to stuff three in, so if we had them three could be carried." Due to the low altitudes and slow speed, Nimrods are often seen in photos with the 6 tube SUU-14 sub-munition dispenser. A piston in each tube of the SUU-14 ejected the bomblets rearward. The common units were CBU-14 and CBU-25. These were the SUU-14 loaded with BLU-3/B fragmentation bomblet or BLU-24 anti-personnel frag bomblets, respectively. I received no confirmation that the SUU-30 (CBU-24, etc.) was used. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattP Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Don, do you know what he ment by "funny bombs"? So far I'm going to load it out with 2 BLU-27's on the 2 innermost pylons, and 1 SUU-30 CBU on each side of the next pylons. The flares mounted on the last 2 pylons, were they hung on a standard MER? Thanks again to both you and Cat for the replys. Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 "Funny bombs" were a type of WW2 bombs that had a mix of CBU bomblets, white phosphorous incendiaries and napalm. A pic can be found here, near the bottom of the page. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattP Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Pete, I found that site about 4:00am I also found this quote, ""When we departed for Project Big Eagle, we took along several GE mini-guns, the lttle brother of the 20mm "Vulcan" gatling guns. They were pylon mounted versions like shown here. Anyway, one night at one of the parties, one of the pilots was complaining about the very thing mentioned above. He said, "The little bas*#%& keep their heads down until I pull out and then they jump up and shoot at me on the pull out." I jokingly mentioned that he should turn the mini-guns around backwards on the pylons. He could straff them going in with the .50's, and when he pulled out he could just give them a couple bursts with the mini-guns to make them keep down until he got out of range. This guys eyes lit up and said, "What a helluva idea!!." I didn't say anymore, but heard later that he actually tried to get permission to do that, but was denied on the premise that it "hadn't been tested for that configuration." Nothing more became of it, as the mini-guns didn't hold up well in the environment we were working in."" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LanceB Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 My great-uncle was a Seabee in WWII (Double-U, Double-U, Aye, Aye he called it...), and while in the SW Pacific his unit was tasked with making a mount for fitting a 75mm pack howitzer into the aft fuselage of B-25s, firing out the tail. The planes would do their low-level runs over Japanese positions with the parabombs, then pump out a few rounds from the 75 as they were egressing. He said he always wondered if the recoil gave them a little bump in airspeed on the way out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattP Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) I have also found out what a "Funny Bomb" is, along with a proper diagram! AMAZING site! Edited March 25, 2015 by MattP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Don, do you know what he ment by "funny bombs"? M35 /36: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/M35_(bomb) http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=419283 HTH, Andre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wiggi Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 Dear all, regarding the load out for a Vietnam Counter Invader, has anyone information about the 280gl. external fuel tanks (mounted on the inboard wing pylons) if they were used operationally? Many thanks in advance Best regards Wiggi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
outofbattery Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 On 3/24/2015 at 5:58 PM, MattP said: Pete, I found that site about 4:00am I also found this quote, ""When we departed for Project Big Eagle, we took along several GE mini-guns, the lttle brother of the 20mm "Vulcan" gatling guns. They were pylon mounted versions like shown here. Anyway, one night at one of the parties, one of the pilots was complaining about the very thing mentioned above. He said, "The little bas*#%& keep their heads down until I pull out and then they jump up and shoot at me on the pull out." I jokingly mentioned that he should turn the mini-guns around backwards on the pylons. He could straff them going in with the .50's, and when he pulled out he could just give them a couple bursts with the mini-guns to make them keep down until he got out of range. This guys eyes lit up and said, "What a helluva idea!!." I didn't say anymore, but heard later that he actually tried to get permission to do that, but was denied on the premise that it "hadn't been tested for that configuration." Nothing more became of it, as the mini-guns didn't hold up well in the environment we were working in."" The Soviets did just this with GS-23 pods on Su-25s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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