Flyingfortress Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 OK, I'm confused. Did the F-105 Thud have an actual bombay or not? I've read kit reviews here and there and they mention a bombay, but I have never seen one? Any help? Sean in Michigan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
F4DPhantomII Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Yes it did have a one.Later a fuel tank was carried in there I've heard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Yes, it was originally designed to carry a nuclear weapon internally. When it moved to a conventional role a fuel tank occupied the weapons bay. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ThudDriver Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 The original design called for an internal weapons bay to carry 1- 3000 pound mushroom or 2 - 1000 pound iron bombs in a long range low level strike profile. To the best of my knowledge, no Thuds ever operated in this configuration although some claim that the German based birds did carry the mushroom while on alert. (Can anyone verify this ??) When the SEA'n conflict erupted, the 105's needed more range and the weaps. bays were "filled" with an internal 390 gallon non-jettisonable fuel cell. This cell was mounted on a retractable verticle trunion which could be lowered and raised for inspection, servicing or any needed maintanance. Most all the 105's in the early-mid 60's had two metal "bands" installed over the bomb bay doors to support the commonly seen centerline MER bomb racks since the doors themselves offered no structural attachment points for the c/l racks. While Trumpeter offers this as a bomb bay option, it was rarely seen on 105 flightlines.. I hope that this helps. ThudDriver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LanceB Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 So the MER attached to the doors of the BB, the doors being supported by the bands you mentioned. I believe what he meant was the MER attached to the bands, as there was no-place on the doors themselves for attachment. You can see the bands pretty well in this pic: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ThudDriver Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Good photo depiction LanceB. If one looks closely, you can see the "bands" that I was referrng to. Keep in mind that these doors retracted internally alongside the inner fuselage sides and not downwards as with most bomb bay door assys. This was so that they (doors) wouldn't create any adverse drag nor interferere with the "weapons" release/clearance on the drop. They were plain non-load bearing sheetmetal fairings supplying NO structure whatsoever. I know that the maintenance types hated two things (?) on the 105: the radios that had a high failure rate mlunted under the seat, and the internal bay as the bands weren't velcro'd in place. They were pretty strong when you consider that 6 - Mk.117's weighed in at 4700 pounds plus the rack and a full 650 gal, c/l bag weight in at around 4500 lbs. One can see how structurally strong these bands were... I hope that this data helps somewhat and does :lol: not add to any confusion... ThudDriver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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