Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
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The final switch: Goldsboro, 1961
https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/09/27/final-switch-goldsboro-1961/
All of the sudden now that weapon system [the Mk-39] is free. As the weapon dropped, power was now coming on, and the arming rods were pulled, the baroswitches began to operate.1 The next thing on the timing sequence was for the parachute to deploy. When it hit the ground, it tried to fire. There was still one safety device that had not operated. And that one safety device was the pre-arming switch which is operated by a 28 volt signal. Some people could say, hey, the bomb worked exactly like designed. Others can say, all but one switch operated, and that one switch prevented the nuclear detonation. Unfortunately there had been some 30-some incidents where the ready-safe switch was operated inadvertently. Were fortunate that the weapons involved at Goldsboro were not suffering from that same malady.
Before the accident, the manual arming pin in each of the bombs was in place. Although the pins required horizontal movement for extraction, they were both on a lanyard to allow the crew to pull them from the cockpit. During the breakup, the aircraft experienced structural distortion and torsion in the weapons bay sufficient to pull the pin from one of the bombs, thus arming the Bisch generator.2 The Bisch generator then provided internal power to the bomb when the pullout cable was extracted by the bomb falling from the weapons bay. The operation of the baroswitch arming system,3 parachute deployment, timer operation,4 low and high voltage thermal batteries activation, and delivery of the fire signal at the impact by the crush switch all followed as a natural consequence of the bombing falling free with an armed Bisch generator. The nonoperation of the cockpit-controlled ready-safe switch prevented nuclear detonation of the bomb. The other bomb, which free-fell, experienced HE detonation upon impact. One of the secondary subassemblies was not recovered.5
[video=youtube;F2wR11pGsYk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2wR11pGsYk[/video]
https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/09/27/final-switch-goldsboro-1961/
All of the sudden now that weapon system [the Mk-39] is free. As the weapon dropped, power was now coming on, and the arming rods were pulled, the baroswitches began to operate.1 The next thing on the timing sequence was for the parachute to deploy. When it hit the ground, it tried to fire. There was still one safety device that had not operated. And that one safety device was the pre-arming switch which is operated by a 28 volt signal. Some people could say, hey, the bomb worked exactly like designed. Others can say, all but one switch operated, and that one switch prevented the nuclear detonation. Unfortunately there had been some 30-some incidents where the ready-safe switch was operated inadvertently. Were fortunate that the weapons involved at Goldsboro were not suffering from that same malady.
Before the accident, the manual arming pin in each of the bombs was in place. Although the pins required horizontal movement for extraction, they were both on a lanyard to allow the crew to pull them from the cockpit. During the breakup, the aircraft experienced structural distortion and torsion in the weapons bay sufficient to pull the pin from one of the bombs, thus arming the Bisch generator.2 The Bisch generator then provided internal power to the bomb when the pullout cable was extracted by the bomb falling from the weapons bay. The operation of the baroswitch arming system,3 parachute deployment, timer operation,4 low and high voltage thermal batteries activation, and delivery of the fire signal at the impact by the crush switch all followed as a natural consequence of the bombing falling free with an armed Bisch generator. The nonoperation of the cockpit-controlled ready-safe switch prevented nuclear detonation of the bomb. The other bomb, which free-fell, experienced HE detonation upon impact. One of the secondary subassemblies was not recovered.5
[video=youtube;F2wR11pGsYk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2wR11pGsYk[/video]